We recognize this saying about the lamp on the lampstand in a fuller text from the Sermon on the Mount. The message is clear. Our Christian faith is not something to be kept as a secret just for oneself. Christianity is essentially missionary and evangelizing and it is a responsibility that rests on every baptized person and not just on shoulders of clergy and religious. Our faith, the vision of life that we have received from Jesus in the Gospel, is like a lamp which throws light on the meaning of people's lives - how to relate to God, to their brothers and sisters everywhere and to themselves. So Jesus says that nothing is to be kept secret. Our religion is not to be lived behind closed doors. This was very relevant in the early Church where simply to be known as a Christian could be a threat to one's life. But if our predecessors had not courageously proclaimed their faith in Jesus, we would not be knowing Him today as the centre of our lives. There are still large numbers of people who need to know that message - a message of life and love and truth and justice, of freedom and peace. The extent to which we share our faith with others is the extent to which we ourselves will benefit.