Jesus said: "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds". Exegesis and meaning.

Jesus reminds us that faith needs good works, righteous works that glorify God: "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven", Matthew 5:16

Glory is perfect fame, glory is a gift, a perfection of God: "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect", Matthew 5:48; "Be merciful as your Father is merciful", Luke 6:36. The spiritual gifts are perfections, we cannot attribute imperfections to God, a perfection is everything that cannot be surpassed or improved in its genre, like mercy, perseverance, continuous improvement.
The light is a perfection of God, a gift. When we do good we live in the light because everything is done in view of others because good is beautiful and beneficial. On the other hand, those who do evil hide their works, because evil does not benefit others, nor is it beautiful. We choose between the light (the good) and the darkness (the sin, the evil).
Tomas Aquinas explains that just as the sun radiates its light with its rays to others, God radiates the good to us: "Only God is good", Mark 10:18. God is the source of good and of the light. The good, the joy and the happiness are "radiant". That is why those who do good shine with their light, that is, they radiate good with the perfection of their works. What underlies this teaching of Jesus is the concept of progressivity. Even if the good is a goal by itself, the purpose of the good is glory.
Glory is the highest goal of human life, just as contemplation (the worship of wisdom) is the most perfect virtue, that is why Jesus said: "There is no greater love than lo lay down one's life for one's friends", John 15:3. The one who gives his life receives the glory, instead the other receive the best of his friend.
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