Merry Christmas!
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in a land of doom a light has shone.” (Isaiah)
As this year comes to an end and as we celebrate Christmas, this message from Isaiah is a very relevant one. Darkness for Isaiah was meant to signify a sense of being lost, uncertain, afraid. People who could not see well would feel alone and lost because they did not know where they were heading. That image expresses how so many people feel these days. There is conflict between peoples and nations. There is violence on our city streets and in our homes. There is fear and confusion at the level of national leadership in our country and likewise in many countries throughout the world. There is a loss of faith among young people. Terrorism and fear of our neighbor dominates our thoughts. Darkness is what the news is all about. Darkness is in our television shows and in our movies. Darkness is also in the lives of our friends and family members. The world needs a message of hope and light.
As I locked up the church late one night this week, I took time to sit in the dark church with only a few candles burning. In the darkness of the church, the candles burned. They held the darkness back, just barely held it back. I thought about how on that cold night in Bethlehem, to people whom the world did not think important, a child was born. A small light in the midst of darkness. Then as the gospels relate – all heaven broke loose in rejoicing.
To a group of shepherds keeping watch over their flocks at night there appeared a light in the sky – angels. Angels whose first words to them were “Do not be afraid.” They probably had to say this because when heavenly glory appears it can be a bit overwhelming, dazzling. As the gospel tells us, then the glory of the Lord was shining around them there in the fields. What was that like? The glory of a thousand bright suns? A new star blazing forth where no star had been before? Bright wings of angels that reflect the splendor of God? Glittering armies of angels singing the victory song, “Glory to God in the highest!!”?
A new star did appear in the night sky. A star that brought wise ones from the East. They came seeking a king. They brought kingly gifts and laid them at the feet of what must have seemed to them to be a strange king, born in the midst of poverty, in a tiny country held captive by foreign rulers. A strange king indeed.
Sitting alone in our dark church, I felt the inner peace that has long helped me to believe that this child, in the man he grew up to be, there is the power of God to bring light into the world’s darkness. That to all who are willing to put their trust in him he brings a new kind of life, a new way of seeing the world through his light. How can I prove it to be true? I can only offer what Jesus offered at the beginning, come, follow him, put his teaching into practice and see what happens in your life. To those who choose to follow him, he does offer the promise of a cross. But even there, even embracing the cross, we will find our heart’s desire. The only way to find out if it is true, is to live what Jesus teaches.
Isaiah’s great promise is real! Come and find in this little one born in Bethlehem something brighter, stronger, braver, kinder, holier, wiser, than we ever knew before.
Merry Christmas! Thanks for sharing the journey with me.
Peace,
Fr. Damian