December 24, 2023
Two of my childhood Advent-and-Christmas memories revolve around light: one involved a rather large home in the neighboring parish bedecked from rooftop to shrub with hundreds of multi-colored bulbs, the old-fashioned kind made of glass that would break easily and would have to be tested each year to see if they still work; the other memory is of a public park in my same hometown that would decorate its trees with a cascade of white lights which would twinkle from each branch as dusk fell every evening. Both places could take one’s breath away, especially when one has the heart and faith of a child, as Jesus always reminds us to have throughout Scripture.
I recently revisited both places this past week and was saddened to see both the house and the park are no longer ablaze in light. In the former case, the family had sold the home after a rather messy divorce, in the latter, township budget cuts. What do you do when the light doesn’t seem to shine as brightly anymore as it once did?
We seem to be asking that question a lot these days, from Gaza and Ukraine to national strife and our own personal family tensions: how do we bring back the light again?
As we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season this three-day weekend, may we never forget that the Light we need has been given to us, a Light so bright that nothing or no one can extinguish it from our hearts and lives. Christ is that Light, and it is He who longs to shine in every darkened corner where pain and hatred, anger and fear reside.
Our task now is to be that bringer of Light wherever we may find ourselves. To paraphrase St. Mother Teresa (changing her word ‘love’ with ‘light’): “Where there is no Light, bring the Light and there will be Light.”
As I was leaving the park where the strands of Christmas lights once illuminated the darkness, I saw at the War Memorial someone had placed a solar-powered candle that comes to life as soon as the darkness falls. One light shining brightly. One light still there in the midst of the night. A light of hope.
On behalf of Fr. Jerry, our deacons and parish staff at Immaculate Conception and St. Jude mission church, I wish you and your family a Christmas season filled with joy, light, and God’s incredible love. Be His Light!