Bringing light to the darkness
On Dec. 21, we celebrated winter solstice, which is the one day of the year where the night is longest and the daylight shortest. It is the first day of winter. It is also a day that brings consolation because while the world around us grows colder, we know that the daylight will slowly increase every day after it, eventually bringing with it the warmth of spring and the promise of renewal.
This time of year, I often hear friends and coworkers understandably bemoan the darkness, the dreary weather, and persistent cold. How fortuitous is it then, that we are now celebrating the birth of light, love, and warmth into the world?
As Christians, we understand that on Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the Eternal Light into the world, by the birth of Jesus in the manger of Bethlehem. While it is important for us to celebrate and rejoice at this great gift, Christmas is also a time to share that light with everyone we meet, most especially those on the margins of our society.
Earlier this year, I was appointed to chair the board of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), an organization that is active in more than 75 countries, attending to the basic human needs of people, some of the poorest of the poor in the world. Catholic Relief Services works on the margins of the globe: in refugee camps, deserts, wartorn cities, and nations where basic human necessities such as clean water and access to proper health care are all but nonexistent.
During the coming year, I look forward to learning more and journeying to CRS sites around the world, and I expect that I will receive more than I give — that I will find the true “Light of Christ” in the hope and grace of those who are suffering and vulnerable in ways we can hardly imagine.
You and I may face many challenges, but we are privileged to celebrate Christmas in the comfort of our own homes. There are millions of our brothers and sisters throughout the world who will be celebrating Christmas in physical “darkness,” whether it is in tents, or in refugee camps, or in detention facilities, or on the streets.
They join the homeless, the sick and those who hunger in our own country as brothers and sisters that deserve our special attention and care this holiday season. They are the Josephs and Marys of our own time, and they bring great light and faith to our human condition.
So Christmas more than anything else is about bringing light to the world, and it is an opportunity for us to let go of the spiritual or emotional darkness within ourselves.
As we continue our preparations for the birth of the Eternal Light into the world in the manger of Bethlehem, perhaps it is a good time to meditate on the ways by which you and I may have allowed spiritual or emotional darkness to grow in our own lives since last Christmas?
Has our own journey been mired in the darkness of sin and do we find ourselves unable to break free? Do we find ourselves more or less indifferent our brothers and sisters who need help in our town, nation, or world? Over the last year, do we enjoy greater or lesser peace in our hearts, effected by the challenges that we have faced or continue to deal with in our lives?
Even if such darkness at times grows in our lives, the birth of Christ is our herald of true hope that such darkness can recede and eventually be defeated by the love and mercy of Our Savior. It is up to us to spend the time to name the various forms of darkness that surround us or battle against us and to bring them to the crib of Christ this Christmas. The great promise and gift of Christmas is that His Light will scatter whatever darkness we face.
The message of Christmas is something that even the youngest child understands — that God is with us. Not just you and me, not just us in Fairfield County, but with all of us. You and I need to commit ourselves to making sure that message is not simply one of words but one of real presence, real collaboration, and real service. How can we do that? It’s a good question to ask for a New Year’s resolution — one that hopefully begins in light and is strong enough to dispel darkness.