Winter Solstice 2020

IN THE DARKNESS, BE THE LIGHT!

The cycle of the seasons includes times of darkness and times of light.  Winter Solstice is associated with renewal, a time of rebirth of the Sun and Light.  The first day of winter, December 21st marks the time of the year when the darkness will give way to the light.  Together with all creation in our Northern Hemisphere, we remember that the longest night of the year is a sign and a promise that the sun will lengthen our days once more.  In this Advent season, we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Christ who is “the true Light, the Light of the World.” 

In the beautiful prologue to John’s Gospel we read: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”  The theme of darkness is a common thread running throughout the course of our lives.  Even our body was formed in the darkness of our mother’s womb.  When we were born, we passed from darkness into light.  In fact, I was born on the Winter Solstice and light and darkness are part of who I am.  Since birth, I have had an inoperable cataract on my right eye.  While I have vision in my left eye, I do not have sight in my right eye.  I was given the precious gifts of sight and light and not total blindness and darkness.

Some of my most treasured memories of growing up near Lake Huron include the awesome sunrises and sunsets which continue to speak to me of God’s faithfulness.  When a thunderstorm was brewing, my Dad, siblings and I gathered the animals into the barn.  In the safety of our cozy farmhouse, we watched fascinating lightning streak across the tumultuous sky.  Even today I feel deeply safe and secure amidst the storms of life.  God’s embrace shelters me in the depths of my being.  When I witness a rainbow arc across the dark sky, I am filled with delight remembering God’s covenant with us.

In the cool of the evening, after the work was done, my family would often relax in the backyard gazing at diamond-like stars in the summer night sky.  Sometimes we would catch a glimpse of fireflies flitting around us.  During an annual retreat, fireflies became symbols of faith and hope flickering in the darkness.  

People too can be tiny sparks of light bringing hope to others in their stormy night skies.  I remember light-filled people who have made a difference in my times of darkness.  We carry our greatest treasure within us.  It is the Christ-light which will forever shine.  It is an inner radiance which lights our way home to God.  Let us trust the Christ-light; it will never fade.  This 2021 let us be light in the darkness!

-Sister Kathy O’Keefe, csj

Our Distorted 20/20 Vision

Our fragile world seemed to be on a path of destruction, from day one of this new year, this new decade. Raging fires continued to ravage large parts of Australia. As if that inferno wasn’t enough, three days into 2020, the killing of Qasem Soleimani resulted in Donald Trump pushing the U.S. and Iran to the brink of war. If that isn’t starting a new decade with a bang, then I don’t know what is. Isn’t it ironic that with our supposedly 20/20 vision we are displaying such impaired, myopic vision?

Then, merely eight days into this new year, the Ukraine International Airline Flight 752 crashes over Iran shortly after take-off. There are no survivors. Among the 176 people whose lives were abruptly ended there were 57 Canadians. There were also 82 Iranians, 11 Ukrainians and nationals from Sweden, the UK, Afghanistan and Germany. After days of denial, Iran has claimed it unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian plane, attributing the crash to radar activity and fear of U.S. retaliation. 

What a fragile world we live in! While still shaken by this horrendous tragedy, and reeling with heightened fear of war, a further tragedy unfolded. Two earthquakes hit Puerto Rico and several islands. Now, we could argue that all these tragedies happened far away, and do not touch our lives here in Canada.  Not true.  Canada is mourning the tragic death of the Canadians who died in the plane crash.  Across Canada, flags have been lowered to half-mast to honour those who died, and vigils are being held in many cities.  Several Canadian universities, among them Western here in London Ontario where I live, are grieving for the faculty members and students who died in the crash.  

As disturbing as the beginning of 2020 has been, there has also been a great deal of good. There are, for example, the myriads of caring, generous people, like the many Canadian and American firefighters, who travelled to the other side of the world to help curtail the raging inferno ravaging Australia.  These people are shining examples of what the fox told the little prince about the ability to see, namely that “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye” (Saint Antoine de Exupery; The Little Prince).  Though this year unfolds so painfully, instead of cursing the dark, these amazing people set aside their own agendas to reach out to those in need.  These people warm our hearts, fill us with hope and encourage us to believe in the good which resides in our broken world.  I am writing this blog on the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, when God called Jesus his Beloved.  While pondering those words, I turned to Henri Nouwen’s book, Life of the Beloved, in which he assures his reader that all of us are the beloved of God. He writes, “Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God’s eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God’s heart.”

As 2020 continues to unfold day by day, let us pray for 20/20 vision, looking at everyone through God’s glasses. This will ensure that we see with the heart, since “what is essential is invisible to the eye.”  Let us pray for each other, for our friends, our enemies, for world leaders, that they, too, may see with the heart, and peace can envelope all peoples.

- Sr. Magdalena Vogt, cps

 

Listen my people, your hopes are answered.

Listen, and hear my voice: your hopes are answered.

God waits for his people to cast off their cloak of fear,

And to walk upon this earth. God is so near.

(Paul-Andre Durocher in the Catholic Book of Worship III; No. 309)