Just when things are darkest (C.S. Lewis / Jon Fosse)

Don’t shine so that others can see you.
Shine, so that, through you, others can see Him.

 --C. S. Lewis

    It’s always, always the darkest part of the picture that shines the most, and I think that that might be because it’s in the hopelessness and despair, in the darkness, that God is closest to us, but how it happens, how the light I get clearly into the picture gets there, that I don’t know, and how it comes to be at all, that I don’t understand, but I do think that it’s nice to think that maybe it came about like this, that it came to be when an illegitimate child, as they put it, was born in a barn on a winter’s day, on Christmas in fact, and a star up above sent its strong clear light down to earth, a light from God, yes it’s a beautiful thought, I think, because the very word God says that God is real, I think, the mere fact that we have the word and idea God means that God is real, I think, whatever the truth of it is it’s at least a thought that it’s possible to think, it’s that too, even if it’s no more than that, but it’s definitely true that it’s just when things are darkest, blackest, that you see the light, that’s when this light can be seen, when the darkness is shining, yes, and it has always been like that in my life at least, when it’s darkest is when the light appears, when the darkness starts to shine, and maybe it’s the same way in the pictures I paint, anyway I hope it is. 

--Jon Fosse, Septology

 
Note: In his brilliant, stream-of-consciousness novel Septology, 2023 Nobel Prize winner Jon Fosse’s protagonist Asle is a man of deep belief who believes that the world is full of darkness that only divine light can pierce. He seeks to convey some sense of the divine light in his paintings.

Image source: https://www.farmersalmanac.com/10-brightest-stars
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What kind of light is this? (St. Andrew of Crete)

Behold, your king is coming to you, 
the Holy One, the Savior. 

   Receive him with open, outstretched hands, for it was on his own hands that he sketched you. Receive him who laid your foundations on the palms of his hands. Receive him, for he took upon himself all that belongs to us except sin, to consume what is ours in what is his. Be glad, city of Zion, our mother, and fear not. Celebrate your feasts.Glorify him for his mercy, who has come to us in you. Rejoice exceedingly, daughter of Jerusalem, sing and leap for joy. Be enlightened, be enlightened, we cry to you, as holy Isaiah trumpeted, for the light has come to you and the glory of the Lord has risen over you. 

   What kind of light is this? It is that which enlightens every man coming into the world. It is the everlasting light, the timeless light revealed in time, the light manifested in the flesh although hidden by nature, the light that shone round the shepherds and guided the Magi. It is the light that was in the world from the beginning, through which the world was made, yet the world did not know it. It is that light which came to its own, and its own people did not receive it. 

--St. Andrew of Crete, Bishop 

Image source: Olya Kravchenko, Christmas in the Air Raid Shelter (2024), https://artandtheology.org/tag/epiphany/
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God's light shows us amazing possibilities (St. Pope John Paul II / Barbara E. Quinn, RSCJ)

Let yourselves be taken over
by the Light of Christ,
and spread that light wherever you are.

 --St. Pope John Paul II

    Here we are today - a new generation! When the light of the Epiphany star sears our souls, it also casts a beam of light across and beyond any horizon we have imagined before, calling us to a new vision. Yes, our days are punctuated by normal, everyday common doins’ but when we make space for God’s grace to inhabit us and soak us through to the depths of our hearts, we are amazed and drawn out of our everydayness to see and do the unimaginable. God’s light will show us amazing possibilities for our world: 

· Poor and rich, young and old, women and men working together for a more just and more gentle world; 

· Jews and gentiles, yes, but also Muslims, Christians, “nones,” and unbelievers recognizing that all of us are on a common journey towards life and love and meaning; 

· Churches where women and men share equally in the life of worship, discernment, and leadership; churches where laity and ordained work as partners and co-creators of communities where allare welcome: people of color speaking in a multitude of languages, gay and straight and searching, married and divorced, the lost and forgotten; 

· A world of official leaders and common citizens uniting to reverse climate changes that threaten the life of our planet; 

· A world where borders that block people from moving towards safety, dignity, and family reunion are dismantled. 

   Difficult? Yes! Impossible? No….not if we let the Light and Spirit of this small and vulnerable babe penetrate our hearts, allowing us to see beyond the darkness of our too small worlds, the shrunken horizons of our own making. It is not impossible if we are faithful to our everyday calls like the shepherds and ever ready to travel towards new and wider horizons like the wise Magi sojourners. It is not impossible if we trust that God teaches us to see to the inside of our daily realities where the power of God is at work, always beckoning us deeper and forward. 

 --Barbara E. Quinn, RSCJ 

Image source: https://sacredheartfla.org/sunday-mornings/seasonal/feast-days-solemnities/the-solemnity-of-the-epiphany-three-kings-day/
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Let us adore (Pope Francis)

     Like the Magi, let us lift up our eyes, listen to the desire lodged in our hearts, and follow the star that God makes shine above us. As restless seekers, let us remain open to God’s surprises. Let us dream, let us seek, and let us adore. 

--Pope Francis 

Image source: Three Kings, wood plaques from Mexico in the home of an OLMC parishioner. Similar sculptures can be found here: https://nydate.nonechip.rest/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=764822
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Sunday Gospel Reflection, January 4, 2026: You shall be radiant...

You shall be radiant...
 You are called to be light to the world,
right here, right now.
 Are you ready? 

   In our readings for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, which we celebrate this Sunday, light is the guiding thread that takes us from one end of the Liturgy of the Word to the other. In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, darkness covers the earth, a description that will come to mind at the death of Jesus, abandoned on the Cross; it also echoes the beginning of the Book of Genesis. For Israel, exile is a kind of darkness, for they have put their faith in other gods. But Isaiah’s prophecy says they will emerge from this darkness because God has called them to shine forth: Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Israel will be a beacon of light to the world, as God infuses God’s people with his light. 

   And if God is going to fill you with his light – grace – then you have a responsibility to let that light shine. Paul tells the Ephesians that they are stewards of God’s grace, and as such, it is their duty to enlighten those around them about grace, the experience of Christ present, living in them and they in him. The light that fills them must shine so that the mystery can unfold before the world, and all will be revealed before the world. All nations are called to unity, recognizing that God is the God of all: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you, Psalm 72 reminds us. Our job is to point to God’s marvelous justice, revealing it so that all might come to Christ. 

   Like the magi from the East in Matthew's Gospel, we are participants in a revelation: that the Gospel is for all, God’s love is for all. Having seen the Christ living among us, we are called to be that light shining for all in the darkness of non-belief, a guide to faith for those who have eradicated God from their lives. Overjoyed at seeing the star, we too are called to recognize that God is active in our midst. It is through those of us who have faith that God will shine; we are his ministers, bringing the grace God has placed in us to others, doing homage to the Christ child as we tell the world of the revelation of our Savior, God-with-us, Emmanuel. 

This “vintage” post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Mary committed her life (St. John Paul II / Jo Ann Melina López)

Among creatures,
no one knows Christ better than Mary;
no one can introduce us to
a profound knowledge of his mystery
better than his Mother.

 --St. John Paul II

    Let us remember where God desires to reveal God’s self, and ask how we can individually, as communities, and as a Church, be committed to the places where God wants to shine God’s face through us. 

    Mary, whom we celebrate today as Mother of God, offers us a way of proceeding. Mary risked greatly in her willingness to encounter the Face of God. To believe in the angel’s promise was to risk her reputation, and her future, on the invitation to share in God’s mission of love. Mary committed her life to deeply encountering God in her child, and she shared this encounter with others. She spent much of her life intimately studying the Face of God in Jesus, and came to know the many ways Jesus revealed God’s face as gracious, kind, and offering peace.

    As Christians, we are invited to cultivate the same intimacy with Jesus as Mary had. May we, like Mary, be willing to risk encountering God’s Face, may we reflect deeply in our hearts on the ways God has been revealed to us, and may we be willing to make a concrete commitment to how our encounter with the Face of God will impact our lives. 

--Jo Ann Melina López

Today is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God...

Image source: The Mother of God with the Infant, icon given by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to Pope Leo XIV, painted on a fragment of an artillery box brought from the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/ukrainian-president-zelenskyy-gifts-religious-icon-to-pope-leo-1234743210/
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I wish my mom had been like you (Paula Nelsen)

Put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.

--Colossians 3:14

    In 2013, TJ and I got a call from our son. He said, “Mom, this year has been a huge, historical year for LGBTQ people, with acceptance in the United States, so I’m going to march in the Seattle Pride Parade in celebration. I want you and Papa to go to the San Francisco Pride Parade in solidarity and support to celebrate with me.” 

   Well, TJ and I are generally quiet and shy types, so parades and large celebrations are not our style. But, since Sam asked us to do this, we of course said yes. That night, we did say a prayer together and asked for help on this. We each came up with a sign to wear on our chests. Mine said, “Christian Mom, Blessed with a Wonderful Gay Son” and TJ’s said, “I’m Old, White, a Republican and the Proud Father of a Gay Son.” 

   The next day we took the San Francisco bus, bright and early, before the crowds arrived. We found a perfect spot, right in the front, with a full view of the parade on Market Street. The parade began and we joined in, clapping and cheering on all the brave people marching and dancing and riding on floats. 

   Then, a strange thing happened. People marching in the parade were reading our signs. They stopped, did a double take, and would run over to us and say, “Oh my God, thank you!” and “Can I take a picture with the two of you and your signs? I want to send this to my mom!” or “I wish my parents could see you. May I please hug you?” or “My dad will not believe this. He hates me. Can I take our picture together?” and “Bless you for doing this! Can I please have a hug?” or “You have given me such hope. Thank you! I love you!” or “Wow, my mom and dad kicked me out. Maybe this photo will help.” and to TJ, “A Republican? Unbelievable!” A woman from the Dykes on Bikes group parked her huge motorcycle and walked up to me. We looked each other in the eyes and she said, “I wish my mom had been like you.” We hugged. 

   For six straight hours, this happened over and over and over. TJ and I had tears streaming down our faces all day as we smiled and hugged and signed love to floats, marchers and dancers. We were just two old people with handmade signs on our chests. It was a small part-time job to do for one day. But by showing love to these folks, we received love back, a thousandfold. 

   You just never know what surprises God has in store, whether it’s St. Thérèse de Lisieux, confined to the walls of a convent, praying her heart out for the missionaries, or the Vinnies, walking the streets of Marin City, visiting people and bringing love, or folks making coffee for friends to gather together, or opening up the church on a cold morning and lighting the candles for brothers and sisters to pray together. The list is endless. Christ is so happy to see us happy, as we do his work, together, beside him in the vineyard. 

--Paula Nelsen,
OLMC Communion Service,
July 9, 2024 

Image source: https://x.com/DrRonHolt/status/1004873848238424064