As we conclude our Christmas celebrations, having been blessed with the graces of the season and the opening of the Jubilee Year, we move into Ordinary Time with an invitation to see the beauty and complexity of life that surrounds us.
We read on Christmas Day from the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” We carry in our lives the light of truth that life is from God and came into being through Jesus Christ. Our faith and the teachings of the Church draw us deeper into life and the issues that are ever before us.
Every day we are challenged to care for not only our own lives but the lives of many around us and throughout the world. We cannot let darkness overcome the light that Jesus has brought into the world. Through Jesus we can find reconciliation, compassion, understanding and the truth. When we realize that the lives we have been given are precious gifts, then we can lean into the issues of justice and truth for the unborn, the elderly, the youth, the homeless, the immigrant. In the eyes of God every life counts. The Holy Spirit, awakened within us, as received in our baptism, leads us into tomorrow in a way that challenges today’s culture to look at life through the eyes of Jesus Christ.
Prayer brings us into an awareness of the gift we carry in our bodies. Our spirit, our soul, and our heart are influenced in many ways, directing us to make decisions in life from a cultural perspective, a religious perspective, or a little bit of both. Our world is complicated, and knowing so, we cannot just turn inside and ignore what is happening around us.
A worldly perspective is shown to most of us through the lens of the media. Our perspectives can broaden immensely through reading stories from missionary groups or experiencing firsthand the way people live in two-thirds of the world. We need to listen to stories and when we offer advice, we need to back it up with our own commitment to follow the decision to a proper end. When we listen to the story of a young pregnant woman, or that of an immigrant far from home, or an elderly person abandoned in their own home or in assisted living, or we listen to a missionary with dreams to educate children and youth, we can walk alongside them. We can share with them an experience that may seem foreign to us. The Holy Spirit gives us strength and wisdom to see life past ourselves and to be aware of the challenges and needs in the world around us.
As we celebrate the baptism of the Lord, we are called to be renewed in the grace of our own baptism. God planted in our hearts that we are beloved. Can we bring that message into our challenged world this January as many issues come to the forefront?
The darkness will not overcome the light. The light remains forever as we await the return of Jesus Christ. May the light guide our political and religious leaders, our representatives, our parents and children, our teachers, our counselors, our mentors, and many others in their lives so the respect for life, the body, for justice, peace and the love of neighbor strengthen our culture. Let us welcome dialogue with one another about the issues at hand, with a respect for differences, and a just way of dealing with unfair practices. Pray, pray, pray that in this Jubilee Year the Eucharist may strengthen our spirit, the Blessed Mother may guide our paths, and the Holy Spirit renew the fire within.
