“Last night as I was praying, I lifted my head up, as it was buried in my arms, and I was blinded by the light,” he remarked. “I know the lights were dim but when you are hidden in darkness even the slightest ray of light can be overwhelming.” He drew an analogy to our lives explaining that our moments of weakness and occasions of sin darken our will and intellect, which can make our encounter with Truth jarring. Even when it is a soft, warm glow, there is a slight averting of the eyes as there is a necessary adjustment to the Light.
The same is true when the Christmas lights come out. Initially it’s a shock. Sometimes that's because it’s October 29th but that’s a soapbox moment I can save for another day. Even when it’s the right time and season, the lights that sparkle the darkness can be overwhelming if they aren’t received as they are intended. Let us pray that the same is not true of the miracle of Christmas.
This week, as we prepare for Christmas, as we sit at the cradle, let us prepare our hearts to receive the Light who has abolished the darkness. Let us prepare to see Him as He is. I don’t know about you but I know I see better after receiving the gift and grace of Confession. If you haven’t been a while, maybe now’s the time. Seriously – look at your calendar to make room for this priceless gift. God longs to extend His mercy to us. Let us receive the gift of Himself and His forgiveness by returning and waiting with joyful hope so that we may see Him as He is – small and vulnerable, waiting like a gentle man, longing to be loved, dependent on the hands who will care for Him.
Let us proclaim with Mary our boundless yes to receive His infinite goodness, light, and Love and to love Him in all we encounter!
Verso l’alto,
Kathryn Grace
O Love, make a way come and find us
Search the darkness light the way come and guide us home
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
**Scroll to find this song: NEVER ALONE***
My soul longs for love alone
So here I am never alone
Because Bruce is so close to getting it right
