Discovering the More

Christmas may seem long past to many.  But this weekend draws us into the heart of the Mystery.   On Sunday, we find ourselves with the Magi—seekers, lost but undaunted, stargazers open to the unexpected, searching for the long awaited One.  I wonder how they really felt after their arduous journey led them to a baby in a manager with a young mother and anxious father looking on? How did the Magi SEE what lay before them?  

Aren’t we all seekers in this journey we call life…seekers of meaning, hope, truth, Love, …and the God who alludes us?  Don’t we have moments when we lose focus, or struggle to know which way to turn to find the way forward?  

How often do we miss the very gift we are seeking because our expectations blind us!

The Magi returned home by a different path.  Their encounter changed them and their journey.  And what about you and me?  How will my life be different because of my journey to Bethlehem?

The answer alludes me, but my heart has been captivated by a Christmas message from Janice McLaughlin, a Maryknoll sister in Zimbabwe, who shared a Jesuit’s insight:

 “Mary.

 She knew nothing of comets, galaxies, the speed of light, the burning stars.

 Instead she tended with care

the light of a darkening world that God laid in her lap.”    James Keegan, SJ

All of us know the truth of “a darkening world.”   We use different words to describe the darkness that seems to engulf our social, environmental, political, and even spiritual realms.  We cannot escape the darkness encountered in ourselves or as it erupts among us.  Darkness often gives birth to judgment. It creates polarization and breeds violence.  It is hard to escape the weight of darkness or the anguish and paralysis it brings.  But there is MORE … Darkness also can be the conduit of light.

In a darkening world, God lays Light in our laps.
We are entrusted with a gift, the MORE that our world longs for. 
For many it is easier to believe in the infant Jesus, God’s Light of the world, a gift given 2000 years ago.  But can we believe the astounding truth that God depends on US to bear and become this Light for our world today?  

What will it take for me, for us to believe and embrace and tend with care the light of a darkening world that God laid in our laps?

We are the birthplace of God, coming again and always as gift to our world. 
Our God calls us to enflesh the Light our world so desperately needs… the more of compassion, reverence, mercy,  – and Love!  Our God invites us to wake up to the Light in our sisters and brothers, whomever they may be!

This is the path to greater Love that awaits us.  May the Magi inspire and teach us!  May we support each other in tending the precious Light of God’s Love burning strong within and among us!  How good to be companions on this journey!