Dear Parishioners of Our Lady’s, St Anne’s and St Jerome’s.
‘You are all children of the light and children of the day’
‘Light’. There is precious little of it at the moment; both from Nature and from the day to day life of our global family. Or is there? Certainly, we are just a few weeks away from the shortest day and we all expect the darker mornings and evenings. The light of the Sun nurtures and sustains life on our planet. But there is a greater Light that invites us to draw nearer to its source, offering us new life.
St Paul understood very well that the light is our natural habitat. We are ‘children’ of the light, the Light that is God. He then goes on to say that those who live in light are always ‘awake’, they do not ‘sleep’. Here, I think, is a problem that many of us are facing at the moment. The strain of these last months have made us ‘sleepy’, deprived of energy and positivity. We may feel that we have little left to give, to offer.
How can we find renewal, new purpose, new direction in these drab and sleepy days? Surely, by walking into the Light, by becoming more conscious of the presence of God in the here and now. He is inviting us to stop, to rest, to regenerate in His light. To put aside activity for a while, to be at peace, to be still. Only in that peace and stillness does the light begin to dawn. As we remain in the light and peace of God, we begin to wake up, to be more alert and to see as God sees; what is it that God wants of me at this moment, with this person, this situation, this need?
It is the light of God that we desperately need, a light always present to us, always seeking to break into our hearts. This light is our true home which we never want to leave. In it we see who we are and what is needed of us. This is the way we become light bearers. Surely, it is this light, the light of God, that is needed now more than ever.
God bless you all,
Father John