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Happy New Year!
It’s hard to believe we’re already five days in to 2020.
If we take a moment to reflect upon 2019, I’m sure most of us can say the year was a mixed bag. There were days we’d love to repeat, days we’d rather erase, and lots of days in between.
You might say we experienced both light and darkness.
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For example, remember how the world stood still on April 15th as we watched Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris nearly burn to the ground.
It was a moment of great sadness; a moment of darkness.
Then in August we saw Hurricane Dorian, one of the most powerful storms on record, destroy entire towns in the Bahamas.
Many residents there remain in darkness.
Then in October, Americans witnessed the trial of Amber Guyger, who was found guilty of shooting an innocent man.
You may remember, she was an off-duty police officer who walked into the wrong apartment after work. Thinking she saw an intruder, she shot a man sitting on his own couch.
The victim’s brother was present at the heartbreaking trial.
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In 2019 we experienced darkness.
We witnessed churches burning, storms brewing, and innocent lives being taken. Dark moments for ordinary people like us.
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But wherever there is darkness, light can appear.
Herein lies the lesson for us.
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The story of Notre Dame reminded us that the Church is not a physical building.
As hard as it was to see a house of worship engulfed in flames, we were reminded then and now that we – not a building – are the real body of Christ.
And after Hurricane Dorian, hundreds of people risked their lives to save others, often people they’d never met. In the face of disaster, ordinary people became the light to those who sat in darkness.
And after Amber Guyger was found guilty, the victim’s brother asked if he could hug her before she was led off to prison.
That embrace showed us in the most concrete terms the real power of forgiveness.
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Throughout 2019, ordinary men and women stood up and said, “The darkness will not overcome us. We will be part of the solution. We choose to be light.”
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The same battle between darkness and light occurs in the Gospel.
King Herod is trying to kill the infant Jesus. A moment of real darkness.
Meanwhile the magi are seeking to worship Christ.
After the magi find him, they share what they’ve learned with others, the truth that God has come to save us, people of every race, and tongue, and nation.
The darkness has not overcome us. Evil has not won. Love is victorious.
There’s only one caveat.
As the magi realize, we’re all caught up in this divine plan of bringing light to others, meaning each of us is invited to worship Christ, and then share his light with others.
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We may not find ourselves in a courtroom embracing a guilty party or volunteering for disaster relief in 2020.
But if 2019 has taught us anything, it’s the truth that we can be light in the face of darkness – good in response to evil.
As Saint Francis of Assisi often prayed, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is despair, let me bring hope; where there is darkness, let me bring light.”
How we will follow in the footsteps of those who’ve gone before us remains to be seen.
But the message is clear. In the words of Jesus, “You are the light of the world.”
Shine bright in 2020.