C&SI - Embracing the darkness of Winter to welcome the Light of the World - 22 Dec 2024 (S05 E04)

On this weeks podcast on the 4th Sunday of Advent, John and Shane have a brief reflection on how embracing the darkness of Winter prepares us to welcome the Light of the World at Christmas.

We have a run through the up coming liturgical odds ends for the coming week with the obvious note that Christmas is on Wednesday and we enter into the Octave of Christmas. A reminder that the Holy Year begins with the  ceremony of the opening of the Holy Door in St Peter's Basilica during the Christmas Eve Mass and also that the Urbi et Orbi is on Christmas morning from Rome.

We have our reflection on the Sunday gospel which is Luke's account of the Visitation by Mary to Elizabeth at Ein Kareen and the encounter of witness with the unborn Herald John the Baptist.

Embracing the darkness of Winter to welcome the Light of the World
On the weekend of the Winter Solstice here in Ireland, a time which has  been full of spiritual significance to Irish people for millennia due to the events at the neolithic passage tomb at Newgrange. But for Christian's it is a mirror to the celebration of the Incarnation at Christmas. 

On this important date in our calendars, let’s look at the calendar more closely: The Church celebrates John the Baptist’s birthday on June 24th – the longest day of the year, when the sun is at its brightest. You might recall that John said that he must decrease, and Jesus must increase. Well, every day since June 24th, the days have indeed been ‘decreasing’. They’ve been getting shorter, right up until today. But with the Saviour’s birth, they become longer again, and so John’s desire that he must decrease and Jesus must increase is mirrored in the beautiful rhythm of the Church’s year.

So, why did John the Baptist need to decrease? Because, as the Gospel says: he was not the light, but came to testify to the light. But we can’t consign that role to the past: John the Baptist’s mission is shared by all Christians: we are all called to bear witness to Jesus… to testify to the light. We are called to work and to pray that his Kingdom may come – on earth as it is in heaven. And so the beautiful season of Christmas, soon to dawn on us, is a lot more than carols, gifts, feasting and decorations. It is also a challenge to each of us. It is a challenge to live, speak and act in such a way that we truly are voices crying out in the wilderness of our culture, and bearing witness to Jesus, the Light of the World. It is a challenge to act with honesty, integrity and generosity, so that in the darkness of mid-winter, his light may shine ever more brightly.

The Winter Solstice is a turning point in our planet’s year. If we let it, it can be a turning point for each one of us too. How will you testify to the light this Christmas?