//Women at the Well Ministries//
Jesus Is . . .
Light in the Darkness
Jesus told us that we’re the light of the world, and do we ever take him seriously when we’re celebrating his birth! We string lights inside and outside, wrapped around pillars and fences, trailing from rooftops. Now we have laser light shows that play on the front of the house. We string lights in the house around doorways and up and down stairs. The tree might have big lights, little lights, LED lights, bubble lights, and a lighted star at the very top. And no matter how old we get, there’s still a little bit of magic when we switch them on. Our love of light may go all the way back to an ancestral memory, at least in the northern hemisphere, of fearing the darkness and the cold of winter. The twinkling holiday lights give us not so much utilitarian light as a sparkle and dazzle that imitates the stars on a crisp cold night. So it’s not surprising that spiritual teachers through the millennia, beginning even before Jesus, have used light as a metaphor for holiness, for joy, for peace.
As researchers study the effect of various kinds of light on the parts of our brain that control waking and sleeping as well as mood disorders, we gain knowledge and insight. People in climates that have long stretches of dark, gray days have learned to use light therapy to keep depression and seasonal affective disorder at bay. But mostly, we’re putting a name to what we already know instinctively: Light makes us happy.
—from the book The Peace of Christmas: Quiet Reflections from Pope Francis
by Diane M. Houdek
//Franciscan Media – Minute Meditations//
How to Be the Light of The World
“Someone else will take care of that.”
We all feel this way sometimes, but today’s reflection will inspire you to shine your light in the darkness. Watch now–Matthew shares some thought-provoking questions that will help you reflect on your life and challenge you to spread your goodness in the world!
Minute Meditation – Welcome the Light of the World
We’ve become a very mobile culture, often moving several times in the course of a career. It can be daunting to leave one place for another, to make new friends and build new routines and traditions. But it offers tremendous opportunities to share our gifts in ever-widening circles. As the Christmas season draws to a close, we reflect not so much on the birth of Jesus as on the impact that birth had on all those who heard of it—the shepherds, the magi, the villagers, and us. We get so busy at this time of year with all the activity that sometimes we forget that this baby whose birth we celebrate was in fact the divine in our midst. The Feast of Epiphany makes clear that by taking on our human reality, God shows us how to move beyond our ordinary routines into lives that can make a difference in our world. The coming of the Magi to visit the holy family was a sign that Christ had come not only for the people of Bethlehem and Jerusalem but for all people in all times and places. It is a reminder that we’re called to be ever more inclusive, to be open to questions from all those who seek the love and the mercy and the peace of God.
—from the book The Peace of Christmas: Quiet Reflections from Pope Francis
by Diane M. Houdek