Friday, December 6, 2019

December 2019 - First Friday Holy Hour - Light in our Darkness

During the Advent Season daylight is seen less and less, the darkness comes earlier, the weather grows colder.  Remember back in summer—the long wonderful days of summer, sunlight until 9pm?

As we near Christmas, the days get darker and darker, and in response so many of our Advent prayers and liturgies call to mind the promises of God’s light.  We watch for “the dawn from on high to break upon us”, we watch for the coming of the Lord, the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah prophecies that the coming of the messiah will bring so much light that “out of the gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see”.

One of the recurring themes in the Gospel is Jesus bringing light to the eyes of the blind.

What beautiful words, we hear in the Gospel today, “He touched their eyes…and their eyes were opened.” What a wonderful thing to ponder, as we kneel before the Lord in the Holy Eucharist this evening.

We wouldn’t be here tonight if the Lord had not already touched the eyes of our soul bestowing the gift of faith. As St. Thomas rightly puts it: what our physical senses fail to detect, faith rightly perceives. We perceive through faith that the Lord is truly present. We see rightly with our souls that he is here. Blessing us with his presence.

And he sees us. As he looks out upon the Church from the thousands of altars around the world, he sees souls coming to him to be healed, souls looking to him for guidance and strength, souls looking to him to be their light in the darkness and chaos of this fallen world.

Lord heal our blindnesses, Lord scatter our gloom and darknesses, Lord clarify our confused paths. Surround us, protect us, and enfold us in your light.

Through our Advent prayer, may the have pity on us, and touch the eyes of our hearts, deepen our faith, and strengthen us in his service for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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