The Light Streaming from Bethlehem

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light, that enlightens every man who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:8-10).

St. John's Gospel is the Gospel of Light. From this very first chapter, he talks a lot about light.

Most of the quotations about light in the Gospels will come from St. John. It was a theme and an imagery that he uses very much.

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and comes not to the light, that his works may not be approved. But he that does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be made manifest because they are done in God” (John 3:19-21).

Time and again, we get the reference that Christ is the light. There is a light streaming from Bethlehem. A light that lights up the whole of our life: our family life, our professional life, our married life, our spiritual life.

And that's why, one of the reasons why we are so attracted to Bethlehem, to the crib, to the Christ Child, is because there is this light that lights up our life.

“But if we walk in the light,” says St. John, “as he also is in the light, we are fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sins” (1 John 1:7). Something very special comes with that light.

In the Opening Prayer of Christmas Night, the Mass says, “Father, you make this holy night radiant with the splendor of Jesus Christ, our light. We welcome him as Lord, the true light of the world.”

There's this interplay between light and darkness. We walk in darkness, this world is in darkness. We need the true light to be able to see where we're going.

The truth comes with the light. Love comes with the light. Clarity and many other things come with the light.

St. John said, “He who is in the light and hates his brother, he is in darkness until now” (1 John 2:9). Jesus said, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be children of light” (John 12:36).

As we approach Bethlehem, one of the sentiments that can be in our mind and heart and soul, in our prayers, is thanksgiving that we have the light, that God has given us the grace of light, that we are children of light, children of so many beautiful realities that we find in the stable at Bethlehem.

Divine Beauty Incarnate that shines out with His love and that lights up the world.

“These things Jesus spoke, and he went away and hid himself from them” (John 12:36). Christ exposes the people to the light, but then He retreats into the darkness.

“I am the light into the world that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (cf. John 12:46). There may be many times when we go through a period of darkness in our life. Likewise, there may be other moments when we get new lights. That phrase refers to new inspirations, new depth of understanding, of wisdom, of knowledge, of perception. We call it the light.

God is working in our lives to bring us on to deeper spiritual pathways because God wants us to share those realities with other people. “You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5:14).

There is a light that streams from Bethlehem into our lives. But that light is not just for us. The light is meant to shine through us. We put a light on the lampstand to be seen by everybody. We don't hide it away under a bushel measure (cf. Matt. 5:15).

The length and breadth of Christ has exposed us to the light is like a talent in our life. He wants us to shed half that light, first and foremost in our family, in our environment, with our friends…the truth, the beauty, the love with which we live, in which we work, in which we function, giving witness to the light all the time.

In the First Reading from Isaiah on Christmas Night, it says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isa. 9:1). It's not just any light. It's a great light. “On the inhabitants of a country in shadow dark as death, light has blazed forth (Matt. 4:16).

In our life, “God has visited his people” (Luke 7:16). He has visited each one of us. He has let us see that light, formed us in the light, nurtured us to be able to fulfill our mission a little better.

In the reading from the book of Titus, it says, “We are waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13).

The appearing of the glory of our great God in and through and behind that baby—that light is shining and has shone down through the centuries.

In Christ, we find the meaning and the purpose of our life. We find peace, joy serenity, and so many other things. The mystery of the Incarnation is very powerful, very beautiful.

Some years ago, there were several explorers in Alaska. They discovered far back in the mountains a lake whose waters were always warm. Something rather unusual in Alaska.

Even in the coldest winter months, you could catch plenty of fish there because the water was always cozy enough even to swim in. This strange lake is hundreds of miles from the ocean, but somehow, some underground channel is constantly feeding it and keeping it warm. It creates a real oasis of warmth and life amid the desolation of the arctic winter.

Christ is like that lake. He is trustworthy. He is the fulfillment of the Father's promises. No matter how much this fallen world causes us to suffer, no matter how cold the world gets, His love never wavers, His goodness never freezes over like this warm lake amid the arctic ice. The heart of Christ, the heart that keeps His promises, is always there to welcome and sustain us.

These are the reasons for entering into the stable in Bethlehem; to become one more in the scene, to contemplate this Incarnation of mercy. “If we call the land where Jesus walked holy, imagine the womb that bore him” (attributed to St. Augustine).

All the physical signs and symbols of Christmas all point to the beauty of Bethlehem. They all point to the light.

Our Lord has told us, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, and neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Your light has to shine before men., that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:14-16).

We have to try and think amid the busyness of these days of what we're doing for others. How are we helping others during these days, weeks, and hours, giving example to our family or leading them along that path, so that the light that we have, the beauty and the joy is very much shared with other people.

When Our Lord said that we are “the light of the world” He gave us our description and our function. That's a pretty important description and a pretty important function.

No other group in society has been given this responsibility to be “the light of the world.” Not the national media, not the movie producers, not Google or Facebook or Instagram, not the politicians. We are to be “the light of the world.”

We need to take that responsibility very seriously; to read about our faith, to get to know Jesus Christ a little better, to know the doctrine of our Church with all its richness and beauty, which is another place in and through where the light shines. And all of this, in a dark world.

It would be very nice to live and dwell in a world of light, where everything all the time was truth and goodness and beauty. But it's only in the light of Christ that we come to see the beauty that is behind the ordinary things.

“There is something divine, something hidden in the most ordinary human reality” (cf. Josemaría Escrivá, Conversations, Point 114). But because we dwell in a dark world, not everybody sees that.

We have to try and help them to see it. It's in the darkness that we can do our best work with those friends or contacts who perhaps are working very much in darkness. They don't have a light in their life. Perhaps God is not in their soul in grace, and that has to bother us.

It's time that we allowed our light to shine. We could wait until the time is right when we feel good about it or when we think we know all the answers. But that time will likely not come.

We could also wait until it's safe to be the light when everybody will agree with us, when we won't have to go against the grain or stick our neck out or get it chopped off. But maybe it will never really be safe.

We cannot wait. Now is the time to let our light shine. Christ wants us to be signs of contradiction in the environment where we move, to give witness to Him.

Light is revealed in darkness. Darkness surrounds us. We need to let our light be revealed now because we have also “seen a great light”, as we're told in Isaiah (Isa. 9:1). An immense light. A great light that makes all the difference, that answers all the questions.

“In Christ, we find the meaning and the purpose of our life” (cf. Pope John Paul II, Homily, World Youth Day, August 14, 1993).

God has wanted to reveal Himself in a way that everyone can understand. He didn't just become a man; He became a baby, a small baby.

He is the true light, and His light can never be obscured. That's why that light has shone down through the centuries.

The history of the Church is the history of the Holy Spirit working in the world. The light of Christ, letting it be seen in all sorts of ways: beauty in the truth of Christ and the love of Christ coming to the sick to every lost person, to the elderly, the infirm, the migrants, the minorities, promoting the dignity of every human person.

Pope St. John Paul II wrote a beautiful Apostolic Letter on the Rosary in the early 2000s called the Rosary of Our Lady. In it, he talked about the Mysteries of Light. He gave us those five new mysteries and he said that the whole “mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. ‘He is the light of the world’ (John 9:5)” (John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Points 19 and 21, October 16, 2002).

He has led us to contemplate more frequently the Baptism of Jesus, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Proclamation of the Holy Gospel, the Transfiguration, the Institution of the Blessed Eucharist. It's all a story of light.

“I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). It's as though St. Joseph and Our Lady were very conscious of those words. They possessed the light on their journey to Bethlehem and that's all that mattered. Nothing else mattered; the home that they had left, family, friends, stability of work. The contradictions didn't matter. The Roman soldiers didn't matter. Herod and all the others didn't matter.

Jesus then said, “The light will be with you only a little longer now.” Time is limited. The light might disappear from our lives. “Go on your way while you have the light otherwise, darkness will overtake you. Nobody who walks in the dark knows where he's going” (John 12:35).

Our Lord also uses the concept of light to issue a warning. To give us a little push. Launch out into the deep. Use your time well. Have goals. Think more of the apostolate. Spread the warmth and light of Christ around you as much as you can. Help people around you to understand the central meaning of Christmas, which is a spiritual meaning.

“‘While you still have the light,’ He continues, ‘believe in the light, that you may become children of light.’ Having said this, Jesus left them and was hidden from their sight” (John 12:36).

Through every opportunity, Our Lord gives formation to us or some idea through our spiritual reading, through our prayer, through our contemplation, through our presence of God. He is letting His light shine a little more.

But then, there may come a period of darkness when He's hidden from our sight. Maybe He doesn't say things to us. Perhaps He wants us to chew on those other revelations that He's made to us, those deeper meanings and significance of our Christian vocation.

He says, “Walk while you have the light” (John 12:35). He is our point of reference for everything.

The Psalm says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?” (Ps. 27:1). “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps. 23:1). He is beside me. He's showing me the way. He's my reference point for everything.

“God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God…one in being with the [Father],” we say in the Creed. There's a light streaming from Bethlehem, by which people can see and by which they can go to heaven.

The pathway is Christ. “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). The world was in darkness until the coming of the light.

Christ has entrusted the role of being a light to His Church. The Church illumines the world with the light of Christ—one of the reasons why we have to pay attention to our catechetical formation, know the truths that the Church teaches, read the documents of the Church, and read the Pastoral Letters of the bishops.

Here in Kenya, our bishops in the last fifteen years have given us gems of Pastoral Letters. You want to know what's going on in this country? Read the pastoral letters. They're all beautifully written. Great illumination. It comes with the light of Christ.

All those means are there within our reach to know them, to transmit them, to light up our parishes, our homes, our dioceses. “May your light so shine before men that they see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

Many years ago, a lady told me in another country how she would walk to Mass every morning. She had done so for decades.

Her house was very near the church. She said, ‘One day last week when I was walking to Mass, I noticed the sun coming up. You know, the sun has come up every day of my life. It's not as though we wake up in the morning and go to our window with binoculars and look out the window and wonder, will the sun come up today? The sun comes up every day because it has to give light to the world. The sun has a job to do. The sun comes up whether it's warm or cold, whether it's sunny or raining or sleeting or foggy. The sun doesn't pay any attention to the environment in that sense, or to the circumstances. It's there to fulfill its duty. As I walked to Mass that morning, I felt the Holy Spirit was telling me that I have to try and be like the sun.’

We're called to reflect the light of Christ. To do that better, we have to draw close to the source of the light.

Christmas is a wonderful time for taking care of our prayer life—the priority of our norms. We may have many other things to do. There may be a great temptation to activism, to run around the place, but our prayer life has to come first. “The primacy of the spiritual” (Jacques Martain), because we have to reflect a light which is not ours.

If we spend time in prayer, we will reflect the light of Christ. We’ll make sure that these days are very spiritual in our family and in the people that we meet in our social life.

If we want to be close to Jesus, we have to be concerned to be the light for others.

The apostles, whom Our Lord calls the light of the world (Matt. 5:14) were His friends. If we are truly friends of Our Lord, it will be noticed by those around us because we will give off light.

The apostles enlightened the world with the Gospel. They were just a very few people, but they brought the light of life to the whole of humanity.

Our Lord has always counted on a very small few to bring His light to the world, just as in Bethlehem. Even though we might say, ‘I'm just a single person. I'm in contact with very few people. In my organization, we seem to be very few.’ Never mind. That's how God works.

Throughout His life, Our Lord continues to be the light. He’s the light on the Cross. He's the light in the tabernacle. The light is not just streaming from Bethlehem, but it's also streaming from the Cross and from the Tabernacle.

We need to lead others to the light so that they don't get lost in the dark periods of their life. That's why every time that you see a light during these days, a Christmas light, a candlelight, or all sorts of other lights, you should be reminded of the true light that is coming into the world.

Pope Francis has liked to say recently, “The light that the world offers us is an artificial one. It may be a bright light. It might seem brighter than the light of Christ. It may be bright like festive fireworks. It may be bright like the flash of a camera. But instead, the light of Christ is meek. It is a calm and peaceful light. It is the light of that first Christmas Eve, without any pretense. It offers and gives peace, with the power of meekness. It is a light that speaks to the heart. It is also a light that offers the Cross,” Pope Francis concluded (cf. Pope Francis, Morning Meditation, September 3, 2013).

I'm often reminded how, in St. Peter's, on Easter night, there is a Paschal Vigil, which the Pope comes down to, and Pope Benedict, even in his elderly years, used to be present at that vigil. There used to be announcements to ask people not to flash too many cameras because the Pope found that a bit distracting. It's as though that bright light bothered him a little bit.

And, just thinking about it, it's as though he was a bit turned off by all the artificial lights because he was familiar with the true light that has come into the world. All the other lights paled in comparison. The Third Christmas Preface says: “Today, in him a new light has dawned upon the world.” Every year, we come to witness this new light, which brings new graces, new joys, and new meaning.

It continues, “God has become one with humanity, and we have become one again with God. Your eternal Word has taken upon himself our human weakness, giving our mortal nature immortal value. So marvelous is this oneness between God and humanity that Christ our brother restores the gift of everlasting life to his brothers and sisters” (Roman Missal, Christmas Preface III).

We sing those beautiful words, “Radiant beams from Thy holy face” (Hymn, Silent Night). Beautiful aspiration for these days.

In the First Preface of Christmas, it says: “In the wonder of the Incarnation, your eternal Word has brought to the eyes of faith a new and radiant vision of your glory.”

Radiant vision. We see in the Liturgy, there is constant reference to the light streaming from Bethlehem. “In him, we see our God made visible,” it says, “and so are caught up in the love of the God we cannot see” (Roman Missal, Christmas Preface I). The light leads us to the truth.

In the Incarnation, God took on our humanity. Through the Incarnation, we have a God we can touch. God comes to us in the things we know best: a human body, and that of a baby. The human body becomes important because “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14).

We don't often use the word “flesh.” We don't ask people: ‘How's your flesh today?’

But Christ became flesh, took on our flesh. We use that word in our prayer: “the Word was made flesh.” We encounter God in the Word made flesh.

John Paul II says, “The only way to encounter the truth of our humanity is to encounter ‘the Word made flesh’” (John 1:14). And the Word took on flesh not just for a time, but for eternity.

He said, “In Christ, we see the human face of God and the divine face of man.” We go to the invisible through the visible. The light is something powerful.

“The body becomes a sign of the eternal mystery hidden in God” (John Paul II, Theology of the Body). And what is that mystery? Love. Love is tied up with light. Every time a child is conceived, the mystery of God is proclaimed anew. There is light for all from the Christ Child.

St. Edith Stein, otherwise known as St. Teresa Benedict of the Cross, says, “Come and drink from the springs of living water that the Savior releases to the thirsty and that stream to eternal life. The Word has become flesh and lies before us in the form of a little newborn child, that we may come to him and bring him gifts. And then, in a new year, we should go with him the entire way of his life on earth. Every mystery of this life that we seek to discern in loving contemplation is for us a fount of eternal life” (Edith Stein, Before the Face of God).

We can contemplate this light and thank God for it, make resolutions to stay always closer to the light, generating that spiritual wonder before the divine.

Pope Francis has talked all about wonder. “Wonder,” he says, “is a great grace.” Like little children, we have to go into the stable in Bethlehem and spend time wondering.

”[Wonder is] the grace,” he says, “that God gives us in our encounter with Jesus Christ. It is something that draws us outside of ourselves with joy. It is not a mere enthusiasm like that of sports fans when their favorite team wins, but something deeper. It is having an inner experience of meeting the living Christ and thinking that it is not possible, but the Lord helps us understand that this is the reality. It is wonderful” (Pope Francis, Homily, April 4, 2013).

“St. Joseph, our Father and Lord: most chaste, most pure. You were found worthy to carry the Child Jesus in your arms, to wash him, to hug him. Teach us to get to know God, and to be pure, worthy of being other Christs,” we're told in The Forge (J. Escrivá, The Forge, Point 553).

If we stay close to Joseph and Mary along their journey to Bethlehem and in the stable, in the days afterwards, they will lead us to the true light that has come into the world.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

VA