Light in the Darkness: Weekly Message for 12-13-16

Dear Fellow Digital Pilgrim, pax Christi:

Where I live, winter is arriving. The days are getting shorter, the nights longer; the darkness is spreading. But today, St. Lucy’s Day (“Lucy” comes from a word meaning “light”), is a good day to remember that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). In fact, when it comes to seeing lights in the distance, we can actually see farther in the dark than in the light. At night we see the stars; during the day we don’t.

This play between the light and the darkness is woven throughout the liturgical seasons of Advent and Christmas. I hope and pray that you have been able to dodge the frenetic pace of the secular version of these seasons in order to find time to contemplate that. But even if you haven’t, there is still time. The wonder-full Solemnity of Christmas is just around the corner.  And you can still steal away and find a morning, or an afternoon, or an hour or two, to be alone with the Lord and talk to him about what that means for you, in the current moment and season of your own life. I know he has something to say to you, because he never stops thinking of you, never stops loving you and wanting to draw you deeper into the light of his grace.

I also hope and pray that our many resources can help you make that happen. Our various Advent and Christmas Retreat Guides are still all available for free, in all their formats (video, audio, PDF), for use online or for downloading. And the final volume in my little series of seasonal meditations, Winter Meditations, is ready to help you unplug from the hustle and bustle and plug into the message of this cold but eloquent season of the year.

Even if you don’t use any of our resources, please do make an effort to carve out some time to spend alone with God as Christmas approaches, as hard as it may be. In the end, your friendship with Christ is what gives meaning and sense to everything else.  And now is a privileged time to revitalize it.

If you have been and are using our resources, and you haven’t yet contributed to our Advent Appeal, please considering making a generous donation to help us continue our efforts at evangelizing the Digital Continent. If you have read this far, you are certainly someone who knows what that continent looks like, and how important it is to make the Gospel resound there.

A sincere thank you to all of our Digital Missionaries who have already contributed to our Advent Appeal. You will not lose your reward!

All of our digital pilgrims and missionaries can keep counting on my prayers, every day, as we journey together through the darkness of this fallen world to the everlasting light of eternal life.

Peace in Him,
Fr John Bartunek, LC, SThD
contact@rcspirituality.org