God our Creator, we give thanks to you, who alone have the power to impart the breath of life as you form each of us in our mother’s womb; grant, we pray, that we, whom you have made stewards of creation may remain faithful to this sacred trust and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Fathers of the Church often compared the Church to the moon — all of her light is simply a reflection of the light of Christ himself. People often object to the need for the Church - why not simply go to Christ directly? The Fathers, the earliest teachers of the faith who had received the Tradition from the Apostles themselves, would simply answer that wherever the Church is present or speaks or acts it is Christ who is present and speaking and acting. This beautiful imagery can help us to understand our vocation as members of the Church. Our mission is to reflect Christ’s light to people in darkness – in other words, to people who, for many and varied reasons, are unable to see Christ.  Here’s how JP2 expressed it in relation to the Third Millennium:

“A new century, a new millennium are opening in the light of Christ. But not everyone can see this light. Ours is the wonderful and demanding task of becoming its ‘reflection’. This is the mysterium lunae, which was so much a part of the contemplation of the Fathers of the Church, who employed this image to show the Church’s dependence on Christ, the Sun whose light she reflects. It was a way of expressing what Christ himself said when he called himself the ‘light of the world’ (Jn 8:12) and asked his disciples to be ‘the light of the world’ (Mt 5:14).” — Novo millennio ineunte, 54

The saints, God’s holy ones, are each in their own unique way moons gently lighting the way for those in darkness.  And remember, anyone who is baptized is already numbered among God’s holy ones - so we are meant to be moons who light the way for others. Sunlight can at times be overwhelming and even painful to look at for those whose eyes are not able to handle its intensity…the moon is in a mysterious way more inviting, possessing its own unique beauty, and a promise of the dawn to come that fills the heart with a song of hope.

Whenever I am struggling for whatever reason, I try to pick up and read the life of a saint, even if just an anecdote or two.  It never fails that when I do I find something to encourage me in whatever trial, big or small, I am going through. The saints help me to remember who and where I am – a pilgrim on a long journey that others have made before me. Those who have already completed the journey are cheering me on and interceding for me for the grace to persevere the way they did…and in some small way I receive new strength for the journey. 

Mary, Star of the Third Millennium, pray for us!

When I lived in Rome as a student-priest during the years 2002-2005, I was privileged on many occasions to serve at the altar and distribute Holy Communion at the public Masses of Blessed John Paul II. During those final years of his life, the Pope was very weak and often required a good deal of assistance to offer Mass and preach. It was amazing to see his determination and stamina as the once athletic young man had to summon every ounce of his strength in order to mount the stairs to the altar or to give a homily.

One of the themes that JP2 spoke about frequently in his final years was “contemplating the face of Christ.” He understood this contemplation as the primary vocation of the Church in our time and the place from which all other witness and service to the Kingdom must flow. Here’s another excerpt from his letter on the beginning of the new millennium:

“‘Your face, O Lord, I seek’ (Ps 27:8).

The ancient longing of the Psalmist could receive no fulfilment greater and more surprising than the contemplation of the face of Christ. God has truly blessed us in him and has made “his face to shine upon us” (Ps 67:1).

At the same time, God and man that he is, he reveals to us also the true face of man, ‘fully revealing man to man himself.’” (Novo millenio ineunte, 23)

Guided by the Light of the Holy Spirit, we ask Jesus to show us his face in prayer, where he comes to us in Word and Sacrament, so that then we can then discover his face present each day in the world around us. 

The Christian vocation is thus simple yet challenging:

We are called to see the serenity of Christ, the man of abundant trust in the Father’s love, and then show that same trust ourselves to others who are seeking him:

We are called to gaze with wonder on the child born in Bethlehem and then see his face in the wonder of human life:

(This is my new niece, Gemma Rose Auger, born on January 6 -  I just met her for the first time yesterday!!

Pretty cute,                don’t you think?)

And as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta often said, we are called to see his face even and especially when he wears the distressing disguise of the sick and poor:

And so, in every place and in every moment, the Church, which is the new Israel, cries out, “Show us your face, O Lord!”

And, if we wait for the Lord with courage, we will discover that Christ is among us.

Mary, Star of the Third Millennium, pray for us!

Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,

“What are you looking for?”

They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day.

John 1: 38-39

Happy Lord’s Day!! Make some time to spend with Jesus today, and you will not regret it!

Mary, Star of the Third Millennium, pray for us!

So, what did Blessed John Paul II mean when he called our generation to be the “morning watchmen” of the Third Millennium? He drew on an image from the prophet Isaiah, who is asked, “Watchman, how much longer the night?” He replies, “Morning has come, and again night,” and then he tells his inquirers to come back again (Isaiah 21:11-12).

The prophet’s mysterious answer contains several meanings:

First, he is a watchman who is looking for the dawn, that is, he is surrounded by much darkness, yet he is confident that, if he is patient, it is inevitable that the sun is going to rise.

Second, his answer indicates that although the light has come, there is still much darkness along with the light. This is of course a paradox. Christianity is the religion of paradoxes! Death leads to life, the last become first, God becomes man, the greatest must be the servant…Here the mysterious paradox is that although the light has come, there is still much darkness remaining in the world. The coming of Christ into the world has not yet definitively destroyed darkness, there remains a great struggle between light and darkness, and all of us have a part to play in this struggle.

Lastly, the prophet tells his listeners to come back again; that is, if they persevere in their demand, they will see the dawn from on high and the light of the day that will know no sunset.

John Paul the Great’s message to our generation was very perceptive, realistic, and yet so encouraging! He perceived that the darkness would be great and even seem to have the upper hand at times. The temptation to discouragement can be overwhelming when we see the many ways in which our culture discards faith and lives as if there were nothing more than this material world. There is also the reality of our own sinfulness, the darkness within each one of us against which we have to struggle (and if you are anything like me, that struggle can be fierce at times!)

The great witness we are called to give the world as Christians is our confident assurance that the light, who is Jesus Christ, has already won and one day very soon will definitively win the victory. Our call as we await his victory is to stand firm in our commitment to heartfelt prayer, listening attentively to the voice of the Father’s Beloved Son. This prayer is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us how to contemplate the beauty of God’s presence in creation and to point out his presence to our brothers and sisters who may be tempted to give up hope when they see so much darkness around us.

Holy Spirit, strengthen our hope, encourage those who are struggling, and shine into our darkness with the light that will guide us on the path of holiness!

Mary, Star of the Third Millennium, pray for us!

P.S. Here’s one of my favorite clips of a morning watchman at work – Gandalf encouraging a frightened little hobbit who is about to give up hope!