Dear Family,
One of the nicer things that happened to me recently was receiving a wonderful reflection. It came from a parishioner who doesn’t want to be named. I have this mental image of conversations about “Who was it?” and no one really paying attention to the thought and prayer itself. Still, I am a man of hope so I pass it on as a special gift.
“Hurricane shutters blocked the light coming through the beautiful window over the altar in our chapel. I had admired that window morning after morning as flashes of light sparkled through the golden hues. But now the window was dark and faceless. I knew of its beauty, but I could not see it. That is what the masks we wear do to our inner light. Self-recrimination, worry, anxiety, fear and wounds block our true identity. The light of Christ is there, but it is not visible to others. Lord, help me remove the masks that shutter out your light. Let your love shine through me for all the world to see.”
One of the things I remember from Marriage Encounter was the idea that masks get in the way of communication. So often we might not even be aware that we are wearing a mask. The trouble is, people can only react to what they can see. If we don’t know we are wearing a mask, we may not understand the reaction we are getting from someone. The window was dark and faceless. I knew of its beauty but could not see it.
What makes us beautiful? I spent a lot of time trying to find a scripture from Paul that was floating around in the back of my head, that we are “living, breathing, walking, talking temples of the Holy Spir¬it and God lives in us.” Actually, I think the idea is my collection of biblical truth sort of summed up. The challenge is: do we allow the Holy Spirit’s “flashes of light” through the darkening masks we wear...
We received that Spirit in a special way on the day we were baptized. Did anyone teach us that we had “flashes” within us? Well, someone taught us enough by word and example to at least get us here. If we were paying attention we also learned how to use the unique combination of God’s gifts that make each of us a special window unlike any other.
On Sunday, we have been celebrating in St. Sebastian Catacombs. Not to beat the metaphor of windows to death, someone remarked that the one good thing about leaving up the shutters for a while (in addition to not having to have two men spend four hours moving them) is that the inside of the space is so well lit that we really aren’t bothered too much.
“Lit from within...” We need to be careful not to make it seemed as though we are looking for a safe shuttered space to hide and not talk to anyone but ourselves. Recall the thought from Eucharistic Prayer II:
...we offer you, Lord, the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation, giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you.
Did you ever wonder how we could minister to Jesus? Who is the “you?” The second one is Jesus AND us. We are the body of Christ. We are the flashes of light of His Spirit. We don’t gather to hide. We gather to renew our flashes of light so we can be light for everyone we meet outside these “shuttered” windows. Those shutters will not prevent us from flashing the light of the Lord to the spaces and places and people He wants to shine on through us.
I don’t think our poetic parishioner thought the golden hues would wind up writing this letter... Neither did I. Thank you, Lord.
In Him,
