Star

The Spiritual Waiting Room 

Star

Life-Giving     Luminary

Guiding     Radiating     Glorifying

Your Light Has Come

Epiphany

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture: Isaiah 60: 1 to 3

Rise up in glory, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the power of the Lord radiates upon you. See, darkness is over all the world, and thick clouds clothe the people; but upon you the Lord shines, and his strength dwells in you. Nations shall walk by your light, and leaders by your brilliant radiance.

Reflection

Isaiah is calling us to experience glory---like the glory we see as we look up at the stars at night. That sounds so good. We always talk about the "glory days". We think of a time when things were good. Everything was going well and we felt uplifted and full of joy.

We live in glory because, as Isaiah tells us, God's Light has come to us. That Light comes to us each time we recognize Jesus around us.

We always think of Jesus as having come to us many years ago. We remember His birth and His life when He walked among us. 

We think of His death and His resurrection. Unfortunately we can think that Jesus is a figure of the past.

Jesus, however, told us that He would be with us all days till the end of the world. He will never leave us alone. He will always be with us.

The Light is with us! The question we ask is "Where is Jesus now?"

We think of those people we meet who bring the Light of Jesus to us every day by their acts of kindness and compassion. I was reading about Dale Bartlomeo recently.

Dale was driving to visit his parents when he noticed a car on fire. He pulled over and saw that the driver of the car was pinned under the dashboard.

He was able to get the man out of the car and help him. His training as a volunteer fire fighter kicked right in.

The Light that Isaiah speaks about was there that day through Dale's efforts. We all have opportunities to bring that Light of Jesus into our world.

Isaiah does not see the world through rose colored glasses. He speaks about the darkness in the world. He knows well that we have to fight against evil.

Yet we are not alone in that fight. The radiant Light is with us to help us and to give us direction.

Kathy's photo this week is a screen shot from the Christmas Tree at the Vatican. The brilliant star shows us the power of Light to overcome the darkness and the evil.

The Light has come.

It shows us the way!

1. What are the "glory days" that you remember the most?

2. When has the Light came into your life?

3. What helps you overcome the darkness that you have encountered?

4. What do you think of when you see the star on top of the Christmas Tree?