ANOTHER CHRISTMAS
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. (Isaiah 60:1-2)
Dear friend, the great mysteries—or rather, the great transformations—unfold in profound silence, yet a silence that is both clamorous and eloquent for those who experience it.
Love delights in silence and flourishes within it.
In a deep silence, the Word of God became incarnate, without any cosmic commotion; and in a continuous silence, He developed within the womb of a simple and silent woman. He was also born in the silence of a cave, and for thirty silent years, He grew within a small and ordinary village.
Ignatius of Antioch, one of the early Church Fathers, already perceived the profound meaning of Christmas when he stated: “Jesus Christ proceeds from the silence of the Father… God awakens in the middle of the world’s night and, by virtue of an unfathomable decision, emerges from silence and communicates Himself to us, full of grace and truth, in the eternal, incarnate Word.”
That awakening or dawning announced by Isaiah is intended for you, for me, and for everyone. At some point, we will become aware that this sovereign Strength has reached us—this Light that will illuminate us, this supreme Love that will develop within each of us. But it requires an equally silent acceptance to mature and grow. In that moment, nothing will ever be the same; though the world may remain in darkness, a new dawn begins over you and over all who are capable of welcoming Him.
Now, surrender your entire being in a quiet and deep prayer to the Holy Spirit, saying:
Omnipotent and Most High Spirit of God, with the powerful certainty that You will work in me the prodigy of manifesting Yourself fully, I prostrate myself before You. I surrender into Your hands everything that still remains dark within me; and in profound adoration, I invoke Your purifying action to transform it, so that I may be fit to manifest You fully.
Dear friend, to radiate, one must first bathe in the Infinite Sea of Him who is all Love. One must experience it! That is why these awakenings occur personally and in the hidden depths of our innermost being. Arise and shine! It is equivalent to saying: Live awake, but not scattered!
Lord, without allowing my mind to be aware of what was going to happen, nor how it was going to happen, You have made me sense on this day what You expect of me; to sense it only, since it is a very timid first step along the wonderful path You have glimpsed before me. It has been like a rising wave covering my entire being with its healing waters. And this time it was the heart that was filled with all the love You made flow through it… in such a way that the totality of my being began to love more and more, without a definite objective… nothing and everything at once… what it knows and what it ignores… what it sees and what it has never seen; and so, little by little, this potential love has become an effective love, ready to pour itself over everything and everyone in healing waves, in an active radiation… Although it began timidly and weakly, I have been realizing that this is what You want and that this is what it means for the Word to be born in me. May I always seek to do Your will!
Mirra Alfassa, from her diary “Prayers and Meditations,” 12-24-1916.
And now, dear friend, in profound adoration, I invite you to finish with this Song of Praise, which came from the mouth of Saint Francis of Assisi after that blessed night in which he received the stigmata. As you can see, there is no reference to the “I”; everything is poured out toward a YOU: You alone are Holy, Lord God, who do wonders.
You are strong, You are great, You are most High,
You are good, all Good, Supreme Good, Lord God, living and true.
You are brightness and love, You are wisdom,
You are humility, You are patience, You are security.
You are peacefulness, You are well-being, You are joy,
You are beauty, You are meekness.
You are our protector, our guardian and defender.
You are strength and hope.
You are our sweetness.
You are our eternal life, Great and Admirable Lord
E – 63. Praise to God