Pastoral Letter: This Christmas, Light a Candle

Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Ignatius Parish,

During the first week of Advent, a would-be John the Baptist interrupted daily Mass. A not-quite-kempt young man, a cardboard sign with “Repent” (or something akin to that – it all happened so fast) swaying from his backpack, entered the church from the Parker Avenue doors. As he made his way to the St. Joseph Altar and those gathered for Mass, he shouted various warnings, exhorting us to turn from our sins and from the evils of the Catholic Church. When he arrived at the Communion rail to address the people and I stepped off the altar to reason with him, we met face to face. I invited him to sit quietly with us; he accused me of leading the people into idolatry; someone called Public Safety. By the time Public Safety arrived, our prophet was exiting the church, telling us that he was washing his hands of us, having discharged his duty to point out the error of our ways.

I heard a few hours later that the first thing the Public Safety officer did when they got to the squad car was to reach into the back seat and offer the young man a jacket against the cold morning. His reported response was, “I prayed that I would get a jacket this morning!”

When the other John the Baptist was in jail for having called out King Herod for his incestuous marriage to his brother’s ex-wife, he sent some of his disciples to Jesus asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Like most Jews, John expected the Messiah to bring about a universal cleanup with winnowing fan and an unquenchable fire. Yet, he had heard the stories of Jesus, who scattered the darkness of sin with a gospel of forgiveness and compassion. And the giving of warm jackets on cold mornings.

These weeks, we celebrate the Incarnation, the advent of God into human history and our experience, as one just like us in all things but sin. As John the Evangelist tells it, “What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 4-5)

The light of the human race will not be overcome, for that light lives on in us, the Body of Christ, the People of God. With his short poem, Howard Thurman reminds us of how this is to be:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.

Thurman also suggests we light candles at Christmas:

I will light Candles this Christmas,
Candles of joy despite all the sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch,
Candles of courage for fears ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,
Candles of love to inspire all my living,
Candles that will burn all year long.

This Christmas I will light a candle for our would-be John the Baptist and all our brothers and sisters like him. I will light a candle for peace on earth, and another for the earth. I will light one for the St. Ignatius Parish faith community, and I will light one for those who are searching for a community where they feel they belong and their presence makes a difference. And I will light a candle that we will be united in heart and mind and effort as we continue the real work of Christmas, in our homes, in our schools and our places of work, in the world around us.

From the entire St. Ignatius Pastoral Staff, may the blessings of Christmas be
yours in abundance. And throughout 2023,

oremus pro invicem.

Fr. Greg