We make our way hand-in-hand down the stairway. The basement
is dark; but, for one candle held tightly in my grip. Outside the world parades
in decadence; but, here in the sanctity of our home we sing, “Come All Ye
Faithful,” long after most have torn down their Christmas trees in exchange for
champagne and Auld Lang Syne. This is our New Year tradition, our way of
saying, “We give it all to you Lord.” My children surround me, their faces
familiar; but, not as young as last year. My wife smiles, more beautiful than
ever; but, her face has begun to show the wisdom of her years. My hand is
shakier than it was last year and slightly more wrinkled. One year, if I am
blessed with time, I will not recognize my own aged hands as I embrace the lit
candle that guides us through the darkness, as I hold tightly to the Christ
Candle. The children won’t be children; but, grown women with, God willing,
children of their own. Jesus will never change. This is our great comfort as we
make our way through the darkness, through the years. As I embrace the candle,
as I embrace our family, I know full well that His hands will never grow weary,
that we are all secure in His embrace forevermore. Yet tonight and every night
He lets us hold Him, asking even us, to share Him with the world. I paraphrase
Saint Francis, “All the darkness in the world can not compare to the light of
this one single candle. Even if this room had been dark for thousands of years,
the light of this candle would have penetrated the darkness causing it to
retreat in wonder at the splendid array of this bountiful light.” We pray. We
thank Him for everything, for the joy, for the pain, for the hardships, for
gain and for loss. We embrace and talk about Jesus as if we know Him personally
because we do: we know the light of the world. We are amazed at what His life
and death meant for all of us. Mary held baby light in her hands that even death’s
nails that pierced into the wood of the cross could not hold. We hold this
light that death could not hold, we hold Christ as He holds us. In Christ, the
light burns gloriously so that the world may see, so that we too may be made
light. One candle lights another and another and another and this was always
God’s plan. From the solitary Christ Candle we light another candle that
represents each of our lives, giving our light to the world, giving all we are
and all we have to Christ. We do this each and every year, hoping and praying,
that we could burn as the light of the world, for all to see. This is our New
Year: that light would shine, that hope would come, that out of the ashes comes
resurrection: that love would win and peace would reign. This is the Gospel:
that light came into the world and the darkness could not bear its glorious
burden.
