INFRARED CHRISTMAS

James Webb Space Telescope

On Christmas Day, 2021, NASA launched a telescope into space. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) went into orbit around the sun almost one mullion miles from earth This tremendously complicated and powerful instrument is actually made up of several super-sensitive instruments. 

The unique thing about this space telescope is that it is designed to detect infrared light. The human eye can only detect light from what is called the visible spectrum. Infrared light lies in a part of the spectrum that lies below that of visible light.

Among its advantages, infrared light can pierce right through those clouds of cosmic dust that obscure so much about objects in outer space. Infrared light also lets us observe the so-called "red shift" in light. Because the universe is expanding rapidly, light rays too lengthen over time, shifting to the infrared part of the light spectrum. Thus we can calculate the distance from earth of objects by measuring their red shift, i.e. the age of the beam of light when it hits the telescope. The JWST has been able to detect light from stars and galaxies that date from close to the time olf the "big bang." 

So, seeing with infrared light lets us see things we cannot otherwise see. What does this have to do with Christmas?

When we look at the babe lying in the manger in Bethlehem, we see just that: a helpless infant wrapped in swaddling clothes. But with the eyes of faith we can see, so to speak, in infrared. We see far deeper than the surface reality into the dimension of the supernatural. We can look at the babe in the manger and see the divine presence in the there in our midst.

The launch of the JWST infrared telescope on Christmas Day in 2021 was a well-timed gift to us, reminding us of the gifts from God that lie beyond our normal sight.

May the gift of the eyes of faith be yours throughout the coming year of 2026 and for the rest of your life!

 

VESSELS OF CLAY

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Last Monday’s first reading at mass was from 2 Cor 4, and began with the well-known verse 7: “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels.”

The word “vessel,” (skeuos in Greek) is a very generic term – its first meaning in the Greek lexicon is “a thing used for any purpose.” Its precise meaning must be derived from the context in which it is used. So, what is the context of the verse here? The preceding verses (3-6) are based on the metaphor of the gospel as light, and Christ who “shone in our hearts, to give the brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ Jesus” (v.6).

A footnote on verse 7 in the NAB says, “‘This treasure’: the glory that Paul preaches and into which they are being transformed. ‘In earthen vessels:’ The instruments God uses are human and fragile; some imagine small terracotta lamps in which light is carried.”

To think of ourselves as not just “vessels” but as “lamps” seems completely justified according to the dictionary’s argument that the word “vessel” gets its more precise meaning from the context. Here the context is that we each contain the light and the glory of God.

So my meditation last Monday was about how I was going to be a lamp to my students on the first day of our “First Term” of school that day. What kind of light would I show to the two novices and to the rest of my community? (I heartily recommend you try your own version of this meditation sometime; I found it very enlightening.)

A CLAY LAMP

We’ve had three funerals in the abbey church in the past several weeks, the latest being for one of our coaches, John Valerio, who died early this week. At the end of the funeral, the members of the track team stood at the door of the church, forming an honor guard, a tribute to their coach.

As I stood in the back of the church waiting for the coffin to be carried out past the students, I thought about the fact that we are all fragile creatures made of clay. The fact that John was younger than me made the meditation more pointed. But then, as I looked around at the alumni whom he had coached in the shot-put, discus and javelin, and whose lives he had touched, sometimes very deeply, I thought of the other part of that metaphor, the lamp. I realized that the reason that the church was filled with people that morning was that John had indeed been a lamp to each person there, whether his family and friends, or alumni whom he had guided to college scholarships, or how to bench-press 300 pounds, or the students standing at attention waiting for his clay remains to be carried from the church.

John had decidedly been a lamp -- albeit an earthenware one -- for so many people during his 72 years. What a great way to spend your life: bringing a glimpse of God’s glorious light to others! Now he gets to enjoy the fullness of that glory. May eternal light now shine on him.  

    

LIGHT DEPRIVATION DISORDER

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WAKING THE DAWN

Each morning during Vigils and Lauds I watch the church windows slowly lighten with the gray glow of early

sunrise. It’s especially striking at this time of year: when we begin our prayer a 6:00 it’s pitch black outside, so the stained glass windows opposite me are dead and dark. Then, as the psalms go on, I glance up from time to time to check for the first glow of light. If it’s a rainy morning, then the telltale brightening is delayed, but sooner or later the windows start to glow.

As we were singing Lauds this morning and the windows were clearly brightening, I had the thought that it was our praying that got the sun to rise.  There’s a phrase in Psalm 108 that says “Awake lyre and harp! I will awake the dawn!” That’s what we were doing.

The Scriptures are filled with imagery of light from start to finish, from the opening verses of Genesis when the Creator says “Let there be light,” to the final page of the Book of Revelation,

that says that the Heavenly Jerusalem has no need of lamps because “The Lord himself is its light.”

Each Saturday night after supper we monks gather in the rear of the dark church for a short reading and prayer around the lighted paschal candle; then we follow the candle in procession into the darkened church while singing a hymn in praise of the Light. Of course the symbolism works much better in December than it does in June. I suppose there’s a good lesson in that: the darker things are in my life, the more I need and appreciate the help of Christ our Light.

LIGHT DEPRIVATION SYNDROME

The other day one of my brother monks was mentioning the problem of seasonal light deprivation, and how some people get severely depressed when the amount of sunlight diminishes. If you Google “seasonal affective disorder (SAD)” you come up with a whole lot of advertisements for light boxes and other gadgets that put the light back in your life. Apparently just a relatively brief exposure each day to the right kind of light can make a huge difference in people's mood.

It crossed my mind this morning that we Christians can feel out of sorts when we’re deprived of another kind of light - the Light of Christ. We need His presence as surely as we need sunlight, and our quality of life suffers if we are deprived of the presence of that Light.

HOME REMEDIES

We can stay close to the Light by prayer, by reading scripture and attending church, of course.

But during this depressing season of too-long nights and frantic rushing around preparing for “the holidays,” if

you find yourself feeling a little low, here are some simple home remedies for Spiritual Light Deprivation Syndrome.You can draw closer to the Light when you are generous to someone in need, or gentle with someone who is upset. You can enjoy the glow of Christ’s presence by going out of your way for someone else; or try putting your own preferences second in favor of someone else’s. These and many other centuries old folk remedies have been working since Old Testament times, and especially since the days of the earliest Christians. Even a relatively brief exposure to these actions can make a huge difference in ones life.

If we pay attention to the messages of this Advent season about hope, preparing our hearts, reforming our lives and making crooked ways straight, we’ll find that they also turn ut to be good advice for overcoming Light deprivation in our lives.

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