Thursday in the Fourth Week of Advent - Mass in the Morning
If one were seeking a theme for these days, darkness would certainly work. Just three days ago we passed through the longest night of the year with fifteen hours and thirty-nine minutes of darkness leaving just eight hours and twenty-one minutes of light. Three days out, we’ve gained all of one minute of sunlight. And that amidst some rather grey Ohio skies.
Long nights is not the only kind of darkness we are living in. I, for one, don’t know what to do with the COVID numbers being reported in California. Over 1.8 million cases of COVID with over 41,000 new cases each day. And with that surge has come a dramatic increase in the numbers of people dying from the disease. Just last week more than 230 people died in the state, and that was a 117% increase over the numbers just two weeks ago.
While Ohio’s numbers are nothing like California’s, they are nevertheless pretty bleak with nearly 600,000 cases, nearly 35,000 hospitalizations, and more than 8,000 deaths. In just one recent twenty-four-hour period, more than 11,400 new cases were added along with 117 deaths and 370 hospitalizations.
Of course, what these numbers mean is that more and more of us have been touched by this pandemic. And by touched, I don’t just mean that we’re obliged to wear masks and can’t invite family and friends over or go to a movie. Much worse, many more of us have either been infected by the virus ourselves or know someone who has. Who among us hasn’t worried about how a loved one will cope with the illness. How sick will they get? When will they recover? Will they be okay?
And to think—the winter solstice (which began at 5:02 AM on Monday) marks only the first official day of winter. We’ve got a lot of darkness to go.
In this time of darkness, what Luke’s gospel has to say to us today is jarring: “In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” The gospel promises that God’s love for us will come with compassion, a dawn that breaks into this darkness, forgiveness of our sins, and even salvation.
Really? Can it be? Now? It seems impossible.
Yet midnight approaches. A babe is to be born.
- Sue Trollinger