Reflection - Vigil of St. Benedict
By Sister Susan Hutchens, Prioress
March 21, 2021
We just heard from the Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict these words: “It is high time for us to rise from sleep. Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God.” May I add: for that light shines from eternity and to eternity through our eyes.
Whenever I read the Rule, I am conscious of the long-lived wisdom in each verse which Benedict wrote.
Perhaps it is because Spring is upon us, and the days are longer since we advanced our clocks, that we are so conscious these days of ‘light.’
We welcome it. We embrace it from dawn till sunset. It brings us joy. Once again, we can get out to walk or work in our gardens – thing which are not hampered by COVID protocols.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There is beauty in darkness, just as there is in light. Think of the stars and planets – if it weren’t for the darkness, we would never see them.
But it is the light that enables us to see one another – the face of a person – and each face we see throughout our entire life is a face of Christ dwelling within that person. It is God’s light of which Benedict speaks. And each person was created by God’s power. First, we see the face; then if we are blessed to get to know them, we see who they are – a child of God, placed in the path of our life as a gift.
Easter, the feast of new Light and Joy, which is nearly here, celebrates eternal life with God – Resurrection. Alice Camille wrote in the current issue of Give Us This Day: (March 2021 p. 49) “The liturgy of Easter moves from light to light: from the original summons of the light of Genesis, all the way to dawn at the empty tomb. The light passes from the Easter fire to the paschal candle to the distribution of courageous little flames throughout the assembly. …Each dawn is an opportunity for each of us to light another candle.”
Our lives must always shine outward with the light of Christ – a light of love and compassion toward each person who enters the space of our lives. In this way, we will bring that light and face of Christ within us, to all we encounter, as we recognize the face of Christ in the other.