Today we stand on the threshold of 2022, breathing a sigh of relief that we are another few months through the general crisis that the world is collectively living. 

 …the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… (Jn. 1:5).

As you enter the new year, remember: No darkness within or without, past, present or future will ever overcome the Light of the World. No war will overthrow the sovereignty of the Prince of Peace. No sin will be stronger than the love of the merciful King of Glory.

Oh, friend, remember who you are…

…dust and glory…

At Christmas we celebrate how we have received among us, in our home, in our flesh, the Word.

…And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us… (Jn 1:14).

…You have seen the glory of the Father’s only-begotten Son…

In the words of my favorite Italian Christmas carol, Ninna, Nanna:

Those who walked in darkness
Now rejoice in the King’s splendor.
All sorrow will flee,
And those whom He shall ransom,
Will be crowned with everlasting joy.
Love has made Himself our Brother,
Come to us in the arms of a Mother.
Sing, O angels, sing praise to this Child,
The holy One, the Son of God, Emmanuel.

You have come to love and to save,
Come to lead us all in Your Way.
Sleep on, my Jesus, sleep on, my Lord.

In 2022 God will never stop loving you. God sees the darkness and the darkness doesn’t surprise him. He sent his Son to be with us in the midst of the darkness. He sent his Son to be the Light, to show us the Way, to illuminate our minds with Truth, to be Life for the world. He sent his Son to overcome the darkness.

Perhaps you are not convinced. How could the memory of the birth of the Christ-Child just celebrated at Christmas influence the trajectory of the forces of history through which we are living? 

That is precisely the illusion: that the Christ is a memory! 

No. Love has made himself our Brother. Pope Benedict XVI reflected: “Hope marks the journey of humankind, but for Christians it is enlivened by a certainty: the Lord is present in the events of our lives. He accompanies us and will one day dry our tears. One not-far-distant day everything will reach fulfillment in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of justice and peace” (Homily, November 28, 2009).

It is time to stand up in this hope. To walk into the darkness assured that it is the Kingdom of mercy toward which we walk, our steps made sure in the Light that dispels the power the darkness could have over us, beckoning us ever to look up, to believe, to trust in God’s fidelity.

…[for] we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son,  full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14).

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