Christmas : Night Sky's

Christmas: Night Sky’s

Outside, the December rain is lashing down, belting the windows, battering the walls and doors, the saturated ground is splattered by this deluge from the heavens; everywhere is wet, soaked through to the very bones of this late advent day, seeping into the darkness that is emanating from the gathering night sky.

I am sitting in the church, sheltering, experiencing a different soaking, one of prayer, that saturates me right through with hope, as I shiver in anticipation of the soon to be arriving Bethlehem Star that shines brightly in the night sky.

I peer from the bench towards another light flickering in the distance, a light hovering over the hearts of humanity, a tabernacle, containing the sweetest gift, that illumes even the most challenging times and each fragment of gloom in the night sky

A new light flickers on the sanctuary, one placed this very day, a star, hovering over the model stable, that earlier had been placed reverently upon the church floor, this stable is filled with straw, with hope, with figures of nativity resplendent in their stillness, reminding me of the truth of history, where each of them made a real journey across many a night sky.

My eyes are drawn towards the infant at the heart of the scene, the Christ born at Bethlehem, yet alive in the hearts soaked in adoration and the soothing dewfall of grace, this infant so gently wrapped in the manger before me, holds back any fear that reaches out from the night sky.

My gaze is drawn towards the heavens, where in a moment of time, God loved the world so much that his Son was sent, divine love took flesh, swooping down so silently, yet most triumphantly, from the night sky.

Fr Patrick Brennan 2020 ©