Stephen Becker Letter

The Feast of the Epiphany begins twelve days after Christmas and it celebrates Matthew’s story of the Magi, who came from the east?following a star. It is a season when the Church celebrates the light of Christ that has come for all people. But to fully appreciate the light we have been given, we must not forget how scary it is to experience darkness.
There is a scene in the movie Apollo 13 where astronaut Jim Lovell is asked if he was ever afraid. He said that he had been afraid many times but one time sticks out in his memory. He was returning from a combat mission and couldn't find his aircraft carrier. It was dark, and because they were under combat conditions, the carrier didn't have its lights on. His radio navigation equipment was of no use because they were under total radio silence to avoid enemy detection.
In a last attempt to determine his location, he turned on his map light to see if he could calculate his position. Suddenly an electrical short caused all of the lights to go out.
It was then that he saw it. In the darkness, there was a luminescent glow. It was the glow of sea plankton that is generated by the wake of a ship as it passes through. All he had to do was follow this glowing sea plankton, like a "highway" to the ship.
He said, "You don't know what will transpire to lead you home. If the map light had not shorted out, I would never have seen the glowing wake."
Listen now to the words of Isaiah: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee."
"Arise, shine!" says the prophet. What a great thought to begin a new year. Don't shrink back from the coming year. Don't hide in the shadows. Walk boldly, for others are hungry and waiting to find their way home.
And this is our purpose in the coming year, to be a light for Christ. So, Arise, Shine! Jesus has said to us. “No one lights a candle and puts it under a bushel, but on a lampstand” (Matt. 5:15). So we, too, must “…let our light so shine before others that they will see our good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). In this way, others will know that the light of Christ still shines into the darkness of our world, for the darkness has not overcome it. And hopefully those who follow the glow of our wake will find their way home.

Yours in Christ’s service,

Stephen