Mercedes Rojo, OSF

Day 23: December 21

Sr. Mercedes Rojo, OSF 

Image Title: O Radiant Dawn!

Image Source: www.pexels.com

A few days ago, while walking on the Darby Creek Trail, the water was flowing and beautiful, but the sky was so filled with clouds that I could not see the sun.  Suddenly, as I sat on a rock looking at the water, light began to peek in and out of the clouds, the sun rays shining brightly on the creek and the rocks on the edge of the creek.   And the words of the ancient Advent O Antiphon came to me:

“O, Radiant Dawn, Splendor of Eternal Light, Sun of Justice, come shine on us who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.”

I find the prophet Isaiah’s words: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… and You have increased their joy!” (Is 9:1) so appropriate and filled with hope this advent season. For many months now, our world has been walking in darkness. Day after day, the news is filled with the effects of this darkness: Covid 19’s illness, death, and isolation; unemployment, long lines at food banks, racial tensions … And yet our faith calls us to trust that God’s Light continues to shine on us, HERE, NOW. Yes, GOD IS HERE even in the midst of the clouds that seem to never open up.

As I continued to look at the creek, I saw the stones with new eyes: at times in darkness, at times bright and resplendent as the rays of the sun shone on them.  And I reflected on how often I get stuck in the stony and dark parts of my heart, getting discouraged, maybe trying too hard to do it all on my own.  In those moments I forget that the sun’s rays – GOD’S RADIANT LIGHT continues to DAWN on those rocky, and messy parts of me.  Yes, GOD’S RADIANT DAWN and the STREAM OF LIVING WATER that –as Jesus promised the Samaritan Woman—keeps running deep within us, and over those dark and stony places: moistening them, polishing them, beautifying them…  ENLIVINING THEM!

Linda Graham In her Thanksgiving reflection invites us to “look for YES and THANK YOU in the very moment of something going wrong… (for ) it is the turning toward YES  (toward the LIGHT) that keeps the heart open to the miracles of daily living and keeps awareness opening to the big picture.” 

I cannot solve the world or our country’s problems.  I can only be PRESENT to my own HERE and NOW for this is where EMMANUEL (God-with-us) dwells.  It is here in my own darkness and messiness that God’s Dawn shines. It is here, no matter how dark the clouds, or how hard the rocks, or how ugly the messiness … GOD’S DAWN will shine and will continue to shine… and bring Light, Joy, and the Wisdom to live each day knowing God is PRESENT HERE, NOW.

PRACTICE:  

**During the days left before Christmas, I invite us to look for YES, for the LIGHT each day, and to take a few moments each evening to THANK EMMANUEL for the miracles and blessings of that day.

**Jesus told us to “let our light shine” — how can I let my Light shine TODAY?  How can I pay forward this gift of LIGHT God shines on me every Dawn?  It doesn’t have to be A GREAT THING, or difficult:  a smile, a word of comfort, of encouragement, of gratitude… 

**Can I name the dark clouds in my heart? … the rocky places?… the messy and muddy places?   Bring them to Emmanuel, ask Him to help you be with those places in His presence and see how He transforms them and fills them with light.

Mercedes Rojo, OSF, is a Sister of St. Francis of Philadelphia.  She is a psychotherapist, spiritual director and retreat facilitator. She is passionate about bringing her faith and her experience of God’s PRESENCE in the Here and Now to all her encounters with others, helping them believe that they are loved and cherished by God and called to incarnate the Divine Spark that lives within each one of us. As a Franciscan, she loves nature believing as St. Francis did, that Creation is God’s first Book of revelation.  Mercedes loves to be in touch with nature and has several favorite trails where she can sit near water and listen to it speak, walk among the trees and the ancient stones and pray to learn their wisdom. In nature she finds both the beautiful and the painful, birth and death.  And each one is God’s most gracious gift to us!

Mercedes lived at the St. Raphaela Center as she was attending college when she first came to the United States from Spain.  Later she became part of the staff and eventually the director; she treasures the graces of those years.