Paschal Candles and Light of Christ

Paschal candles and light of Christ

“ After the Baptism, a candle (which is lighted from the Paschal Candle) may be given to each of the newly baptized or to a godparent.” Book of Common Prayer, 313.

As a smaller candle is lighted from the large white Paschal Candle after a child is baptized, I often am privileged to hand it to the parent or godparent receiving it and say, “The light of Christ.” Indeed the Paschal Candle is often called the Christ Candle or the Easter Candle. Parents are encouraged to light again this smaller baptismal candle they are given on the anniversary of the child’s baptism as a yearly reminder of the light of Christ in each of our hearts and minds.

We may think the light of Christ inside of us is small, but we are called, mandated to share that light, and one of the ways to share our light is to encourage one another.  As Paul modelled in writings in so many letters, we are also called to connect with others who are carrying that light. That is why we have spiritual friends or connect with a spiritual director. 

When our light seems to dim, the others with light will lead us to the Paschal Candle where we will once again find our light, often even brighter. We light the Paschal Candle during the Easter season, at Baptisms, and at funerals, all times when we want to, and need to be reminded of the light of Christ in our hearts, in others, and in the world.

 Each time I meet with someone for spiritual direction, I light a candle when they come in. This is a reminder to me of how we are sharing the light of Christ with each other. I know I learn more in listening and talking with someone than what I can impart to them. We meet to see and encourage the light of Christ in each other. We meet solely to care for each other’s souls.

Joanna  joannaseibert.com

Merton: Epiphany

Merton: Epiphany

 “In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers.” Thomas Merton

This is the first line of Thomas Merton’s famous mystical revelation and epiphany in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, described in his 1968 journal about the world of the 1960’s, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. pp. 140-142.

Merton had been a Trappist monk now for seventeen years and was on an errand for the monastery in the middle of an ordinary day on March 18, 1958. The story becomes so famous that the city of Louisville erects a plaque at the site in 2008 at the 50th anniversary of Merton’s revelation. Ordinary people and popes continue to visit the corner of Fifth and Walnut that was life changing for Merton and for those who read his works. 

 Merton’s experience seems similar to what James Finley describes in Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God as “having a finger in the pulse of Christ, realizing oneness with God in life itself.”

 This experience may also be similar to what St. Francis realized in nature when he called the sun his brother and the moon his sister. Richard Rohr calls it finding our True Self, “our basic and unchangeable identity in God.” 1

Methodists might relate it to John Wesley’s experience at 8:45 pm on May 24th, 1738, at a Society meeting in Aldersgate Street when someone read from Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to Romans and Wesley says, “I felt my heart strangely warmed.”2

1 Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation,” Richard Rohr Meditation: “Thomas Merton  Part II,” October 6, 2017

2 John Wesley, Journal of John Wesley, Charles H. Kelly, London, 1903, p. 51.

Joanna            joannaseibert.com

charleston: Do no Harm

Charleston: Do no Harm

“ Do what will help and not harm. Work for the common good. ..Share as widely as you are able. Speak the message of your heart. Learn as often as you can…Trust the power of love..” Steven Charleston, Daily Facebook Meditation

Wreckage of Twin Towers at Newseum Museum Washington DC
 

“Do no harm.” That was my prayer every morning as I drove to work at the Children’s Hospital for forty years. That is the oath that physicians take, but every year I became more and more aware of it as I experienced my own mistakes and those of others. I learned painfully there was only one possible answer, and that was to let it be known what I had done if I committed an error and counsel others to do the same.

We get into the most trouble in hiding or attempting to cover up what has happened. We are human. We make mistakes. It is so hard when our mistakes hurt others as they often do in our medical practice.

 One more lesson. I make less mistakes if I try to make decisions with counsel from others. My biggest mistakes have been made when I in my hubris believed I knew exactly what to do without talking to others.  Getting other opinions or help from peers or others involved by the decision can make all the difference.

This is another reason God calls us to community.

That is why having spiritual friends to talk with can make all the difference. When we hear something that has been brewing in our head come out of our mouth as we talk to others, we realize often how it is not the answer. Of course, hearing another’s opinion can also allow us to look at an issue from a very different viewpoint. We are all still learning. Hopefully, we are a work in progress.

Joanna  joannaeibert.com