I love long days—waking up at the dawn and enjoying dusk late into the evening. So you would think that I would particularly dread today, the winter solstice, the shortest, darkest day of the year. However, I actually find much hope in the fact that it’s “all uphill from here”—that the days will grow increasingly longer for the next six months. The Church expresses a similar hope in that Christ our light is about to be born to us and break into these dark depths of winter. This reality is beautifully captured in today’s “O antiphon,” sung with the Magnificat by priests, religious, and anyone else who prays the divine office: “O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.”

We each have some darkness or “shadow of death” in our lives. Maybe its stress, depression, loneliness—all things that are often associated with the darkness of winter. But just as we have hope of days continuing to lengthen over the next six months, we have hope in the coming of Christ our “radiant dawn” who will break through this darkness with eternal light. Take a moment to think about the sources of darkness in your life and take them to prayer, allowing the “sun of justice” to shine on them.

 Let us pray:
Christ, our eternal light, we humbly bring to you the darkness and shadow of death in our own lives. Shine your loving light upon it and fill it with hope at the joyful, hopeful expectation of your birth, the new dawn. Amen.