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The bare tree outside my office, which only days ago was laden with fiery red leaves, reminds me that autumn is rapidly moving us towards the snow and cold of winter, as nature falls asleep.
This fallow period of dormancy, rest, and apparent lifelessness we know well, both because we live in Wisconsin, where our trees are leafless six months out of the year and because we have tasted the cycles of the Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of Christ.
The poignancy of these colder and darker November days speaks of the golden summer now past, the brevity of life as we pray for the dead and the cycle of the seasons of the heart.
God is with us
This year of 2020 has been a fallow season, as we experienced the effects of COVID, the disruption of normal life, political and social unrest, events canceled and loved ones kept at a distance.
We pray for all the people who have died from the virus, those currently ill, as well as those who have committed suicide, are suffering abuse, have turned to alcohol or drugs, have fallen into debilitating depression, and experienced financial catastrophe.
We pray for health care workers, teachers, first responders, and law enforcement officers. We pray for parents, children, and the elderly who feel particular stress.
We pray for those who suffer violence and injustice here and around the globe.
We are in a precarious place and all of this disruption frightens us.
Yet, God is in the midst of it all, continuing to love, heal, forgive, and strengthen us.
The power of prayer and the sacraments is indispensable in this time of struggle and pain.
We may feel tempted towards a sense of helplessness, uselessness, and despair.
Life as we knew it has vanished and the road ahead is not certain or clear.
How important to reaffirm that God is radically present in this current darkness, that He has not abandoned us, and that life is still unfolding according to His mysterious design, not that He wills evil but certainly allows it to happen for reasons beyond our comprehension.
A time of spirituality
Like the November landscape, our lives may feel stripped of their vibrancy and beauty, yet this time of dormancy holds rich spiritual possibilities, flowing forth from the suffering of Christ’s cross.
Shorn of outside frenetic activity, staying at home probably more than we might prefer, perhaps struggling to make ends meet and even possibly faced with illness and death, life has been taken down to its stark essence.
We feel forced to face our poverty, fragility, dependence, and even mortality.
None of this dark night is comfortable, yet it compels us to make a fundamental decision.
Will I live in faith, hope, and love, entering ever more deeply into the Heart of Christ and unity with God or will I fall into despair, anger, and sadness?
Just as autumn unveils nature, so too this difficult year has been a painful illumination, showing forth our society’s wounds, division, violence, and sin, as if the curtain of comfort and complacency has been lifted and we see things as they really are.
These realizations compel us as Christians to reaffirm the primacy of our faith in God, our commitment to sacrificial love, and our service of the common good.
We can face this dark night with the serenity of trust in the One who will never abandon us.
Easy words to say when we are sweating blood in the agony of our own Gethsemanes or bearing the heavy cross up our personal Golgothas, yet we rely on Jesus who has walked this path before us and walks it with us now, through the power of grace and the efficacy of the Church’s communion in the Lord.
Making the most of this time
I look at the life of our diocese, seeing our priests, deacons, Religious, and lay leaders heroically serving our people with creativity, courage, and grace.
Our lay faithful continue to support the Church with their prayerful presence, generous outreach of service, and financial stewardship.
Our diocesan staff work hard to ensure that our parishes, schools, religious education, seminarians, elderly, ill, and needy receive the support and help so essential right now.
Despite many challenges and differences of opinion, we have striven to be careful, prudent, and safe regarding COVID protocols in our parishes and schools.
In the midst of it all, our Go Make Disciples evangelizing initiative has continued to grow and take root, as our leaders take time to deepen their own lives of prayer, formation, study, and faith sharing.
Our time of dormancy has borne great fruit and for that, I am profoundly grateful to God and all of you for your faith, prayer, perseverance, love, and generosity.
I often encourage myself not to waste these difficult days.
Can we find greater opportunity for prayer and Scripture study?
Can we reach out to loved ones with deeper tenderness and affection?
Can we somehow turn the complaining, criticism, anger, and impatience that come our way these days into spiritual profit by exercising charity, patience, and concern?
Can we consciously not add to the negativity and darkness of the world by our own example of forbearance and serenity?
I pray that each of us finds the Lord as assuredly in the dark as in the light, in the cross as in the resurrection, in the sorrow as in the joy, in this time of suffering as in the brighter times of our lives.
He is with us, and that makes all the difference.
In all things, may Jesus Christ be praised!