Thoughts on Light
Moonbow
At 3:00 am I gazed out the bus window heading to Haleakala mountain in Maui to catch the sunrise. I was confused as I spotted a rainbow in the night sky. Caused by the refraction of moonlight in water droplets, the moonbow seemed unreal. That night, in the darkness, I experienced a new truth that I never considered possible.
Truth’s perpetual flame illuminates the darkness. Opposing opinions about truth in our time create tension. If I consider light as something that I can understand or control, then perhaps that diminishes the light but does not extinguish it. Sometimes my ego, stubbornness or pride can block the light of truth if I close myself off from new ideas or solutions. I may not want to consider the truth, especially if it confuses me or makes me uncomfortable. What of mystery and wonder? A moonbow bewildered me at first. That did not stop me from marveling or expanding my notion of what was possible.
Whether reflected, refracted, transmitted, bent, absorbed, dispersed, scattered, or polarized, the diversity of light’s nature is compelling. The interplay between darkness and light alters how I see the world.
In the darkness, my eyes take time to adjust. If I look in the darkness long enough, I can perceive outlines, shadows or objects I didn’t notice before, such as a moonbow. Without light, it is hard to see what is real.
When I move from darkness to bright light, my pupils constrict, reducing the amount of light entering my eyes. The transition can be uncomfortable, even disorienting. I might hesitate to turn on a light in the middle of the night, choosing to stumble instead. I may learn to live with the darkness and settle for seeing less, causing visual impairment or blindness.
All The Light We Cannot See
In the fiction novel All the Light We Cannot See, a mysterious radio voice speaks of the remarkable human brain and its capacity to create light:
“The brain is locked in total darkness, of course, children, says the voice. It floats in a clear liquid inside the skull, never in the light. And yet the world it constructs in the mind is full of light. It brims with color and movement. So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”
Anthony Doerr’s book visualizes the various ways that light illuminates the mind and expands the heart, allowing for mystery and wonder, even in the throes of darkness. In the 1930s and early 1940s during World War II, a blind French girl named Marie-Laure learns to navigate her world and her relationships by touch, sound and smell. The mysteries of science and human encounter help her to expand her notions of what is possible. She learns to “see” reality. Marie-Laure listens to the voice on the radio, who she later learns is her grandfather, and it expands her inner world. Serving as an escape from the uncertainties of the growing darkness of the Third Reich, this voice, along with the voices of her father and great-uncle, lead her beyond fear to imagine greater worlds that exist in the mind, the universe and the human spirit.
The recordings inspire Marie-Laure, encouraging her to see beyond the small-minded, prejudiced ideologies professed by the Nazi regime. The voice asks over the air waves, “What do we call visible light? We call it color. But the electromagnetic spectrum runs to zero in one direction and infinity in the other, so really, children, mathematically, all of light is invisible.” The light inside each one of us is illuminated by our curiosity, wonder, the questions we pose, the willingness to see something from a different perspective, and our acknowledgement that there is still so much to learn. This invisible light can teach us about potential, integrity and how we see truth.
The story also refers to a precious jewel, the Sea of Flames. It is purported to give immortality to the one who holds it, bringing suffering and death to the possessor’s loved ones. A Nazi commander hunts for the stone, looking for ultimate control over life and death. When Marie-Laure’s father tells her about the stone’s curse, she wonders, “Why don’t they just throw it back into the ocean where it belongs?”
Clinging to a Sea of Flames
When I stare into the darkness long enough, I can convince myself of any number of things, like monsters underneath my bed or intruders lurking in the shadows. When I remain in the darkness, fear tarries and light becomes transient. I sometimes forget the source of light. “In the beginning…darkness covered everything. Then God called forth light” (Gen 1:1-3). God, our Creator, is the source of all life and light. Yet, I cling to my personal Sea of Flames, my need for certainty motivated by fear, counting on a virtual gem to cure all ills in my life and in society. I could easily stare into the darkness and turn to those who promise greatness and deliverance from the evils of the world.
One could say that President Donald Trump is idolized by many and has become a ‘Sea of Flames’ for those people. His followers do not question or challenge him. They say “Give him time” or “Trust Trump.” A recent poll of Trump’s first 100 days in office revealed that 53% of white Catholics still consider him the best person to lead the United States, even though his policies and decisions contradict Catholic social teaching. No matter what he does or allows others to do, he is viewed by many as the savior of the country.
We can become comfortable in the dark if there is light enough: the promise of prosperity, a cleansing of the population, becoming the greatest nation in the world. In the rise and power of the Third Reich, Germans became comfortable, then numb, to the gradual shadow that swallowed their country and threatened their democracy. Hitler targeted those whom he considered to be weak: non-Germans, non-Christians, anyone with different sexual or gender identity, and those with physical deformities or mental disabilities. Today, Trump’s administration also targets the weak and vulnerable: deporting migrants without due process, ending federal programs that give aid to populations at risk, and mandating tariffs that cause unnecessary financial burdens and job loss among the middle class and the poor. As a nation, we are in danger of becoming too comfortable in this shadow.
Faith Informing Our Politics
“And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light…” (John 3:19). Many Germans grew to accept without question the darkness of Hitler’s vision. His darkness became their light. Today, I perceive darkness in our nation that disregards the Constitution, democracy and basic human dignity. In this darkness, Christian Nationalism has risen.
With the ascent of Christian Nationalism, its ideology has become a part of the cultural landscape. “Project 2025,” a 900-page document that reflects the views of an elite few, has become the government’s playbook. The United States was not established to promote the causes of one religion or one small group of wealthy people. 62% of Americans claim to be Christian, but there are countless denominations and interpretations of the Gospel. Christian Nationalists, which include certain evangelical Christians and an increasing number of Catholics, believe that Christian principles should heavily shape government policy. One person’s vision of Christian principles can drastically differ from another’s. There is as much division within Christian circles as there is in the political world. Our government is meant to serve the common good, as directed by the Constitution. This common good includes all people, regardless of creed, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Christian Nationalism ignores this foundational tenet of our country.
Light Dispels Fear
Sometimes it only takes one piece of misinformation, repeated over and over again across news channels and social media, to change a person’s conception of the truth. The vitriol spewed by the White House toward immigrants and foreigners is shocking and undignified. Under the guise of deporting violent criminals, without regard for the God-given human dignity of persons or even citizenship in some cases, dark-skinned people from other countries have been targeted and kidnapped, forced to leave the country without due process.
In reality, it’s estimated that immigrants are 37% less likely to commit a crime than naturally born U.S. citizens. In truth, they have dignity given by God. Most are seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Most are hard working and provide a workforce for jobs that Americans do not want. Many have taken steps to become legal citizens. Now, they are denied asylum or citizenship.
One Catholic organization that has come under fire for its ministry to migrants is Catholic Charities U.S.A. In an interview in 2023, Kerry Alys Robinson, President and CEO, said, “[The American people] almost universally are in agreement that our immigration system is broken and needs reform. Now I would say to policymakers, that’s your job and we are eager for you to do your job and do your job well. Meanwhile, we are going to care for people who find that they need a hot shower and a meal and a safe shelter after they have been processed by the Border Patrol and admitted into the country.”
Catholic Charities and all ministries that offer support to migrants and refugees, such as HIAS* and the Red Cross, answer the call of the Gospel to bring light to the world.
Light Takes Action
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), among several other non-government organizations, is being hamstrung by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) since DOGE slashed USAID funding. The end to USAID funding is projected to cause 14 million deaths by the end of 2030 (The Lancet). The funding, 0.03% of our country’s budget ($6 in taxes per U.S. household a year), provides health care services for the prevention of HIV/AIDS as well as its spread from mother to unborn child; vaccines for tuberculosis and diarrheal diseases; and the availability of clean water. One of CRS’ missions is to respond to the needs of the particular areas they serve.** CRS evangelizes by “washing the feet” of desperate people around the world.
What struck me about CRS’ mission statement is that they serve others depending on need, not on creed. They answer the call to love one’s neighbor across the globe, even those who are not Christian. And they answer the needs of a particular place, involving the people in their care. As the Gospel teaches us to serve the poorest of the poor, CRS shows us how to do this.
Doerr writes, “Doing nothing is as good as collaborating [with evil].” Congress has allowed President Trump free reign. Those who voted for him have done the same. The rest of us are guilty of watching or ignoring what is happening. Marie-Laure, though she was blind and risked her life, smuggled coordinates in bread and read secret messages over the radio, aiding the French resistance during the war. I am challenged to face the suffering of others and to respond with charity and action, especially in my writing, if and when I can.
Identifying the Light
Sometimes we obsess about finding the thing that will bring us happiness, power over suffering and death: eternal life. This Sea of Flames that we seek distracts us from the light that we cannot see. Where can our imagination and awe take us if we allow room for it? It’s not something that we can possess or hold onto, like a stone. Rather, it’s always moving, bending, refracting, beckoning us, much like radio waves. We must work every day to see in a different way, from a different angle, to follow the light refracted in our midst. We must practice identifying the light so we can imagine new possibilities, take risks, say the words, speak with love to help others to also see the light.
Jesus speaks to unbelievers in the Gospel of John: “Anyone who seeks my word will never see death” (8:51). In contrast to seeking Jesus, the Light of the World, we seek the Sea of Flames. The truth is, all it will bring is pain and suffering. The Sea of Flames symbolizes control and certainty if only one can hold it in his hand. Just as unbelievers “interrogate, affirm their point of view and react to Jesus” (see John 8:48-57), we look for ways to affirm our own opinions, judgements, accusations. We cannot “see” the truth that surrounds us and moves within us. Like the radio waves we do not see, God’s revelation in Jesus today continues to teach us through the living Word, the meaning of the Cross, and the rich Tradition of the Church.
The Light of Revelation
We have said goodbye to Pope Francis (d. 4/21/25) and now welcome our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. He chose his name from Pope Leo XIII, who wrote an encyclical on Capital and Labor, Rerum Novarum, in 1891. It is considered a foundational text of modern Catholic social teaching. Pope Leo XIV, by all accounts, plans to continue and build upon the path started by his predecessor in the light of synodality and need for unity in the Church. Rerum Novarum set in motion the response of the Church to the needs of the modern world. It led to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965)***. Instead of the idea that Tradition is something to which we cling and control, it is channeled by the movement of the Holy Spirit, inspiring the present path of today's Church. Nearly 25 years after the council opened, Pope John Paul II affirmed that Vatican II “remains the fundamental event of the life of the Church.”
In 1959, Pope John XXIII declared a council that would “open the windows and let in the fresh air.” Rather than remaining a self-referential Church closed off from the modern world, he believed that Vatican II would be a “second Pentecost” for the Church. While Pope John XXIII did not live to see the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Pope Paul VI continued on with the revolutionary council that met for three years. For the first time, women were allowed to participate and people from other faith traditions could attend. Theologians wrote documents that have shaped the direction of the Church going forward. In response to the top-down leadership model of the ordained that existed and continues to linger, Vatican II introduced the idea that the laity could serve as the People of God in a synodal relationship with the ordained.**
How does the Church understand revelation? The fullness of God’s revelation, God’s will, came in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. By his life, death and resurrection, God revealed all. But we are human and can only take in so much mystery at a time. So, even after 2,000 years we are still learning and evolving as the people of God. And no matter how confusing or angering this revelation is to some, we must grapple with it in the dark and in the light. In order for us to see the light, to see what is hidden, to see with God’s eyes, we have to continue, over 50 years after Vatican II, to understand what it is the Holy Spirit is calling us forward to do. There is still so much light that we cannot see. Doerr’s book reminds us that we must keep searching for light and to be the light in a dark world.
The Cross
We all carry and cling to a Sea of Flames, a thing we need to hold with certainty, something in which we need to control in order to allay our fears. Jesus’ self-surrender on the Cross and its outpouring of love, mercy and grace shows us a different way. As the Sea of Flames needed to be returned to the sea, from where it came, so Jesus would return to the Father, but not before he washed us clean. As the light of the world, Jesus replaced all precious jewels that promised immortality. Jesus, the Light, saves us all and promises eternal life to all who believe.
Humility before God’s glory, a bending of the knee, a covering of our face may speak to some as weakness. A realization that God’s glory does not belong to us like a possession; that power is best thrown into the sea in order to recognize our place before the Creator. Marie-Laure knew she needed to destroy the Sea of Flames; its power went beyond what humans could handle. She ends up returning the Sea of Flames to the ocean. As the ocean takes back the stone, it is washed clean just as we are washed clean by the Cross.
But we want more; a desire for greatness and power over death. Crucifying Jesus, destroying the one who claimed to be the Son of God, was an attempt to control God’s glory. Jesus had to die. And with him, our lust for control and knowledge and understanding of God’s will, plan, design and desire for all of creation.
Jesus was not the Messiah the Judean leaders wanted. He asked them to give up their control and understanding of the Mosaic Law. They refused him, rejected him and killed him.
Destroying the Sea of Flames freed Marie-Laure and freed others from its grip. Destroying Jesus gave the leaders of the Jews and the people a sense that they were ridding themselves of evil, except that he returned resurrected, in God’s glory. He was transformed and returned to the Father, giving the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and now.
Marie-Laure understood what needed to die in order to live. Jesus needed to die to show humanity that true glory, true power came from God. God redeemed Jesus in the fullness of God’s glory.
It is by dying that we are raised up to new life. Dying to the self by deflating our egos so that God’s will can freely reign in our hearts. We do this by surrendering a sense of power, control, understanding, or dominance over others.
Hitler wanted a pure Christian and German race of people. He attempted to destroy all else. Eventually his dream ended as darkness was overcome in the end. In our nation, we witness our President and his loyal party destroying anything that falls under their definition of “woke” culture, anything with ties to the democratic party or connected to the President’s political enemies. Sadly, Catholics and other Christians support him and fail to see the truth of the Gospel’s message of justice.
Jesus – who died so that we could live – took on the sin of humanity. He surrendered all control and power in order to do God’s will, not even his own will. In humility, he washed the feet of his disciples and said: Just as I have done for you, so you must do for others. Servant leadership that included all, welcomed all.
Dropping the Stone
Marie-Laure discovered that “to touch something is to love it.” To love something is to know it. Does disciplining ourselves to see in a new way help us to love at a deeper level? To see others in a new way, to see beyond skin color, ancestry, unfamiliar language, one’s lack of education, a person’s manner, the burdens they carry, their sin; is this the light we cannot see? I had never seen a moonbeam before. I had to adjust what I knew and make room for it. It opened my eyes to wonder. God never stops surprising me.
I need to make room for people in the world who are different from me. They may reject the things I believe, they may speak a language I don’t understand, they may be less independent and need assistance in ways that I don’t require. I need to drop the stone in the ocean and let go of my need to protect and serve my own without regarding my brothers and sisters outside my tribe.
“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.” Doerr understands that even in the darkest times, I must try to find the light in whatever form it takes. How beautiful the rest of the universe remains even when humankind goes to war, displays acts of violence or targets groups of people. While the light can seem invisible, it exists in the hearts of those who seek the common good of those in our midst, much like a moonbow. Light can be found in the resistance to evil, in the myriad of ways people are refusing to ignore injustice, cruelty and corruption. Let us stand in the light of truth and together live the Gospel. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hid” (Matthew 5:14).
Blog Notes:
**The Mission of Catholic Relief Services:
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We are motivated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ to cherish, preserve and uphold the sacredness and dignity of all human life, foster charity and justice, and embody Catholic social and moral teaching as we act to:
PROMOTE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT by responding to major emergencies, fighting disease and poverty, and nurturing peaceful and just societies; and,
SERVE CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES as they live their faith in solidarity with their brothers and sisters around the world.
As part of the universal mission of the Catholic Church, we work with local, national and international Catholic institutions and structures, as well as other organizations, to assist people on the basis of need, not creed, race or nationality.
***Second Vatican Council
This article summarizes the Second Vatican Council’s importance and its documents. “Why the Second Vatican Council Really Is That Important” by Cynthia Stewart, PhD
https://www.smp.org/dynamicmedia/files/a8ac74152974cb4083cc8be509cd09aa/TX002188-1-content-Why_Second_Vatican_Council_Is_Important.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOoru2lbAszn88vKDvevzN2D22HJYtUDFci0Aog7w7W-tFUtbf2Y6
