Our life is a journey, a never ending struggle between good and evil. We need to make hard choices with the hope that in the end, we can experience kairos moments in our lives, those turning points that leads towards an inner conversion. And for this to take place, we sometimes need to embark on untrodden paths, take a different route in order to reach a new level of spiritual awakening and social transformation. – Mjg
A totally unforeseen turn of event,
The worst nightmare the world has known,
This global pandemic’s long uncertain voyage
Navigating unchartered death-defying paths
Millions of lives lost and countless infected,
Doors still closed, lockdowns and face masks,
With mandatory vaccinations and boosters,
The economy stopping and slowing down
Nowhere to go but inside one’s sanctuary
Where emptiness gnaws in the silence and solitude
And loneliness creeps every now and then
Nothing but online meetings and virtual greetings
If only to stay connected and save one’s being.
A hard time we’ve all had of it
And yet we made it through another year
Despite the unseen virus spreading in the air
And the tropical depressions blowing here and there
Tearing down homes and peoples’ lives in ruins.
Then a slow dawn comes to wake us up,
From the mess and folly of this our vulnerable lives,
Not all is loss in this long and dark tunnel,
For a radiant light glimmers at the end…
A solitary star shining radiantly in our dark night,
A guiding star that leads us back to our heart’s manger
And to the Manger of Him born unto us,
The promised Messiah whom poor shepherds adored
And whom the Magi found after a long and arduous
journey,
Not without doubts and fatigue,
nor battered spirits and oppositions,
But just a spark of hope to keep them
going beyond comfort’s zone.
And out of the ordinary they trekked,
If only to find the newborn Baby lying in a stable.
A Birth like no other, for it meant death,
a dying to oneself,
No cheap grace, not at all!
And His Birth was more than enough
For them to return once more to where they began,
But taking a different road,
a radical change begins anew…
A rebirth clutching the rainbow’s end,
With unfading hope that all shall be well in the end;
And so, as another year has come to pass
And the New Year 2022 shines forth like a morning star,
Let our hearts be brave…
Let our spirits soar anew
Let our love conquer all!
And let the Star shine through in us
For all the world to see and believe that…
“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us!” Jn. 1:14
Marjorie J. Guingona, SAC
Jan. 2, 2022 (Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord)
