SHADOW
Today’s Eastertide word is: SHADOW. It doesn’t comfortably sit with Eastertide, the season of light and new life. Yet, there are plenty of shadowy moments in the Easter gospel, the Acts of the Apostles and our own Eastertide experiences. The light of the risen Christ can make as even more aware of our shadows.
Today is the feast of St Joseph the worker. In many ways it’s hard to imagine a more shadowy figure. He is always in the background, supporting Mary and the child Jesus, bringing stability and respectability to difficult situation.
Yet, if we look beyond that image we find a different story. I’m reflecting on these words from a hymn for his feast:
“His love was humble, flame of God’s own fire,
A light to guide the path he trod alone;
Like Abraham, like Moses he believed,
And went in faith to find a land unknown.”
They speak of a man of great faith who is not afraid of the shadows. He allows them to guide him into God’s light following in the footsteps of his ancestors, leaving everything to follow God into the unknown. It can’t have been an easy choice, it will have required both humility and courage.
It’s impossible to think of this without reflecting on the ever-darkening shadows that overwhelm our world today. In such shadowy times St Joseph can be a valuable role model for us.
In this challenging Eastertide St Joseph reminds us that however dark shadows seem the risen will be with us, leading us into new life by the light of his love.
What are the shadows that you need the risen Christ to dispel in your life this Eastertide?