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Illumination

March 10, 2024

Numbers 21:4-9 | Ephesians 2:1-10 | John 3:14-21 | Psalm 107:1-3,17-22

I took my one and only art history course as a college sophomore in 1975. Regrettably, the only thing I retained from those studies is the concept of “chiaroscuro”, the technique used by Renaissance painters like da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and others to simulate a three-dimensional effect by contrasting light and dark tones.

My fading memory of chiaroscuro came back to me while reading today’s gospel from John. He writes: “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Lately I’ve been associating the absence of light not so much with the evil John describes, but with the darkness that envelops those who live in isolation. There’s been much written lately about the increasing number of Americans who live marginalized from society often due to physical disability or financial crisis or mental illness or family strife. Public health researchers have found that social isolation and loneliness have reached epidemic levels and carry serious health risks. In May 2023, the US Surgeon General released an Advisory that both describes the scale of the crisis and proposes ways of promoting “healing effects of social connection and community.”

What simple steps can we take as a parish community to help reconnect our those who live in chronic isolation and loneliness? A quick visit to our parish website reveals many sources of light shining brightly. So many of our ministries are designed to reach those who struggle on the margins of society. And the benefit of these good works flows both ways: As we serve our neighbors in East Greenwich, Woonsocket, El Pedregal, and other places, we build stronger connections among ourselves. As the Amigos remind us regularly, This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let in shine, let it shine.

Mike Grady