The Light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light. // John 3:19
The wooden pews creaked as people shifted to watch us. Some chuckled, but they all smiled before turning back to the Lord. It was a cold, slushy night, and my five children gallumped to a back pew in their snow boots and coats. My husband and I kneeled in Adoration, trying to pray in between shushing our kids and breaking up fights. It began to feel like a near occasion of sin to stay, our frustrations with our kids boiling up into anger, so after twenty minutes we gallumped back out. It wasn’t easy, taking our young children to Adoration on a cold night, so close to bedtime, but our pastor had asked us to attend, and so we did.
Before coming to our town and parish, Monsignor P. had served as a military chaplain for over twenty years. A “paratrooping priest,” he had jumped out of airplanes fifty-five times to reach the men and women God called him to serve. He had also served in various parishes around our Midwestern diocese. Throughout the decades of priestly service, he realized that a majority of the sins he heard in Confession happened after 7:00 p.m. He explained to the parish that he would be praying before the Blessed Sacrament each night, and he asked us to join him.
People prefer the darkness, something our pastor knew well (see John 3:19). He wanted to be a light and to pray for those who were tempted, struggling, alone, and hurting. Our family was honored to respond to his witness and invitation.
How can you use the light of Christ to help others?
Bonnie Engstrom is a writer, baker, speaker, and homemaker. She lives with her husband and eight children in Illinois. Bonnie is the author of 61 Minutes to a Miracle which tells the story of her son’s miracle that was approved by Pope Francis for the beatification of Venerable Fulton Sheen. She is the author of Blessed Conversations Mystery: Believe. Find out more about her here.
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