A recent massive storm left millions of people in the nation, such as in the Washington, D.C. area, without electricity, including this student writer of the Dominicana blog. The lack of AC to mitigate the unbearable summer heat combined with the inability to turn on a computer at the Dominican House of Studies has made the task of writing for Dominicana uncomfortable and difficult to manage.
Despite these obstacles, I have taken some delight in sitting at my desk with a pen in one hand and a flashlight in the other. It reminds me of how St. Dominic would stay up all night to pray and study, and I can imagine St. Thomas Aquinas doing the same. They didn’t have the help of computers and electricity to do their work. All they had was the simple flame of a candle to light up a dark room.
A single flame is all we need to help us get through in the dark. It calls to mind the teaching of St. Thomas that all we needed for our salvation was a single drop of Christ’s blood. But in the greatness of his love for us, he shed it all. So too, in his love, God gave us the light of faith that we may see light itself. Even the dimmest glow of this divine light is enough to dispel the darkness of our world.
If we ever feel abandoned, if we ever feel left in the dark, let us remember to take refuge in this light, for “in the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Lk 1:78–79)
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