“What had we gone out to see?  That day, as the crowd around us cheered, we witnessed the total eclipse of the sun.”

“I heard a jazz pianist play “Linus and Lucy” from the Charlie Brown TV specials from years ago and felt my shoulders drop in relaxation, the hamster-wheel slow down, and a smile come to my face.  It made me feel like a kid again in a time where things weren’t so tense and scary, where I felt safe and happy, and where I could open the daily paper and find the Peanuts comic strip.”

“We may find ourselves wondering from whence light will come in this troubled world, with its long nights and short and sometimes gray days. Lucy is a turning point, toward a time when the light will overcome the darkness in hours of daylight, but also when the Light will overcome darkness in giving new understanding of God.”

“During this season in particular, as we wait for the light of Christ to illumine us, and as we light candles on our Advent wreath, I look at that moon under Mary’s feet and think about what a perfect symbol the moon is for what Mary teaches us as a faithful servant of God. Just as the moon itself reflects the light of the sun, Mary’s boldness, agency, and compassion reflects the light of Christ, her son, who was associated with the sun in medieval Christian iconography. The moon with its monthly cycle of birth, growth, death, and rebirth reminds me of the hope we have in resurrection and new life through Christ.”