St. Columban touched in spot deep in my heart in this reading. He wrote:“How I wish I might deserve to have my lantern always burning at night in the temple of my Lord, to give light to all who enter the house of my God.”
The imagery of light being from God has long appealed to me but the good Saint, an Irish monk born the year that St. Benedict died, has given me a new understanding of light from God. St. Columban’s prayer was to light the way of others – to help them find their way to God. Not in a literal way but in a spiritual way. When I turn on the lights in the Cathedral before morning mass, it is not to allow those who enter to see God or even to see their faith in God. The lights that respond to a flick of switch are real but have no real meaning of their own. It is what they shine on that is important. The lights illuminate the temple so that people who come to worship can see the holy images assembled there and be moved to consider the nature of God and His love for us. The lights enable us to see each other that we might share our faith or so our can read sacred text and so move closer to God. The light that St. Columban is talking about does not light up buildings. His lantern does not bring light to anything that is real but what is spiritual. Columban’s lantern does not allow us to see him. Any source of real light can do that. What we see is not just Columban but the Holy Spirit that has been sent forth to guide our way into the way of peace. What is it that the Holy Spirit brings us to see and know? It is the Love of God.
He concludes:
“So may your love pervade our whole being, possess us completely, and fill all our senses, that we may know no other love but love for you who are everlasting.”
This is what it is all about. Love from God so vast it is beyond our measure, understanding or imagination.
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