by Paul Campbell, S.J.                                 USA                         20.12.2025

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” Isaiah 9:2

I don’t know why, but I’ve been thinking about this verse for several weeks.

Those of us who live in the northern hemisphere find ourselves going to work and returning from it in the dark. Then there’s the darkness we encounter in a world where justice, mercy and compassion are sorely lacking.  Finally, there’s the darkness within my soul.  It comes from my willful ignorance of God’s goodness, my besetting sins, internal emptiness, and a spiritual void that sometimes feels crushing and hopeless.

But Advent isn’t about indulging my “dark night of the soul.”  It’s about God’s promise to come among us in a way that finally shows that darkness no longer has the upper hand.  Isaiah doesn’t promise a small candle but a “great light,” suggesting a decisive and unmistakable act of God that changes the landscape rather than just making the darkness a bit more tolerable.

Christians have long understood this “great light” as ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, the light of the world, who brings forgiveness, truth, and hope into our human brokenness.

Advent invites to trust that God can and will break into any darkness, so I ask God to let the light of Christ dawn in me in a way I can’t manufacture for myself.