Dear Friend,

Reflection by Dianne M. Traflet, J.D., S.T.D.

Awe.

There are times along our spiritual journeys when we cannot but stop in our tracks and take in the beauty and power of our faith.  We have been encouraged this Advent to pause, but today, might we take a full stop?

It’s time for awe.

Consider the backdrop of this photo:  Immaculate Conception Seminary’s Chapel of Christ the Good Shepherd.  Last Friday, approximately 6:00 a.m.:  Seton Hall’s campus was dark and silent, but here in this chapel, there was a little candlelight and the voices of seminarians and priests in prayer. 

Fr. Mariusz Koch, CFR, a member of the Seminary’s formation faculty, was celebrating an Advent Rorate Caeli Mass, a liturgy originating in the Middle Ages honoring the Blessed Mother who gave her consent to the divine plan of salvation. The title is from Latin meaning: “Drop down, ye heavens.”  Does not the photo seem to enthusiastically endorse the title?  A glimpse of heaven on earth.

The words are from the Book of Isaiah: “Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior” (Isaiah 45:8).   The Mass, celebrated before dawn, reminds us of the need for light---indeed, the need for our Savior, the Light of the World. 

As the Mass continued at our Seminary, the darkness in the chapel began to fade as the sun shone through the stained-glass windows. I can imagine each person receiving our Eucharistic Lord that early morning with added reverence and gratitude, and with a sense of inspiration to continue Advent with more focus and more love for Christ and His mother.

Awe. 

St. Edith Stein captured the sentiment well when she pondered the Eucharist: “All we can do is to stammer and draw silent because words and intellect fail.”

Let us stop today in silent awe.

Prayer:

Dear Lord,

We stop before you this day in silence and raise our hearts to you in awe of your great love for us. Thank you for shining your light in our darkness.  Increase in us this Advent journey a deeper appreciation of the gift of our faith, and particularly the Eucharist. We give thanks, too, for Mary who brought us the Light of the World. As she “kept all these things, reflecting them in her heart,” (John 2:19) may we, too, ponder the things of God and open our hearts to heavenly light.

Amen.

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Dianne M. Traflet, J.D., S.T.D., Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Administration and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, earned a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, an M.A. in Catholic Theology and Pastoral Ministry from The Institute of Advanced Studies of Catholic Doctrine, St. John's University, and an S.T.L. and an S.T.D. from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (The Angelicum), Rome. Dr. Traflet is a key leader in the Center for Diaconal Formation, and she gives numerous lectures, retreats, and days of recollection, including some specific to wives of deacons and deacon candidates. She is the author of Edith Stein: A Spiritual Portrait (Pauline Media, 2008).