"Behold I will bring my Servant the Orient." (Zach. III. 8). Now God has
kept His promise for Zachary has already sung: "The Orient from on high
has visited us." But where is He, this Servant of God Who has come to do
His Will, this Man Who is also God, this Splendour of the Light Eternal
and Sun of Justice? As yet He is hiding His light, but "fear not for on
the fifth day Our Lord will come unto you" (Antiphon of the _Benedictus_
for to-day). He will come and He will not tarry; but when He comes He
will still hide His light under the swaddling clothes and the
helplessness and dependence of a little babe. Why is this, O Orient?
Thou art the Light Eternal and the Sun of Justice and yet Thy rising
seems to make so little difference in the world. Hardly any know that
Thou hast risen. My child, it is true that I am the Light of the world,
true that I am the bright and morning Star, but the light can only reach
the world by faith. Those who have faith like Zachary and his wife and
infant son know that I have visited them, not because they have _seen_
me, but by faith. It is the same with my own sweet Mother: "Blessed art
thou that hast _believed_" (St. Luke I. 45). It will be the same when I
am born in a few days' time. Most will see nothing beyond a babe in
swaddling clothes, but to a chosen few who have the gift of faith the
Sun of Justice will have risen, the Star will have appeared, their cry
will be: "Behold a Man," even the Man-God, "the Orient is His name." It
will be the same all through My life on earth, only the few will
recognize the Light of the world; most will not come to Me, but will
prefer darkness rather than light. It will be the same with My
sacramental life in the Church. I shall be there, but only the eye of
faith will detect Me. The Sun of Justice has risen with health in His
Wings, but only very gradually will He make Himself felt in a world that
is sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.
And why, O Orient, Splendour of the Light Eternal, why dost Thou not
cast Thy bright beams over the whole world at once that all may know and
recognize Thee as the Dayspring which has risen?
Because, My child, I love faith and it is by faith that I intend men to
know Me. I do enlighten "every man that cometh into this world" (St.
John I. 9), that is I give to each sufficient light to save his soul, to
one more, to another less, and I shall judge according to the light I
have given; but what I want from all is co-operation, I want their
faith, I want them to believe, not because they can see and understand,
but because by means of My grace in their hearts and especially by means
of the revelation given to My Church I enlighten their minds. Yes, the
Sun has risen with health in His Wings, and gradually He will increase
in strength till the "uttermost parts of the earth" respond to His
light. It is a work of time just as it is a work of time in each
individual soul. The soul does not see clearly as soon as the light
enters; there is a period when men seem like trees walking (St. Mark
VIII. 24); but if only it will respond and hold on by faith, the time
will come when it will see all things clearly.
O Orient, come and enlighten those that sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death with the light of faith. It is faith that is needed on
the earth, it is faith that is needed in each individual soul. It is
faith that I need, more faith, more confidence in Thy dealings. Many
shadows are still cast on my soul by sin--even a wilful imperfection
casts a shadow. Oh What need I have of Thee, O Orient from on high, to
come and visit me and chase away the shadows of the night! "Till the day
break and the shadows retire" (Cant. II. 17, IV. 6).