‘Pilgrims of Hope’ this is title given to this Jubilee Year by Pope Francis. Here is what the Pope says at the beginning of the Jubilee year: “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision.” Is this not Epiphany: with the gift of the Incarnation, we look to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart, and far-sighted vision. The solemnity of the Epiphany reminds us that heaven and earth are not distant, that God is as close to us as we are to ourselves. As pilgrims of hope, as pilgrims of peace the incarnation of God’s very self in his Son given to and for us is our Way, our Truth, our Life.
I like to do something different in this chapter talk. I have taken excepts from Isaiah 9, which to me is poetic prose, and placed it side by side with excerpts from a poem by Denise Levertov. Her poem is titled ‘Making Peace’. I add also a terse reflection. The poetry of the soul is endemic to every person. Jesus embodies this especially in his parables where he uses the metaphor of nature to tease out his teaching on the kingdom of God. I title this talk:
Epiphany: Pilgrims of Hope, Pilgrims of Peace
“The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light” (Is 9:1).
“A voice from the dark called out, ‘The poets must give us imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar imagination of disaster. Peace, not only the absence of war’”.
[Out of the silent depths, calling forth images of peace to oust images of disaster we begin to write our poem of peace]
“On those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shown” (Is 9:1).
“But peace, like a poem, is not there ahead of itself, can‘t be imagined before it is made, can’t be known except in the words of its making, grammar of justice, syntax of mutual aid.”
[Present, anchored in a living faith, silent pauses, listening, creating our poem of peace]
“You have made their gladness greater; you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence…” (Is 9:2).
“A feeling towards it, dimly sensing a rhythm, is all we have until we begin to utter its metaphors, learning them as we speak.”
[Feeling thoughts, learning the language of the soul, leaning into the body of the words as we write our poem of peace]
“For all the footgear of battle…is burnt and consumed by fire…” (Is 9:4,5).
“A line of peace might appear if we restructured the sentence our lives are making, revoked its reaffirmation of profit and power, questioned our needs, allowed long pauses…”
[Open healing space, converting, changing our ways, giving space for the Spirit to write our poem of peace]
“For there is a child born for us…and dominion is laid upon his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Wide is his dominion in a peace that has no end” (Is 9:6,7).
“A cadence of peace might balance its weight on that different fulcrum; peace, a presence, an energy field more intense than war, might pulse then, stanza by stanza into the world, each act of living one of its words, each word a vibration of light—facets of the forming crystal.”
[Praying, embodying words of peace within the energy field of Christ’s living body of Love]
We are the scribes as God writes the poem of peace upon our hearts. Each word formed becomes a vibration of Divine light…a light stronger than death and darkness…
Each person ‘making peace’, becomes, through its words and actions, a vibration of God’s light and love.
Sr. Kathly DeVico, Abbess
Epiphany – A Poetic Reflection – January 5, 2025
