Well we have now entered the season called Lent in the Christian community–40 days of serious reflection about our flaws, our failings, our lives and where they are headed, what purposes drive us and to what end? Time to take stock, time to listen and to really examine our life story to this point and see if it could stand a bit of re-writing in the time that we have left.

The other day I found my old Roman Catholic Maryknoll Missal that I had had with me as an undergraduate at St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. And in doing so, I found a long-lost communication that shaped my beginning of my journey down life's road.

To celebrate Christmas now as well as at the time of Christ’s birth is an act of protest. Every Christmas tree raised, every creche set up, every candle lit on the Advent wreath is an act of protest, a sign of faith against despair – a candle lit that shines forth in the dark of our world.