by Orlando Hernandez

In our home we put up this image of Mary and Jesus across from our front door. Over the door there is a window that lets in the low, December sun from the front porch. This Christmas season, on the porch light we set up a big, transparent plastic star, that we light up at night. But in the morning, as the sun’s rays are refracted by the star and enter through the window this wonderful effect is created over the picture of the Mother and Child. People have told us that it is “miraculous”, “ a sign”, “ a gift from God”. It has certainly filled me with delight and gratitude. I took it as an “omen” that this would be the best Christmas ever. It wasn’t quite so.

The artist did not seem to intend for us to smile at this picture. If you look carefully at the expressions of the Mother and Child, they look deadly serious. The Christ Child seems to be a few months old. They were probably living in Egypt at he time, migrants, refugees from the crazy violence of humanity. What do these stern looks tell us?

Around this time, on a typically bleak, rainy December morning, I walked past a car with a recently purchased “natural” Christmas tree on its roof. I was disturbed by the image. It reminded me of a dead deer tied to the roof of a hunter’s car. I thought of this lovely young fir tree, already six feet tall, full of life and potential, suddenly killed by the chain-saw, destined in a few weeks to be cast out on the curb to be picked up by the garbage truck. Then I also imagined it full of decorations and light, Christmas standards playing in the background, brightening up a home, a sign of unity, family, and most of all, a sign of our Lord Jesus Himself, born among us, bathing our lives with the Divine Light of His Message, and then crucified by us, buried in a cave, limp, wet, and lifeless.

Let’s not forget He resurrected, ascended into His Glory, and invites us to share in His Eternal Life.
I guess I was in this mood after reading the
Christmas message from Fr. Rick Frechette CP, who is also a medical doctor and, as far as I am concerned, a mystic. He has been working in Haiti for more than 20 years, starting from nothing and helping courageous Haitian citizens to heal the sick, shelter the orphans, educate the poor, help the people to sustain themselves, and very importantly, bury the dead with dignity and prayer.
Fr. Rick’s letter was titled “Christmas When Darkness Seems Darker.” He starts by quoting the poem “Anthem”, by Leonard Cohen:

Ring the bell that still can ring,
Sing the song that still can sing.
There’s a crack in everything-
That’s how the light gets in.

They have such a bell in their Mission. They rescued it nine years ago from he ruins of a church after the devastating earthquake that killed some 150,000 human beings. Fr. Rick goes on to talk about the political violence that took place at the end of November of last year in the La Saline section of Port au Prince:
“We worked daily in La Saline, with the help of the Sisters of Mother Theresa, to help refugees (mostly young mothers and their children), also to recover and bury the dead, and to rescue the wounded, the old, the disabled that were not able to flee.” Fr. Rick goes on to describe the grief-stricken women rolling up the tin roofs from the ashes of their burned homes, to put them on their heads and carry them to a new home. Where?
Fr. Rick writes:
“By what deep light in their souls, did they rise from their knees to their feet in those ashes?
A light coming through the deepest cracks of broken hearts.
By what soulful music in their hearts, did they take their first steps, weeping loudly,
turning their backs to what was just yesterday their whole life,
to walk toward an unknown tomorrow?
The poem ‘Anthem’ speaks of the mighty spirit of these women,
and of the ancient Christian wisdom that the very place of death is also the very place of rising again.
The bitter place of burial is the very place of resurrection.
The crack in the earth that serves as a tomb, blasts forth the glorious light of Rising eternally.
Yes, there is a crack in everything.
That’s exactly where to be, where to serve, where to wait for the light.
It is worth the wait.”

If you want to learn more about Fr. Rick’s work in Haiti and how the organization that he started has grown so beautifully, you can go to their very elegant website: “St Luke Foundation for Haiti”. Fr. Rick’s letter is there in it’s entirety. If you have any dollars left after all this Christmas spending you certainly can help this good cause. They even offer opportunities for volunteering. Check it out.
The website is full of hope and light. The light that shines through the cracks. The light that breaks into prismatic colors, emanating from the Glory of God.

Orlando Hernandez