Concerning Certain Happenings in the Shire

I love the Lord of the Rings; the music; the story, the characters, the symbolism....all of it! Well, some of my good friends and I decided to walk to Krogers on Sunday, and one of the men took us on a different route-a route that cut across an old golf course on the edge of campus. Our group decided that this area of land, with its gentle hills, grassy fields, and dirt roads, is the Shire.

Last night, I was over in Trinity celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving Day (one of my friends there is Canadian, and their Thanksgiving was yesterday), when my twin told me to grab my breviary. I jumped up, grabbed my book, and headed outside with him to pray night prayer. We started walking in the beautiful October night (it was a little after 11 p.m.), noticing the glorious moon (its almost a full moon!) and stars. And he suggested that we go to the Shire to pray Night Prayer! So we walked out to the Shire, in the peacefulness and prayerfulness of the night. And as we walked down the dirt road, I looked up into the sky, to look at the bright moon again.

"Look at that," I told him.

The moon was shining, radiant as always. But surrounding the moon was this circular band of light, of radiance. What's the first thing that popped into my mind? The Eucharist. A Monstrance. But before I say anything, Daniel spoke up. "A Monstrance." (this kind of thing happens between the two of us quite frequently. Same brain-connections and all that. On occasion, other people get annoyed with us because we will also have conversations with our eyes. But that's totally another tangent.)

The moon is not bright and beautiful on its own; it is bright and beautiful because it reflects the sun. In fact, I once saw a t-shirt that read "Be the Moon; it reflects the Son." We are not bright and beautiful on our own; we reflect God's radiance and love! Who is the perfect reflection of God's radiance and love in mankind? MARY! So I'm looking at this moon in the sky, thinking of Mary reflecting God. Remember how I said there was this beautiful band of light surrounding the solid moon, making it look like a Monstrance? Mary, as being a reflection of God, leads people to her Son. Jesus is present in the Eucharist! Mary was also the very first Tabernacle, holding Jesus physically within her body. At Mass, we each become a Tabernacle when we receive our Lord. CRAZINESS!! So this image of a Monstrance around the moon showed Mary, reflecting God's light and Truth, bringing people to the Eucharist.

We are called to imitate Mary, for she will lead us to her Son. And because she is simply an incredible model of holiness! Mary points to the Eucharist; as imitators of Mary, we should also direct people to Eucharist (St. Francis of Assisi is known for spreading Eucharistic devotion).

Be the moon; it reflects the Son!