Sharing the Light

by Mike Caruso

I remember starting the weekend at Badin hoping that we did not have to 
walk around St. Mary' s Lake in the below zero weather, but we did 
anyway. After arriving at Fatima, I felt very cold and tired, not just 
physically, but also spiritually. I knew that the weekend was going to be 
one of reflection on many aspects of my relationship with God, but I was 
not sure if I was prepared to look that hard at myself. As I looked 
around the lounge at Fatima, I saw many other people trying to shake off 
the cold, but I also saw a gleam in their eyes. I saw a gleam of 
anticipation and willingness that would hopefully build into a bright 
light for all to see even though it was barely visible that Friday 
afternoon. I hoped that I had a glimmer that could also be seen.

As we gathered that evening for reconciliation service, Fr. Conley spoke 
in the glow of the fifty NDE #39 candles. He spoke about the passage that 
states how a light is not to be covered by a bushel basket because no one 
would be able to see the light or feel the warmth of its glow. He 
referred to us as the light and Fatima as the basket that initially 
shelters us from the wind, but could extinguish the light due to lack of 
stimulation and oxygen. He left it was up to each of us to uncover our 
light from the basket and show it to others.

Even when the weight of our sins were lifted from our minds, it ~vas 
difficult to lift the heavy basket because we needed more guidance on how 
to reveal our light. We talked freely in our small groups and listened to 
the Team speak of Christian values, God's friendship and obstacles of 
that friendship. I particularly reflected on one of the statements given 
in the talks. "The toughest road is the journey inward" was a completely 
different way to look at problems, and I started to realize how many 
obstacles I had built between myself and God. However, I was encouraged 
by hearing John 1:5 where light triumphs over darkness, and I started my 
journey inward along with the rest of my small group.

We had not gotten very far on the journey when we were each joined in 
words and memories by different members of the NDE community. It was 
their nudging, helping and urging that showed us the results of God's 
friendship and to come to know Christ by revealing our light to others. 
As we reconvened that evening under the "basket" of Fatima, our 
collective light had gotten notably brighter. We used our small groups to 
bring our light to each other through the glow of a candle, but after a 
late night, we knew that our journey was not over.

On Sunday, we learned how to shine as sacraments of God' s friendship and 
face the challenges of Christian living. We gathered for our final meal 
in prayer and reflection of the events that had transpired and we were 
reminded by Fr. Gaughan that "when we are drawn close to a light, we 
reflect that light." With that, we drew close for strength as we prepared 
to lift the heavy bushel basket by having mass as a finale of the 
weekend. Each of us took hold of the basket and lifted with all our might 
only to realize that the NDE community was also helping us lift the 
basket, and showered us with their light as we entered the church. Our 
light joined with the community and was the perfect culmination of the 
weekend. After celebrating mass together, we felt that we could walk on 
water... so we did; right across the frozen St. Mary' s lake to SDH to 
reflect some of the light of our weekend back on Notre Dame.