The Ending of Star Wars as Perfect Ending of 2015

Spoiler alert! Also this meditation is mine, I make no claim that the following ideas were intended by those who made Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Today is the day we all look back on the last year. 2015 was a year of violence: terrorism, shootings and brutality (sometimes by the Police). How many people are facing the new year with anxious hearts? This is not a time to bury our heads in the sand like a scared ostrich. Rather, this is a time to join the war which is happening, not in the stars, but in the heart of every person.

The Biblical view of the world acknowledges the spiritual side of this present warfare. Saint Michael the Archangel is revealed as leading the cosmic battle against evil. Christians are invited to join the resistance against the forces of darkness at work in our world. This stuff is real not imaginative fairy tales!

Friars saying Mass on Skellig Michael (johnwesson.com)

At the end of Star Wars, we see that Luke Skywalker has been hiding out on a remote monastic island. A young woman holds out the hilt of his old lightsaber - as if it was a baton. She is inviting him to reclaim the baton and carry it into the fight. The dramatic scene was filmed on an Irish island called Skellig Michael, so named because Saint Michael had once appeared there with a host of angels. In the movie we see shots of the old stone beehive hermitages. That was a perfect place for monks because the religious vocation is all about dedicating oneself to spiritual warfare like Christ in the desert.

How can each one of us respond to the troubles of our times? The weapons of our warfare are faith, hope and love. These three theological virtues always hang together. This is a time to shine the light into the darkness. Thanks to the visionary leadership of Pope Francis, 2016 needs to be a Year of Mercy. Let's make it happen.

Spoiler alert! The good guys win (seriously)!

+ Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR
Yonkers, NY
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