Session 1: The Darkness Cannot Overcome

Step 1: Short Stillness


Begin by letting the seconds lengthen and the minutes pass slower and slower until you can feel the pounding of your heart and the rhythm of your breathing…


Let yourself be immersed in the silence…Let your spirit soar to God at the start of all things…

Step 2: Scripture

A reading from the Gospel of John…

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

(John 1:1–18)

First: As we begin, bring to mind the three persons of the Trinity, looking on our world with love, seeing its beauty and brokenness. We remember that out of love for us, the Second person becomes human to save us.

Second: Imagine the darkness at the beginning of all things… the emptiness at the fringes of space and time… The silence that shrouds the universe in mystery… In the midst of the darkness a word resounds, a light begins to shine…

Third: As you contemplate the beginning of all things, notice the desires that arise within you…. to reach out and touch this mystery… to know how the story started… to remain here in wonder… What do you want from God right now? Just ask God for it…

As you look on, notice how the darkness begins to crumble and the silence begins to crack… Hear the Word that utters the Word… the silence is shattered… the darkness vanishes… the universe shines with a light that cannot be overcome…,

Turn now to John the Baptist, standing on the face of the earth…. Notice the people to whom he speaks… the words he utters… the gestures he makes… How does he testify to the light that is coming?

Listen to the reverberations of the Word that began all things… See the light that shines throughout the universe…look on as it becomes a fragile human being, just for you…

Notice how the word still reverberates today… How the light still shines brightly in your life…

Fourth: In your prayer, try to distinguish between the three persons of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit…. Spend some time just speaking with whichever person of the Trinity you feel most comfortable… about the Word that began all things… the Word made fragile flesh… the Word that still echoes in your life: in your thoughts, in your feelings, and in your desires…

Philip Harrison SJ