Saturday Third Week of Advent
Saturday, December 17

My friend Patrick Giles died this past fall and I miss him deeply.  I served as his “spiritual confidant” (as he liked to call me), visiting his home and his hospital bed while he was dying of cancer. 

On a recent retreat the day after Patrick’s funeral, I awoke at 6AM (very unusual for me) and was going to roll over and sleep for another hour when I heard a voice saying, “Get up and see the sunrise, it never gets boring.”  I walked out to the beachfront of the retreat house and listened to some Gregorian Chant on my iPod while the purples and reds started to make their way through the clouds amidst the alleluias of the monks.  I listened in the dawn’s early light prayerfully to not only the music, but to the stirrings in my heart while I remembered my friend, a man not a lot like me, but yet in many ways a reminder of who I long to be, a tender and loving person, committed to justice for all, tenacious when he needed to be.

Each new day brings us a new “God Moment.”  As light shatters the darkness, I remember Patrick who brought such lightness to my life, even in the dark moments of his own life.  I know that God’s perpetual light shines through Patrick to warm me, refreshing me, each passionate day.

By Mike Hayes

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