New York Blackout of 1977

Jesus says that we are the light of the world. Just how important is light?

On July 17, 1977, New York City was suffering under a punishing heatwave.  Thunderheads formed in the late afternoon of July 17, and by 8pm lightning was flashing all over the city. Bolts struck three of ConEdison’s central power stations, causing system overload and successive failures.  At 9:36pm the entire city went dark. I can remember visiting my cousins in the Bronx a month after the Blackout, hearing horror stories of looting and arson, and seeing blocks of burned-out buildings. In all, 1,616 stores were damaged in looting and rioting. 1,037 fires were responded to, including 14 multiple-alarm fires. In the largest mass arrest in city history, 3,776 people were incarcerated in one night. Many had to be stuffed into overcrowded cells, precinct basements and other makeshift holding pens.

Light of the World

What dark spirit gripped New York on that night in 1977? It was like the whole city panicked in the blackness. We are all scared of the dark, really. Remember when Mom and Dad would turn off the light and leave you alone in the room? I used to imagine a slimy hand would come up from under my bed, grasping for my throat. I’m still scared of the dark. How about you?

Jesus cried out, in another Gospel, I am the Light of the World. And in today’s Gospel, he says that we are the light of the world. But surely, this light does not emanate from ourselves. What illumination could we poor human beings possibly offer? Put us together in a city without light, and we disintegrate into rioting, looting, and burning within a few hours. When Jesus says we are the light of the world, he means we reflect His light.

In the first reading, Isaiah promises that if you “do not turn your back on your own … your light shall break forth like the dawn … if you bestow your bread on the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted, then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.” How many of us, this past week, have turned our backs on someone. Perhaps someone who hurt us, or perhaps someone we don’t know who asked us just for a smile, a few minutes of our time? But just a smile, a kind word, is often enough to turn gloom into joy, and coldness into warmth.

A smile

Mother Teresa tells a story on page 68 of the book Love: A Fruit Always in Season (available in our bookstore).

    <<In Melbourne, I paid a visit to an old man no one knew existed. I saw that his room was in horrible condition and I wanted to clean it up, but he stopped me: “I’m all right.” I kept quiet, and finally he let me go ahead. In his room was a beautiful lamp, covered with dust. I asked: “why don’t you light the lamp?” he replied: “What for? Nobody comes to see me, and I don’t need a lamp.” Then I said to him: “Will you light the lamp if the Sisters come to see you?” “Yes,” he said, “if I hear a human voice, I will light it.” The other day he sent me word: “Tell my friend that the lamp she lit in my life burns constantly.”>>

The World Needs Light

We cannot live without light and warmth. New York City sunk into blood and fire within one hour of its Blackout in 1977. If the sun were to go out, scientists say that the average global temperature would drop to 0 degrees within a week, most plant life would die within three weeks, and animal life a few weeks after that. But the Light Jesus is talking about is Himself. And that light comes not from the Sun; it comes from us. Each of us are little suns, lighting up those around us. Just a smile, a kind word, a question about someone’s health or their business is enough. Without these little points of light, our lives go dark. Can you get your heart to smile at someone today who has hurt you? Can you say a kind word to someone who bores you? Just make the effort, and Jesus will do the rest. He will pour His light on all of us.

Rich is Better

A wealthy actress once famously said: “I’ve been rich, and I’ve been poor. Believe me, rich is better.” Rich is better, that is, if you can handle it. Most of us can’t. Our tendency to excess needs a healthy spirit of poverty. Especially in our country, whose economy is driven by acquiring more than we need, and more than is good for us, it is essential to practice poverty of spirit. “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit,” says Jesus, “for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”

I can remember being a poor student, living on $20 a week for food (possible, but tricky, in 1982. Dinner five times a week was half a can of tuna on toast). I was never healthier, never happier…. One experience of personal poverty stands out in my mind. I was in the Mexico City airport after a summer studying Spanish. I didn’t own a credit card and had three dollars left. At the check-in, the gal said I needed to pay an $18 airport tax. I said I only had three dollars. She replied that I had 45 minutes to come up with the money, and I had better start begging. I had to beg, to ask, for help. The first lady I asked was American. She turned away, saying she couldn’t help me. But an obviously poorer Mexican lady next to her gave me $20 with a big smile. She had a warmth of understanding that the lady with more money didn’t have. Less money had made her more charitable, more human. Financial security has this effect on us, that it tends to build a wall of proud independence around our hearts. It is a wall that others sometimes cannot penetrate. It is a wall that can shut out even God’s love. Wealth can terribly isolate us.

Holy Poverty is the beginning

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. I think Jesus is not so much speaking of the future (if you practice poverty on earth, you will get to heaven after you die) but simply making an observation about our present lives (the poor in spirit are happy here and now, on earth. They already possess the Kingdom).

Poverty of spirit, holy poverty, is the starting point for happiness. God began his life on earth in simple poverty, born in a stable and warmed by the breath of the cow and the donkey. He who is infinitely rich shows us the way of simplicity. Spiritual poverty simply means managing our wealth as if we did not own it, as if we didn’t depend on it. For one thing, the wealth we enjoy—our homes and cars, our job security and our health, even our national security—can diminish quickly. For another thing, security doesn’t make us really happy. Only love makes us really happy. We were created for greater things—to love and be loved. We find that love in the simple things of life, while the anxieties of managing wealth and insuring our security can drain love away from us.

Seeking poverty and humility

We in the Developed World must work very hard to be spiritually poor. “Seek the Lord, you humble of the earth,” says the prophet Zephaniah. “Seek humility…I will leave a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord.” This does not sound like what has become the American Dream, at least as seen on TV. But St. Paul reminds us in the Second Reading: “consider your own calling, brethren: not many of you are wise, powerful, or of noble birth. Rather, God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong.” Happiness is knowing where we came from (nothing) and where we are going (to God). 

Three Recommendations

I’ve got three suggestions. First, practice daily self denial. When you could buy two sweaters, buy one. When you could order a 32 ounce coke, order a 16 ounce one. Water would be even better. Second, live in some way with the poor. Practice the joy of serving others. Certainly we need to give a portion of our wealth away to be free, but we also need to touch the poor. I have found so much joy in working with St. Vincent de Paul, talking with people who at the moment must depend entirely on God. Third, study the lives of those who have practiced extraordinary poverty of spirit. Mother Teresa, for example, is a treasure of our time. There are several books in the bookstore, including the one I will quote from now: Where There is Love, There is God, p. 159.

Many have been asking for copies of Matthew Kelly's excellent book, Rediscover Catholicism. We have just received 250 more copies, again gifted to the parish by a benefactor. They are available at the parish office during the week and on the weekends at the Plaza Welcome Center or Parish Bookstore. I will be holding my one-time discussion on the book this Wednesday, January 12th at 7pm in the Church, and Francesca Preston will be holding her book discussion on Saturday, January 15th at 9am. Call the parish office for details.

I know of quite a few people who get depressed during the dark, damp, dreary days of January and February. The Valley Fog soaks into our brains and soddens our souls. What to do? Well, we could fly to Hawaii and go snorkeling, but that is expensive. We could escape to the mountains for some skiing, but that is cold and a bit expensive too. I recommend two local and inexpensive solutions: First, read a book, and I have just the one, available in our parish bookstore: Pope Benedict's Light of the World. It's a quick read, I'd say, and most profitable to our souls. Second, attend a retreat, and I have just the one, held right here in Fr. O'Hare Hall, February 5. It is our annual Silent Marian Retreat. A good book, and a good retreat, will cure anyone of the winter doldrums.