And just like that, another year older.
No bells and whistles, no dramatic countdown. It just quietly snuck in. And I acknowledge it. Together with the countless birthday wishes I received, for which I am deeply grateful.
Some herald birthdays with boisterous festivities — sometimes for the entire month — while others lament surviving yet another trip around the sun. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to celebrate a birthday. Or an anniversary. Or even remember the passing of someone we love. We all mark life’s milestones differently.
One thing I’ve always quietly liked about my birthday is that it falls on the Feast of the Transfiguration.
It’s been that way my entire life, obviously.
Yet somehow, I don’t think I’ve ever really paused to reflect on it as much as I did this year.
Our parish actually celebrated the feast a little earlier, last Sunday, so the community could mark the occasion together. During Mass, Cardinal William Goh’s homily offered a fresh perspective on a feast I’d always understood, but perhaps never fully appreciated. He spoke about the Light and the Voice witnessed by Peter, James, and John on Mount Tabor.
I’ve heard the story many times before.
But this time, something about it landed differently.
Here’s what stayed with me.
Look to the Light when life feels dark.
Listen to the Voice when life feels heavy.
It’s a simple message. Perhaps even an obvious one. But sometimes the simplest reminders are the ones we need the most.
Most of us aren’t going to experience a mountaintop moment like the disciples did on that big-ass mountain. But maybe faith isn’t always about witnessing something extraordinary. Maybe it’s about trusting that even when we can’t see the path ahead, we’re not walking it alone.
I’m sure I’ve oversimplified the theology. But that’s the takeaway I brought home with me.
And perhaps that’s because the world already feels complicated enough.
So if I had one birthday wish this year, it wouldn’t be for more presents (though I’d happily accept an extra birthday cake or three).
It would simply be this.
That when life feels overwhelming, when despair creeps in, or when hope seems just out of reach, we remember there is always Someone who has been there all along.
Not everyone will believe that, and that’s okay.
But for those of us who do, what a comforting thought it is to know that, even in our darkest moments, all we have to do is look towards the Light and listen to the Voice.
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