The Golden Hour

By: Ivonne J. Hernandez

Living in the West Coast of Florida, I have been blessed to watch many beautiful sunsets on the beach. Almost everyone gathered there at that time is waiting together for the same thing. As the sun descends and the symphony of colors starts to play on the sky above, little by little, everyone’s attention is drawn above. Strangers sharing this experience of awe are connected. Differences vanish as we silently agree we behold beauty. Some of us will be consciously praising the God of all creation in that moment, while others might not be aware of Him. Yet, the soul knows, and we behold.

Each time I experience one of these moments, I try to capture it. My phone automatically generated an album of these memories and named it, “The Golden Hour”.  As I was looking through the pictures, it dawned on me (pun intended) that someone living on the East Coast might have a similar photo album, also named “The Golden Hour”, but theirs would have a collection of sunrises.

Would you be able to tell the difference between a picture taken at dusk from one taken at dawn? Both times of day are magnificent, displaying a symphony of colors in the sky. The difference between them is not in the position of the sun itself, but in the transition they represent for us as we move upon the earth. One marks the end of a day, while the other heralds the promise of the next.

Dusk and dawn stand as bridges between night and day.

We find ourselves at the end of a Liturgical Year and at the beginning of the next. On the last day, the Church presents us these words from Jesus to his disciples:

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:36)
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And then, on the first Sunday of Advent, we find Jesus telling his disciples: 

“Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” (Mark 13:33)
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Can you tell the difference between the beginning and the end?
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Every end is a new beginning. Life ebbs and flows in constant change between darkness and light, between sorrow and joy. In the same way dusk and dawn draw us to look up at the beauty of the sun, the moments of transition between sorrow and joy beckon us always to look up. Whether we see our Lord being crucified or glorified, we see Beauty when we look up, for both are expressions of God’s love for us. We live in the hope that, in the end, we will be in Heaven, where there is no more sorrow and no more pain. When the sands of time run out and we persevere through the final test, we will enter the joy that will never end.

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Luke 21:33)
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Ivonne J. Hernandez

Ivonne is a Catholic wife, mother, Lay Associate of the Blessed Sacrament, President of Elisheba House, speaker, and writer. Author of The Rosary: Eucharistic Meditations. Regular contributor for CatholicMom.com and the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament's Daily Eucharistic Reflection. She has written for other publications, including Emmanuel Publishing and Shalom Magazine. She and her husband, Rick Hernandez, coordinate the RCIA program at their home parish. She loves choral music and is a member of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay. She lives in Trinity, FL with her husband and two of her young adult sons.