Seeing God in the Eclipse
The Day has arrived. The Great 2024 North American Solar Eclipse occurs today, and weather permitting, millions of observers in the path of totality are in for some amazing heavenly sights.
While many are excited about this celestial event, the Eclipse has also sparked apocalyptic talk among many Christians, including not a few Catholics (who should know better). Some are saying it’s the sign of a new war, or perhaps the End Times, with the Eclipse kicking off the Three Days of Darkness.
Others are tying it to the document to be released today on human dignity by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), suggesting that the Eclipse is a sign of disapproval from heaven.
That’s all nonsense. Solar eclipses happen all the time; on average, there’s a solar eclipse somewhere on earth every 18 months. True, eclipses recurring in a specific place are far more rare, happening only about once every 400 years, but it’s highly America-centric to think this particular eclipse has a special meaning all the others do not have.
Yet this Eclipse does point to God and His magnificence, if we have eyes to see (speaking of which, be sure to wear eclipse glasses if you want to look directly at the sun before or after totality). St. Paul tells us that “Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). Like all of Creation, this Eclipse tells us something about the Creator, namely, that He delights in amazing us by His Divine Creativity.
