Feast of the Epiphany—3 January 2021

 

Today is the feast of the Epiphany, which is one of the feasts where the readings are the same each year.  The word “epiphany” comes from the ancient Greek word, epiphaneia, which means “manifestation or striking appearance."  An epiphany is an experience of sudden and striking realization.  Although the term is generally used to describe scientific breakthroughs and religious or philosophical discoveries, it can also apply to any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new perspective.  For example, the pandemic, the police killings of George Floyd in the States, and Chantel Moore in Canada, revealed the cracks in our social fabric.  But along with these tragedies, social concern engendered heroic acts of compassion and collaboration in many individuals and groups. 

 

In the second line of the Second Reading, the lectionary version says “… that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.”  In the full passage, Paul continues the sentence stating, “and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.”  What Paul is referring to in “As I wrote above” is that he wrote at the end of the previous chapter (Ephesians 2:21-22), “In Christ the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in our God; in Christ you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.”  John the Evangelist put it this way, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”

 

What Paul and John are saying in a nutshell is that we are all joined in Christ.  Through Christ we dwell in God and God dwells in us.   It is through this lens that I looked at today's Gospel.  I saw the Magi as examples for us, in that we should follow the light that brings us to see the child—the God-seed—within us and in others.

 

The gifts the Magi bring can also be seen as symbols of our Baptism.  In the New Testament, John’s Gospel tells us that Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes for the preparation of Jesus’ body for burial.  Old Testament references tell us that frankincense was a holy perfume used in the sanctuary; and, that myrrh was used in the anointing of the High Priest.  Baptism reminds us that we die and rise again in Christ.  The Wise Men also bring gold, which is associated with wealth and royalty.  However, we are to be royalty that acts according to God's plan and that means more as good shepherds than rulers over people.  So, the gifts of the Magi have baptismal significance, reminding us that we are priests, prophets and good shepherds.

 

The pandemic has forced us see the fault lines in the complacent world view that places power and profit as more important than the common good.  As we enter 2021, let us remember that the kindom of God is within in us.  As priests, prophets and good shepherds in Christ, we are not to fall for the false advertising of modern day herods.  Rather, we are to nurture the God-seed within us.  We are called to return to our core, collectively and individually.  We are called to follow the direction placed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of all.

 

So, take a moment, then please share an epiphany that you have had over this Christmas season.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2023-06-04_Trinity Sunday_Pride Month

Image
Trinity Sunday_Pride Month June 4, 2023   Today is the Feast of the Holy Trinity.   June is both Pride Month and Indigenous Peoples Month in Canada.   Today, I used one of the bible translations accepted by the English-speaking Church because I want to share with you how word choice can limit inclusive and creative thought.   Due to the patriarchal culture of the time, God is addressed as Adonai or Lord in speaking to God, with only the first letter capitalized, as is used by Moses’ prayer in the first reading.   The word LORD in all caps is used six times in today’s first reading.   The name of God used most often in the Hebrew Bible when speaking of God is the Tetragrammaton , romanized as YHWH .   However, the Jewish people traditionally do not pronounce it, and instead refer to God as HaShem , literally "the Name".   This conveys that God cannot be reduced to a “he/him” or a “she/her”.   The culture of our time allows for the use of non-gendered, all-encompassing wo
Read more

7 July 2013 – 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Image
Shared Homily Starter First Reading: Isaiah 66.10-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 62 Second Reading: Galatians 6:14-18 Gospel: Luke 10.1-12, [13-16], 17-20 Today’s gospel is about evangelization.   The word, “evangelization” has become, for many of us, a word that sends up red flags.   This is because, unfortunately, for almost two millennia, evangelization has been used more as a weapon than as an invitation to follow Christ’s example of peace and love.   Let’s examine evangelization from Jesus’ perspective.   He knows there are plenty of people out there who would be open to hearing the Good News.   He also knows that there are plenty who don’t want to hear it.   But Jesus sends out his disciples like lambs into a sea of wolves.   We live in a culture of ravenous consumption and accumulation.   We seek to accumulate more and more money, more and more power and more and more ad nauseam.   The more we have, the more we want and more we have to get; the more we get t
Read more

The High Cost of Free Trade for Indigenous and Afro-Colombians

Image
Victoria Marie, PhD Presented at the Racial Violence and the Colour Line of the New World Order Conference Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia April 2, 2005 The power of spreading the word… When governments speak they don’t speak the truth. Plan Colombia is not addressing social probems but spending more on war, which seems to have the aim of eliminating the civilian population (OFP, 2004) . Introduction Colombia has been in a state of civil war for the past 40 years. The combatants are the legitimately armed actors, such as the army and police; paramilitaries, who protect the interests of legal and illegal businesses; and two major groups of revolutionary forces. However, it is the civilian population that is most adversely impacted from the ongoing conflict. They are endangered by the warring factions, who routinely murder, displace or conscript them. The aim of this paper is to explore how this conflict and economic policies have adversely affected the people of colour in Col
Read more