Epiphanies: Light shines through
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Isaiah 60:1-6
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
Isaiah’s call reaches across the millenia and falls upon the ears of we who are baptized. We are Christ’s light! The world again can be describes as covered in darkness. We are again surrounded by a people who are clouded by the ignorance of secularism. People do not know Jesus. Isaiah’s call is a battle cry to each of us; we must spread the light of Christ, in word and deed. How am I called to do this today? This is our daily discernment, how am I called to be the light of Christ to another today?
Ephesians 2:2-3, 5-6
Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
I encourage you to read the Gospel, then reread Paul’s letter. Today as I was praying with these scriptures the weight of God’s love and mercy broke through anew: Epiphany. Herod was a gentile (non-Jew) who sought to destroy Christ out of fear and killed thousands of innocent Jewish boys in his quest. In the history of the Jewish people, the story of salvation has repeatedly been the story of God saving His people from the idolatry of Gentiles. God warns, When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, don’t learn to do the terrible things the people of the other nations there do. (Dt 18:9) Enter Emmanuel, God among us. Jesus changed the history of salvation history. Jesus brought us the Word made flesh. Jesus destroyed death on the cross. Jesus gave each baptized person the gift of the Holy Spirit. The God who watched His people repeatedly pulled away by the idolatry, Who watched innocent children slaughtered, and sacrificed His Son at the hands of gentile cruelty, opens His heart to all. God invites everyone to the table. We are each called to the mission of Paul. We are called to step into the brokenness of this world, the emptiness of people who don’t know our God, and to share Him. He is the light that can break into the brokenness.
Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.”Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.”After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
Each day to a certain degree I believe we have choices that force the question, ‘Today will I be Herod or will I be a wiseman’? Will I hold onto the control of my way so tightly that I deny who God is calling me to be? Will I follow the glimmer of light that is breaking through from within; the still soft whisper, the inspiration, the challenge to live this Christian life a little more like Christ and a little less like Herod. I have always recognized those ‘big’ moments of my faith life as epiphanies; today I begin to see that each moment that I listen to an inspiration of the Holy Spirit another point of light is allowed to shine. God wants us to be wisemen every day. What inspiration, what epiphany, has God stirred in your heart? Let the light shine!
