2012

Written by Msgr. Richard.

I offer you this Reflection by Stefanie Weisgram, OSB, for your consideration this Epiphany Sunday.

Think of the last time you watched the stars in the dark sky above you. Perhaps you saw a shooting star or tried to follow a satellite or a plane. This is something mysterious about watching the stars. They seem so far away and we feel so small and insignificant. God's creation is mysterious, amazing. As we watch the stars, it even becomes easier to imagine the magi fixed on following that star to Bethlehem so long ago. Today's feast of the Epiphany is both mystery and revelation.

Isaiah is a good preparation. He is excited as he urges Jerusalem to rise up in splendor, to see the glory of the Lord shining on the people. When we think of those magi and the gifts they brought Jesus, it sounds like a grand celebration. But if we stop to think about it, was it all that grand when they came? Herod wanted no rival to his power, and the magi, warned in a dream, went home by another way.

Paul explains this revelation. "[T]he 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." And what is this mystery? Paul puts it very directly: "that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." Paul's words are strong words and perhaps even difficult words for us at times. Yet they should give us courage. Put simply, all people share in the same inheritance, are members of the same body, and share in the same promise in Christ Jesus. God has been manifested to all of us, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Mormon. God does love us all.

How do you feel about that? Isn't it amazing what God expects of us? Today we are those magi when we are people of goodwill who want to know Jesus. Where will we find him? In the hungry, in prisons and jails, in the sick, in the poor, in the unhappy, in our families, in our neighborhoods, perhaps even in our mirrors if we have the courage to look.

The Epiphany, God's wonderful manifestation of love for all people, is a remarkable feast to celebrate. We need to stretch ourselves, to leave our comfort zone and realize life isn't all about me. Life is about us, about our shared inheritance, our membership in the same body and the same promise in Christ Jesus. God has been manifested to all. We need to open our hearts and out eyes.

Stewardship and today's scriptures

The three wise men who came from the East to pay homage to the Infant Jesus brought Him rich gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as part of their worship. What gifts have I brought to this celebration to offer to the newborn Savior?