What is God trying
to reveal to you?
Have you ever had
an epiphany? In Biblical terms, the word
epiphany is synonymous with revelation, a moment when God calls us
to a new vision, a new way of seeing what God has revealed.
Imagine you are
sitting in darkness and a light is suddenly turned on. What happens?
This is what it is like for the people of Israel in the Book of Isaiah: your
light has come, God tells them. In
the darkness that surrounds them, only upon Jerusalem does God’s light shine. Their return from exile will cause them to be radiant, emanating light by
which kings will flock to the city, bringing tribute, as in Psalm 72. But
first, the people of Israel must open their own eyes, so they can see what God
is revealing both to them and through them, which is no less than the glory of the Lord itself.
In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus will be
revealed to the magi from the east by
means of a star; though the magi are
not Jews, they are overjoyed at seeing
the star, and their new vision prompts them to journey to Bethlehem by the
light of that very star to do homage to
the newborn king of the Jews. St. Paul
will speak of a similar revelation in his Letter to the Ephesians, calling it the mystery that was made known to me by revelation, namely, that God has
brought light to the hearts of all humankind, Gentiles and Jews alike. All
will have the same vision to live from, the same vision in Christ who dwells
within them all… so long as all open their hearts to God, so long as all open
their eyes to the revelation that is theirs.
We don’t embrace
new visions easily. Often, our eyes are
shut even when a light is on – so we can’t see properly. Are we aware of what barriers or divisions we
hold onto that keep us from embracing the world? God’s kingdom is built on the connection of
all people, not on division. So long as
division exists, so long as we cannot let go of the darkness, how can we
proclaim Christ as a light to dispel the darkness within us? God wants nothing more than that his love be
revealed; we need to embrace God’s vision, that we might be that revelation to
the world.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s homily for the Feast of the Epiphany in 2016.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
_-_The_Madonna_of_the_Roses_(1903).jpg){kind=link}