Epiphany 2021
In the first reading from the Book of Isaiah, we
read/hear: "See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds
cover the peoples; but upon you the LORD shines, and over
you appears his glory." Although Isaiah was talking about
Jerusalem long ago, these words are surely applicable to
today's people and cities as well. Because of several
reasons, most prominently the pandemic, many people
world-wide are feeling oppressed, fearing that the clouds
and darkness of our times will overcome them.
There are several life-giving questions to ask so that
this underlying and oppressive heaviness will be lifted from
us all and the Lord's light remain with us long after the
pandemic has be squelched. How can we nourish ourselves with
the Lord's light? Where is the light of the Lord shining in
our homes and communities right now? Those stories, the
seemingly small ones and the heroic ones, need to be
highlighted and retold. Where is warmth of the Lord's light
not being felt, especially among the most vulnerable among
us? How can each of us bring the Lord's light to someone
else?
The magi in today's Gospel were wise and they did their
homework. They prayed, they studied, they acted. Then they
reflected on what they saw at the stable and remembered what
they heard from Herod. They reflected on what they dreamt
and decided to go "another way". They had been guided by the
light of a star to find the Light of the World. Their
"epiphany" was the realization that God's promises are true.
As we seek the Light of the Lord in our lives this new
year, what will we change? Will we have an "epiphany" and go
"another way". The wise still seek Him, even with just a
glimmer of light, will we?
Blessings,
Dr. Lanie
LeBlanc OP
Southern
Dominican Laity
lanie@leblanc.one
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Carol & Dennis Keller - Solemnity of
Mary & Epiphany
Solemnity of Mary Mother of God January 1, 2021
Numbers 6:22-27; Responsorial Psalm 67; Galatians
4:4-7; Gospel Acclamation Hebrews 1:1-2; Luke 2:16-21
We do well to honor Mary, the mother of Jesus. Through
her yes to Gabriel as a young woman, she made it possible
for Paul to write in his letter to the Galatians the words
that express the seismic change that the birth of Jesus
brought to us. "But when the set time had fully come, God
sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem
those under the law, that we might receive adoption to
sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of
his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba,
Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and
since you are his child, God has made you also an heir." We
must discount Paul’s non-inclusive gender choice. He was a
man of his time and the cultures of those times included a
low regard for women. Even in our culture women in our
country achieved equal citizenship status only in 1919 with
the 19th amendment granting them the vote. Even in the
contemporary workplace, women still receive less pay for
identical work than men. Paul, in our current thinking on
social justice would have written, "that we might receive
adoption into daughtership and sonship." It is certain that
Paul meant both. Is Paul being literal when he claims we are
adopted children of God? Who can believe such words? We are
sons and daughters of God? Paul goes on to insist we are so
much God’s children that the Spirit of God, the very energy,
source of all life, and magnificence of the fusion that is
God resides within us? We, who are created have a place of
election. For we are chosen children of God; heirs of the
heavenly kingdom! For Pete’s sake! Who can believe we are
adopted children of God?
If only we could believe this! We’ve been taught God is
omnipotent, omniscient, all powerful, without beginning or
end. God is portrayed as so far above us, so transcendent,
that we must use intermediaries to reach him, even in
prayer. Well, that’s what we’ve been told: that’s been the
practice for many Christians. The Hebrew Scriptures insist
that seeing the face of God would destroy us. We are
frightened to come into God’s presence. When we do come into
his presence, we tend to posture ourselves and our
communications more as slaves, serfs from the middle ages.
We are taught to be piously reverent. Yet, Paul insists we
should call God "Daddy." That puts on a first name,
affectionate level with the Great Transcendent God.
The Hebrews believed that seeing the face of God would
destroy us. If we recall Moses who returned from speaking
with God would have beams of light emanating from his head.
The people asked Moses to cover his face with a cloth so
they would not have to confront the glory of God. The first
reading from the ancient narrative in the book of Numbers
spells out God’s command to the priesthood of Aaron. "The
Lord bless and keep you, the Lord let his face shine upon
you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you kindly
and give you peace."
That is the blessing Hebrew priests were expected to give
each person. Strange! Looking on the face of God was thought
to be self-destructive. Yet the mandated priest’s prayer
over the people is to ask that God’s face shine upon them.
In the second reading on this solemn feast-day, we hear Paul
insisting that we are truly sons and daughters of God, that
we are heirs of God. Being an heir means a share in the
Kingdom of God. But who can believe this? We may mutter the
words, but who believes this? Who behaves as though
believing this?
The reading from Luke’s gospel is a continuation of the
nativity scene from Christmas. There are two main characters
in this reading. There is Mary, mother of Jesus. She sees
all that is happening, its mysterious and its glory filled
moments. What is glory? Glory in the Hebrew Scriptures is
named Shekinah. It is not so much an external pomp and
circumstance as it is the very presence of God. That
presence is described as a luminous cloud, bright sunshine,
shooting beams of brilliant light. So, when we sing or speak
of the Glory of God we are truly speaking of God’s presence.
What is amazing is that we see this glory not so much with
the eyes of our minds, but with the movements of our hearts.
Everyone has such contacts: most of us don’t realize it. It
is those moments that capture our hearts – make them stand
still if just for a moment. It’s my standing of the crib of
my first born son and noting he is alive and beautiful. That
feeling that rose came even after a terrible night of
walking the floor when he first came home. We tend to
discount such movements of our hearts, thinking that God is
so transcendent, so far beyond our comprehension that we’ll
never experience his presence. But God is God and is the
author of those feelings. They are not manufactured by
skilled artisans. So it is Mary who takes the happenings
that surround the presence of Jesus and contemplates them.
She places them in her heart so that her heart will
understand and lift her up in the glory that is in those
events.
The wonderful commemoration of Mary as the Mother of God
is often an occasion of veneration. It’s an admiration of
the work and the life of Mary. That’s true, even though we
actually know very little about her life from the gospels.
That goes also for the second characters in this feast’s
gospel. These are the shepherds – watching their flocks
during the night, guarding against those would do damage to
the flock. In both Mary and the shepherds, there was wonder
about what they had seen. They talked among themselves
trying to reach understanding. But even for them
understanding wasn’t available. Instead they praised God for
what they had experienced. Mary wondered at what she had
participated. The shepherds returned to their flocks, to
their work. But they were changed by the experience and
their thoughts turned to God. They were the fruit of the
blessings of the Hebrew priests for the Lord had shown them
his face. This is also the glory that is Mary’s. In both
experiences, there was a depth of such intensity that it
required reflection to grasp the meaning of the experience.
It was to both, an experience of the Glory of God.
If we only honor Mary with veneration and the shepherds
with admiration, then it becomes a feast-day with no
real-life impact. Mary is presented repeated in the gospels
as the quintessential disciple. Most of us are like the
shepherds. We come to meet God along the way of our living
but always return to our work, to our flocks. It is the
encounters with God, most often through the sacraments, but
also most assuredly in our relationships with others and in
our experiences of God’s glory in very ordinary ways that we
share in Mary’s experience at the birth of her son. It is
the experience of the shepherds coming to the stable
temporarily converted into a nursery by the presence of this
child. What they saw, what they experienced moved them to
sing out praise and glory to God. As these shepherds, pretty
much on the ground floor of society, returned to their
ordinary, un-honored lives they were influenced by that
visit to the baby in the stable at Bethlehem. They too
became disciples.
To be a disciple is to be a follower of a master. That
following of a master changes how the events of lives are
understood. As disciples these persons, Mary and the
shepherds, brought the Christ into the highways and byways
of the world. The world began to change from that quiet
influence. On this feast day of Mary, the Mother of God, we
have an opportunity to consider how we are followers of the
Christ Child. We have an opportunity to see, to hear, to
feel his presence – and then return to our routine life just
as Mary did in the house at Nazareth. Also, the shepherds in
the hills around Bethlehem returned to their flocks,
wondering, always wondering and considering what this
experience meant. To be a disciple is to make the presence
of God real in the world.
In our baptism, we are instructed that we are priests,
prophets, and shepherds (kings and queens) responsible for
the well-being of the flock. In this solemn feast we are
further told the ancient blessing required of the Priesthood
of Aaron is our responsibility as well. We are to bless our
families, our work life, our community, and our world with
the wonder of that baby found in a manger. No trappings, no
loud trumpets, no banner headlines in this birth. Like
millions of babies, this child is born into poverty. What is
the difference? Why is this child so memorable and
inspiring? What is there about the circumstances, the child,
the time of history, the terror of the occupation – what
makes this child memorable? That is the question That
discipleship puts into practice these ancient words. "The
Lord bless and keep you, the Lord let his face shine upon
you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you kindly
and give you peace."
May these words be always in our hearts and springing
from our lips using our own words and language.
The Epiphany of the Lord January 3, 2021
Isaiah 60: 1-6; Responsorial Psalm 72: Ephesians
3:2-3 & 5-6; Gospel Acclamation Matthew 2:2; Matthew 2:1-12
The first reading from Isaiah sets the scene for this
great celebration. It is the Epiphany – God making his
presence known among us. This is the Sunday of the Magi, the
wise ones. It’s a compelling story. However, the message of
Isaiah starts the theme this Sunday. His prophecy announces
a change for the Jews held in slavery. They have been set
free to return to their city. A light of uplifting hope has
come that will overwhelm the darkness of captivity. Once
again, the city of Jerusalem will become the city of peace
that its name signifies. This return is a call to all the
Israelites who have been scattered over the centuries
through out all the nations of the earth. Isaiah means to
call all Hebrews, all the Israelites to return home. Those
lost in siege by ruthless enemies are called to a reunion
with their history, their traditions, and their rituals. The
new light is the glory of God. God is again present among
his people.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians from the second
reading, we are encouraged to enter into the great mystery
of God’s grace, God’s living presence among us. It is not
merely to the ancient tribes of Abraham’s descendants, but
to all the peoples of the earth. The unity that comes from
the presence of this great mystery is the formation of a
great body, that is the Body of the Christ. All disciples
are interconnected, dependent on one another for the life
blood that flows through the arteries and veins of the
Master.
It is in the gospel that we get a glimpse of what’s
expected of us. The wise men came seeking a great one who
was predicted to be born in the land of the Jews. They
studied the great literature of all nations, including the
Jews. There was an expectation in the vast majority of those
writings of one who would come to change the very
foundations of human living. There was an expectation, a
longing, a search for such a person who would render human
life – from the lowest person on the social structures to
the most exalted monarch – meaningful and purposeful. These
educated and well-read men were astrologers. In their daily
recordings of the movement of the heavenly bodies they would
have noticed the confluence of a couple of stars that
appeared to unite into one great star. They came to
Jerusalem seeking advice from the powerful of the Jews. The
powerful were focused on their power and had little thought
of a savior for humankind except to note if that savior
would be a threat to their power. The powerful send the wise
men to the Scribes who kept the books of the nation. These
scribes maintained the history, the legdens, the prophecies,
and the religious poetry of the Jews. It was logical these
scribes would know any prophecies regarding this promised
one. The scribes quickly found a prophecy that the promised
one would come from the town of Bethlehem. Despite the
arrival of these wise men in caravan and with strange
language, dress, and customs, there was little to no stir in
Jerusalem at their arrival. The wise men must have wondered
about that. Why did the people of Jerusalem fail to
accompany the wise men to their goal? Instead, they got
directions to Bethlehem and a request to tell the civil
leader, Herod, where the baby could be found. They sought
the baby and found him in Bethlehem. When they had found him
and embraced him, they realized those who should have cared
about this birth didn’t.
The message of the story of Epiphany is simple. Once we
come to know, to experience the babe of Bethlehem, we will
begin to take another road home. No one can come to see him
and not be changed. We will come to imitate Mary and Joseph,
the shepherds, and the wise men when we once again
experience this promised one. Like each of those people, we
will need to take time to explore our experiences of Jesus
and come to understand the wonder that this child is for
that time and for our own. We certainly need to visit that
child and come to learn about peace and joy. When we do,
like the wise men, we’ll take a new way home away from the
proud, the arrogant, the pretentious, and the educated
ignorant. As we begin that journey on a new path, we’ll come
to understand why it is that God loves us so much as to send
us his very best.
Carol &
Dennis Keller
dkeller002@nc.rr.com
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Brian Gleeson CP - Epiphany
GOD’S GREATEST GIFT: CELEBRATING THE EPIPHANY
- How much do we value God’s gift to us of Jesus?
- How are we experiencing him as our Savior?
At Christmas time we give gifts to different people.
Different people give gifts to us. What's it all about? It
all goes back to the story of the three wise men going to
Bethlehem, falling on their knees, and offering the best
gifts they could afford to the Infant King.
Our gift-giving may sometimes be aimed more at keeping
on-side and keeping the peace than anything else. Our
gift-giving may at times be part of the commercialization of
Christmas instead of expressions of unconditional love.
In contrast, the wise men are completely single-minded
and sincere in their giving. Their gifts are expressions of
their respect, reverence, gratitude, and love for the poor
Baby of Bethlehem. Their gifts are given with no strings
attached, no conditions, and no mixed motives.
The flaws in our gift-giving may make us feel that the
whole business of exchanging Christmas gifts should be
gradually abolished and that the commercialization of
Christmas should be restrained and restricted. If or when we
think those thoughts, it may help to remember that the
commercialization of Christmas is somewhat necessary. If it
was a completely spiritual celebration, hundreds of small
businesses would go to the wall. Thousands of factory
workers making trees, chocolates, decorations, cards, and
toys, would find themselves unemployed.
It may also be helpful to remember that if people did not
spend money on gifts to family and friends at Christmas,
their consciences would not be roused to make donations to
the poor and needy at this time of giving and sharing. (Many
charities, in fact, experience a boost at Christmas time).
Despite the limits and flaws in our gift-giving, it’s
important both to keep the practice alive and to purify it
of its worst excesses. It's particularly important to the
lives of children. The good news is that while they are
attracted to receiving e.g., a gift of new roller skates,
they are also attracted to the Crib and the story of the
baby lying there. Their hearts are touched by the plight of
his parents who are so poor that they can offer him nothing
except their protection and affection. Children very easily
get the message that this is a story of love. They
appreciate the humanity of the Holy Family, their struggles
and sacrifices, to bring the Light of the Nations to the
human race.
The story of the visit to the Crib by the Wise Men is a
story of giving and receiving. But it is not simply about
the giving of things - in this case, gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. It speaks of how gifts express love between persons,
and of how gifts given with love bind people together.
In celebrating Epiphany, we are celebrating the greatest
manifestation and gift that there has ever been, that of
God's love for us. For it was out of love, that God the
Father gave us the Son, his number one gift, and gave him to
be our Light, our Saviour, our King and our Joy.
Jesus, then, is the celebrity we are celebrating at this
time. He is the reason for the season, the Twelve Days of
Christmas, that began on Christmas Day. So, as a beautiful
carol puts it: ‘JOY, JOY, FOR CHRIST IS BORN, THE BABE, THE
SON OF MARY!’
As our Eucharist continues then, I suggest that we make a
special point of giving thanks for the coming of Jesus
Christ into our lives. May we acknowledge with sincerity
that he is the most precious gift we have ever received! May
we also renew the gift in return, of our whole lives to God!
So, let us
-
‘Give thanks
with a grateful heart
-
Give thanks
to the Holy One
-
Because he’s
given, Jesus Christ, his Son.
-
And now let
the weak say I am strong
-
Let the poor
say I am rich
-
Because of
what the Lord has done for us.
-
Give thanks!’
"Brian Gleeson CP" <bgleesoncp@gmail.com>
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4.
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Paul O'Reilly SJ - Epiphany
Year A,B,C: Epiphany
"Then, opening their treasures, they offered him
gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh." [Matthew 2.11]
I don’t often get to feel like either a King or a wise
man. But I did this week. Because last Saturday was the
great day that we started doing coronavirus vaccinations.
During the previous week the preparations for this event had
taken up the resources of the whole local health system to
provide 975 vaccinations primarily for mobile elderly people
above the age of 80. And the trouble began with the initial
administration. Getting 975 octogenarians, however allegedly
mobile, to one place at the right time over a tightly
coordinated sequence is a difficult matter. We had to call
them up on the phone, arrange the procedure, enable them to
understand the rationale, obtain consent, ensure the absence
of contra-indications, yada yada yada. It was a long job and
everyone took a hand in making the phone calls required. But
we discovered that there was a quality to the phone calls
that nobody expected – it was HOPE!
We found ourselves talking to people who had been
confined innocently to 9 months of penal solitude, with no
prospect of release. And now, it seemed like we had turned
up with a key. So this was not a chance to be missed. People
who had not been out of their own houses for years
pronounced themselves as fit as James Milner and available
for selection for any vaccination centre in London. When
asked how they would get there they said they would walk it
in a set voice which few of us had the courage to question
further. This, we reminded ourselves, was a generation which
had fought a war and knew what it is to make do.
And the second feature of the phone calls was length: few
of them seem to have had much opportunity for conversation
in the previous nine months and very few of them could
credit that we were interested solely in their medical
history and not requiring a more complete account of their
life and times. Those phone calls, we all now recognise,
should have been our warning.
When they day came, not one of them was on time – this we
had expected. Most of us have previous experience of what
happens to appointment times with the combination of
octogenarian memories, British winter weather and London
public transport. What we had not expected was that none of
them was less than fifteen minutes early. A terror of
missing this chance through unpunctuality had seized our
entire octogenarian population. For them, failure was not an
option.
Now, I have to tell you, that we general practitioners
are a pretty hard and cynical bunch. We have seen humanity
at its least attractive, least rewarding, least grateful and
least inspiring. So that day came as a bit of a shock. There
is nothing better in medicine than the chance to add life to
years as well as years to life. All of the patients were
polite, understanding and exquisitely grateful, often
pathetically so. There is a certain unforgettable look that
comes into the eyes of a little old lady whom you have just
informed that, 28 days from today, and for the first time in
a small eternity, she will be able to hug her grandchildren.
One gentleman put it most elegantly: "this is my passport
to freedom and future hope." But my favourite of the day was
a Scottish gentlemen of erect and military bearing whom I
took particular care to remind that full protection was only
obtained seven days after the second dose, that is a full
four weeks from that day. He stood, considered for a moment
and said with quiet resolution, "well, Christmas may still
be cancelled, … and Hogmanay…
but Burns night is on!"
Not everyone had thought it right that we should rush out
this vaccination program on the first properly wet weekend
in December, and with exactly the same level of foresight,
planning and skilled centralized government command and
control as the little boats that brought off the British
Army from the beaches of Dunkirk. But the analogy is still a
fair one: in times of crisis, when what needs doing is a
clearly visible as the white cliffs of Dover, the best
response is simply to have good, intelligent courageous
people of goodwill working together and getting it done.
This was the generation which did that in their time and it
was an honour and a privilege to do this for them.
Now I think I can see why the magi saw the star and made
the trip. It’s quite something to be there at the birth of a
new Hope. And an even better something to be a part of it.
Let us pray that we too may know God’s hope in our own
lives.
Paul O'Reilly <fatbaldnproud@opalityone.net>
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5.
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