January 3, 2016

The Epiphany of the Lord - A Refection by Fr. Leo

 

During the Easter Vigil the Paschal Candle is brought to the front of the Sanctuary for the singing of the Exultet.  As the lit candle is being carried forward the presider stops three times and chants, “Christ Our Light.”  We all respond, “Thanks be to God.”  Often in the Church we refer to Christ as the light of the world. 

 

How fitting it is then that Jesus’ entrance into human time is marked by a star.  A heavenly light makes known the presence of the new born Christ.  The light shines for all to see.  Even astrologers, seekers of the light, come from afar and embrace the presence of Christ.  They offer the essence of their lives to him in gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

 

What is inspiring about the astrologers is that they were are not Jewish, or maybe not religious at all, but they were seekers and spent their days seeking the light and eventually come into a fuller awareness of the presence of God.

 

As followers of Christ, we are called to seek the light of Christ revealed in Christ and present through God’s omnipresent Spirit in all things.  Like the astrologers, we are to seek with our whole beings, and be willing to travel to foreign lands in our minds and hearts to live a truth which the Church and her religion can only point to.  There is a vulnerability in letting go of all our preconceived ideas of God in order to let God reveal God’s self to us.

 

The good news is that the light we seek is within us.  Seeing and living in the light is the call, challenge and the gift of placing ourselves in the loving hands of God.  Jesus came to earth as a vulnerable infant, let us give ourselves to God with the same vulnerability and let us allow God to reveal God’s self to us.  Let us pray for this Epiphany, so that we may live in the fullness of the Light that is Christ!