In keeping with the ancient practice, following the
proclamation of the Epiphany Gospel, I just chanted the announcement of Easter
and the Moveable Feasts for this liturgical year.
Before the age of mass produced calendars and smart phones,
the chanting of the feasts was a practical necessity; now, we do it as a way of
remaining rooted in our Catholic tradition; the light of faith, the light of
our Catholic Tradition is something that we’ve inherited from ages past, and
it’s up to us to keep the light of faith burning in this darkened age.
The light of reason, the light of faith, these are lights
that do night shine automatically. It takes real effort: real prayer, real
commitment to the truth of our faith, real faith formation and acts of charity
and self-sacrifice that the light of Christ shines in our dark world. For, in
many parts of the world, in Europe and here in the United States, places where
the light of faith once burned quite brightly, that light is quickly darkening.
Pope Benedict, a few years into his papacy spoke of an
eclipsing of light. “An eclipse of reason has taken place. That man no longer uses his intellect in
search of God, but is driven by his passions and desire for
self-gratification…the sun is setting over an entire world.”
Addiction, pornography, Racial violence, greed,
permissiveness of immorality, decadence: these evils darken our civilization as
faith is abandoned, parents failing to pass on the light of faith to their
children.
This darkening makes today’s feast so important. For the
Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of the light of God in the
world, the light which began to shine first in the history of Israel, which was
finally fully manifest at the birth of Jesus Christ, a light which the Catholic
Church is called to manifest throughout the world.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah acknowledged that
though darkness covered the earth, light shined upon Israel. While all the
world worshipped pagan gods and walked in pagan ways, Israel was chosen to be enlightened
by God. They were given knowledge of the one true God, his ways and
commandments.
Filled with this light, Israel was meant to be a beacon to
the rest of the world: “a light to the Gentiles”, that all nations, all people
would come to know the one true God. As we sang in our Psalm: “Lord, every
nation on earth will adore you.”
The light given to Israel was not meant for Israel alone,
but was given for the good of the whole world. And so, we then heard in our
Gospel, how the prophecy of universal adoration of God began to be fulfilled as
magi from the east came to adore the newborn Christ child.
And St. Paul taught in the second reading how Christians are
inheritors of that revelation, and as “stewards of God’s grace” Christians are
called to make known that revelation to every generation to every corner of the
earth.
If God’s light has been revealed…why is there so much
darkness in the world? Why is there so much unbelief and faithlessness and
division? With so much darkness in the world, many people do conclude that God
doesn’t exist, that the Christian faith ought to be relegated to the past. Many
in the younger generation believe that Christianity has nothing to say to them.
This feast certainly contains several challenging questions
to us: do we allow his light to illuminate our whole life? Do I share his light
as I should? Do I walk in his light as I should? Am I the bright, constant
witness to Christ? Am I a clear and gentle witness to what is most important in
life?
I am becoming more and more convinced that in order to share
the light of Christ, we must turn ever more to the light of truth contained in
the Holy Scriptures.
When we read the scriptures, God illuminates the dark
corners of our life: he satisfies our doubts, he comforts us in our
afflictions, he helps us to understand ourselves, and see ourselves as he sees
us. As Pope Benedict said, “In the light
of the revelation made by God’s Word, the enigma of the human condition is
definitively clarified.”
When we read the scriptures, the darkness of sadness and
strife is pushed back, and we come to recognize that Christ s the one our
hearts long for, he is the one whose beauty we long to see, he is the one whose
truth we are meant to walk by, and whose goodness we are meant to share.
No matter what dark temptation or dark affliction we are
experiencing, when we seek out God’s light in the scriptures, we will be
illuminated. As Vatican II said, the Scriptures enlightens the mind,
strengthens the will and fires the hearts of men and women with the love of
God” (Dei Verbum).
A wonderful New Year’s resolution would be to spend time
daily with God’s word, to familiarize yourself with the Bible, and to learn how
to pray with the Scriptures.
Also, blessed chalk is be available at the church exits as
well as the short ritual for blessing your homes for the new year. By this act, we ask Christ’s blessing upon
the home and those who live there and those who will visit. By visibly marking our homes, we identify them
as places where the light of Christ shines.
In a sense our homes are meant to be like the Christmas
star, as the wise men followed the star to find Christ, those seeking Christ
should be able to find Him in our homes. There are people out there who do not
know Christ or do not know him as they should, who are meant to discover Christ
in your homes. The home is also meant to
be like the stable of Bethlehem isn’t it? A place where Christ is honored and
adored constantly.
God’s love is the light, and in the end, the only light
which can always illuminate a world grown dim. So let the light of Christ shine
in your homes and in your hearts for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment