 |
| Our Crib: Nativity figures play their parts. The Epiphany Star features Scripture and Liturgy |
Subject: Epiphany
The Liturgy speaks of three
Epiphanies.
The Adoration of the Magi, when the Gentile Nations recognised the
Messiah;
the first public miracle at the Marriage Feast of Cana, when the water
blushed into wine, as the antiphon so picturesquely says; 
and lastly the
Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, when the Father's voice proclaimed "This
is my beloved Son!
However if we wish to confine the
Mystery of the Epiphany to God’s opening up of the gospel to all nations, then
we must focus on the first of these three scenes, The Coming of the Magi
seeking Him who was born King of the Jews. The Old Testament foreshadowings of
this mystery stretch from the enigmatic figure of Melchidezech to the even more
enigmatic figure of Balaam and his wonderful blessings and prophecies and
through all the gentile figures in the lineage of the Christ Himself. These
stretch from the Canaanite wife of Judah to the Moabite woman Ruth and goodness
knows how many others.
It is to the Prophets we must
turn however to find the most explicit teaching of the gathering of the
Gentiles into the Family of God. Today’s Liturgy is full of it. "Arise and
shine Jerusalem ... The Nations shall come to your light, kings to your dawning
brightness. Lift up your eyes and look around. All are assembling and coming
towards you.” This aspect of the
Christian Mystery is of course a perennial one. The Church IS Epiphany. WE are Epiphany. It is another way of
saying that the Church is missionary. WE are missionary.
But Today’s Feast says something
more. Let us be careful to note that it was not the Holy Family that went out on
a 'mission' seeking the Wise Men. No, it was the Wise Men who came seeking the
Child who was born to be King.
In this wonderful event we are invited
by the Holy Spirit to realize and to appreciate the searching and seeking that
goes on the minds and hearts of all men of good will, whatever their religion.
And even more are we invited by today’s mysterious events to ponder how God
Himself is with these Gentiles of all time; his loving providence guiding them
and providing signs and clues to lead them to the truth.
Raymond
 |
| Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan |
No comments:
Post a Comment