Wednesday 7 January 2015

Star light on the Epiphany. COMMENT on the Epiphany. Fr. Raymond Homily...

Nativity - Magi, by William Hole
COMMENT of William J. to Fr Raymond’s Homily 

Re: Star light on the Epiphany
On Monday, 5 January 2015, 15:20, William J.  wrote:

Dear Wise Men,
If I may, as a pilgrim at-a-distance on a hilltop near Bethlehem, I should love to comment on Father Raymond's homily, which might bear the title of "The Seekers", whether they be drawn by angels or drawn by the star (by the personal intuition given by the Spirit, or through the pronouncements of the universal Church).
The desire of all of our lives is on display in the Crib scene, and how great the individual urgency of all comers: "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". Father Raymond will have met thousands of humble 'shepherds', from the poorest tenements of the cities, to hundreds of 'wise men' from amongst devoted Catholics or visiting clerics, arriving at the door of the Guest House, seeking the presence of the Lord in the poor or lonely stables of their own hearts, searching for both the event and the meaning of the Nativity in their own lives.
I have often pondered as to how the shepherds progressed in their belief of the Messiah; they returned to their hillsides, the hermits of the Church; and the wise men, taken on a much more worldly journey, the Pastors of the Church. "The Church IS Epiphany. WE are Epiphany. It is another way of saying that the Church is missionary". If you (and I perhaps) are the 'hermits', then our lives of devotion are the all-seeing-eyes of Faith shared with others in the close encounter of the stable: if they, the wise men on their outward journey, travelling across the world, theirs is the voice of the Church, expressed in public worship and witness - yet relying upon the security of the deposit of faith held in the stable as witnessed by and through the shepherds.
Faith is never 'limited' to the faithful few - for Our Lord is never 'delimited' within any human confines: "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". It is the part of both shepherds and wise men (angels especially!) to reveal the "signs and clues", none greater than the witness provided by the Crib scene... the desire of all our lives there on display.   
I would expand my 'comment' by telling of how I have been caught-up in a passage describing the "Ethics" of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a martyr in Nazi Germany (my Christmas gift from the Osteopaths where I am training a receptionist to take on their accountancy). In the book an editorial commentary describes his Christology, given that he was striving in a world of inhumanity: Bonhoeffer there reverses an ancient theological dictum (Athanasius and Augustine) that God became human that humans might become divine: rather. he argues, God became human so that human beings could become truly human, recovering their lost humanity through the mediation of Christ - their true dignity to be truly human, as Jesus, who was truly human; for by God's becoming human in Jesus Christ the world and humanity are reconciled to God. That is the Crib scene, pure and simple....
And that is seen in the Nativity scene as the wise men arrive! "The searching and seeking that goes on the minds and hearts of all men of good will" is indeed for the Presence of God in our lives, but it expands to the fulfilment of our desire in the lives of others. Whether 'hermits' (shepherds) or 'wise men' (pastors) or indeed 'angels' (!), we are indeed drawn into the universality of the message of the Nativity of Our Lord and God. 

Thank you - what a wonderful meditation you have granted me, Father Raymond, and by Bother Seamus' encouragement, and through Father Donald's Blog!
I think I am content to remain but a shepherd, lingering by the door of the stable: the star has faded, the wise men have departed, and I am left in wonderment for the world...
 With my love in Christ Our Lord.
William
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Dom Donald's Blog: 2/4 January 2015, the Epiphany. Fr. Raymond Homily...: Mass Homily, by Fr. Raymond   Our Crib: Nativity figures play their parts. The Epiphany Star features Scripture and Liturgy Subject: ...



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