By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
The Feast of Epiphany: January 5, 2020
Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3: 2-3,5-6; Matthew 2:1-12
The only possibility of knowing about God is through God’s own self-revelation! God is no simple object to be discovered or invented; God is a person whom we should get to know. Knowing God is possible only through the self-revelation of God in history, in the Word, in our day to day experiences and in ways known only to God.
Today we celebrate that one event, that one life, that one person – JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, in whom God revealed Godself fully, completely, definitively and super abundantly! The revelation has been going on even before Christ, through prophets and judges (Heb 1:1), through chosen men and women. The revelation goes on even today in our everyday life, through the Word and the traditions, through day to day experiences, through holy men and women who have gone before us and those of our times. These revelations find their fullness in the Paschal Mystery, that is: the birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God.
The feast of epiphany is a celebration and a thanksgiving to the Self revealing God who deigned to reveal Godself in the person of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. This feast of revelation reminds us of three realities of our faith:
SEEK… to know God: One has to seek, to know God; there should be a yearning within, in order to encounter God. The wise men from the east got wind of something special that was in store and they sought to know what it is. They were wise men, but they wanted to know more and more!
Faith has to be deepened; there should be a yearning within us to grow more and more in our relationship with God. It is true that the fullness of revelation dwells in Christ, the Son of God…but I have to seek to personalise it, to encounter that revelation and relate to it in first person. I cannot rest with second hand experiences and age-old narratives, I need to seek to experience this revelation of the Lord in first person, and truly behold it myself!
SEE… to find God: One has to see, to find God; God is always present with us, all that we need to do is see! ‘Lift up your eyes round about, and see’ says the first reading. The wise men found the star, they saw an invitation in it. They found the way and the saw a direction there. They found the baby, and they saw someone special that God was preparing there.
We find so many around us… but we need to see the face of God in them: in our brothers and sisters; in those who are suffering and toiling; in those who are exploited and crushed; in those who are treated with disdain and burdened with pain; in those who wake up every morning not certain of the next; in those who have so many worries and concerns in life that they can never think of living the present moment! We need to see God, in the innocent love of a Child; in the tender touch of a mother; in the brimming eyes of a caring person; in the everyday miracles of life. Once we see God in these, we will surely find God concretely present in the Church, in the celebration of the sacraments and in our prayer moments.
SHINE… to show God: One has to shine, to show God; we are called to become instruments of revelation ourselves. ‘Arise! Shine!’ calls the first reading. St. Paul speaks of how the Lord made him an instrument of revelation to the people! When we seek God and manage to see God, we begin to shine. That is why Isaiah says, “then you shall see and be radiant”…the very seeing makes us radiant, makes us shine!
Our Faith is not something merely to be understood and believed, but it is to be lived and be shared. Revelation is at one and the same time a grace and a challenge. A Grace, because it is gratuitous and comes from God. A challenge because, once we get to see God, we have to shine; shine and announce God; shine and share God; shine and show God to the world, to all who are in darkness, sadness and gloom! Especially today, when the world is eager to celebrate anything that is not God and wants to do away with anything that is connected to God… if I believe in the Lord, I have to shine, I have to shine to show God to the world.
The Self revealing God invites us to SEEK, SEE and SHINE. To accept the invitation is an act of FAITH; a beginning of a journey, a journey that lasts the whole lifetime – every day of which we are called to Seek the Lord, See the Lord and Shine for the Lord!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him.