Epiphany

Epiphany

1 /7 /07

by Fr.Gus Carter

The story of the Wise Men traveling to find Jesus reminds us that life is often portrayed as a journey. One of the most important things in travel is knowing where you are going and how to get there. People have written about the pain of an aimless life or the empty feeling that life has no meaning. To travel we need some kind of navigation device. Traveling without maps or road signs would be a very frustrating experience. The star leading the Magi becomes a sign of all that leads us to our proper destiny. With the new year beginning people make resolutions about how they want to steer the course of their lives in the coming year. These days would be a good time to examine the maps by which we guide our lives. Another part of navigating is course correction. We check where we are in relation to where we are going. Are we staying on track to where we want to go?

From the news on television it would seem that most New Year's resolutions have to do with losing weight and getting into better physical shape. These are admirable goals and we should take care of our bodies as God's gift to us. However, how many individuals are concerned about their spiritual growth? I would say that most people in this church have a fairly strong desire to grow spiritually. God has placed within each person the desire "to be all that you can be." We believe that God speaks to us through inner feelings, desires, inspirations, uneasiness. What speaks most to us within ourselves is the desire for peace and joy. All this points to the fact that to grow spiritually we must take time to be alone with God and with ourselves. Essential to spiritual growth is reflecting on our lives in the presence of God.

The map by which we should guide our lives is the life of Jesus Christ. One of the main themes of Epiphany is God's desire to save all humankind. This is revealed to the world in Jesus appearance before the Magi. One thought on the Word of God becoming human is: "Humans had become so bad at living as God wanted them to live that he sent his Son so that we could see what true faithfulness looked like."

We believe that each of us, with the help of God's grace, fashions and decides what kind of person we will become by the end of our earthly journey. Heaven is God, and all those who to some degree have become Godlike. God is love and the Lord's forgiving love includes all persons. The challenge to us, who are made in the image and likeness of God, is to be true lovers. We move from being exclusive to being inclusive. Our selfishness makes us want to think only of ourselves. Imitating God is to become concerned about others. We come to realize that we are not purely separate beings. Our welfare includes that of all creation. We learn to become aware not only of our self-interests, but to develop directly the relational and communal side of ourselves. We work within ourselves to move from illusion to truth, from hypocrisy to sincerity, from self-deception to self-honesty.

All of life can be understood as a dialogue of sorts between the interactions of our human response to God's initiating love and grace. Here we encounter the paradox of Christian living. Much that seems negative in spirituality always has a positive side. In giving of ourselves, we receive more in return. The self-emptying required in forgiveness generates true friendship. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. Sacrifice for Christ leads to self-fulfillment in Christ.