Yeah, Redskins!!! Woo-hoo!! Playoffs!! Joe Gibbs is the man! For all of you non-Redskins fans, first of all, whadya thinking? Second, yeah, it's been a long time, but this is sweeeet! I like our chances against Tampa Bay (revenge time) tomorrow, and really would like to see how we'd fare against Seattle. We're the hottest team in the NFL right now!
Oh, last question: "hey, Cowboys fans...whadya doin tomorrow around 4:30?" (that's when I'll be watching my team in the playoffs!)
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Ok, back to business here (hey, we haven't been very good for a long time, so we have to enjoy it while it's here!). So, this Sunday is the feast of the Epiphany. "What exactly do we celebrate on the Epiphany anyways?", you ask. Good question...I have an answer (I should, right?). The Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ as the Messiah, particularly to the magi, the three wise men who followed a star to the baby Jesus.
Christ shows himself to these men who came to "pay him homage". But, they were from lands foreign to Jews, and were commonly known as magicians and astrologers. Hardly the pious crew you would expect to be at the Nativity scene. Can we say that these men were in darkness until they saw the light who is Christ? Can we say that about ourselves...that we are in darkness? If we haven't found Christ, we haven't found the light. He is the Light of the World. Without Him, yes, we are in darkness.
I lived the first 20 years of my life in darkness. Not complete darkness because I vaguely knew Christ. I would get into Holy Week every year, and pray to God when I needed stuff (real solid spiritual life, huh?). But, I really didn't know Christ at all. I was in darkness, and I knew it at about the age of 20. I was miserable, lonely, and discouraged (ewww, bad combo). I went to other things to bring me out of the darkness, but they just made things worse.
I actually had an idea to move to the West Coast and start over in life. That was my light! The light of California...sunshine, beaches, ocean, blondes...that was it. The mere thought of it brightened up my dark life. But, that would probably be the only way it could be my light...as a fantasy. Fantasy usually appears much brighter and better than reality. That's why we fantasize so much. It wouldn't have been a real light, or THE light.
Yes, I knew I was in darkness. I just didn't know Christ was the light ...
(to be continued)
2 comments:
It is very nice to see this blogsite up again, it was down for a little while last week and this week. Greg, what do we know, except what it is written in the Bible, about the three wise men? Has anybody ever researched their lives?
Thank you!
I've done some research this week for my homily on Sunday. The magi are referred by some scholars as magicians, sorcerers, and idolators. They are called wise men because they were experts in the sciences, particularly astrology.
They represent Gentiles (non-Jews) and pagans. They came from the East, and were familiar with the prophecies of Balaam and Daniel. Balaam prophesied (Book of Numbers) that a great light would come out of Judea, and a redeemer would appear. Daniel reiterated this prophesy. The wise men studied the stars with this prophesy in mind.
They saw a great star shining in Bethlehem the day Christ was born. With great faith, they followed this light for 13 days (most likely). On the 13th day, it led them to Jesus' house. They who came "to worship him and do him homage" presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in the presence of Mary and Joseph.
Their realization that Jesus is the Messiah, the King of the Jews, is the celebration of the Epiphany. Jesus manifests himself to them as the redeemer, in accordance with the Scriptures. Even though they came from a land and background foreign to the Jews, God called them to be in his Son's house, and worship him. He used a great light to lead them to Christ, and then warned them not to return to Herod.
St Augustine refers to the Magi as the unjust, lowly, sinners; and yet, God send them great signs and faith that the even the most faithful and learned of the Jews didn't have at the time of Christ's birth.
One of the great points here is that we are the Magi...we are lowly sinners whom God calls to be with his Son and worship Him. He gives us great lights amid our darkness (sin), and shows us His Son. Christ is our light...he is the light shining in our darkness. Our epiphany is when he manifests himself as our Savior and our Redeemer.
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