EPIPHANY

EPIPHANY

I’d planned to see my doctor today but then I remembered that for him, a devout Coptic Christian, today is Christmas. Why, in the Orthodox tradition, do they prefer to celebrate the “showing” of the child to the gentiles rather than the birth of Jesus into the world? Well, I can’t answer that but it could be that birth happens to us all but the manifestation of God to the world when the “time” had come is what really needs to be remembered.

Matthew gives us the story of the journey of the Magi and he was the most Jewish of the gospel writers. He begins by rooting Jesus firmly in his Jewish origins in chapter 1 and then blows the mind of his Jewish Christian readers by telling the story of these visitors from the east in chapter 2. They come to Jerusalem for help to understand the sign (the star) they had seen and they are helped, with the aid of the Hebrew scriptures, to discover that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. But the “chief priests and the scribes” leave it at that. They don’t go to Bethlehem. Only the gentiles do.

And not only that! The Jewish king uses the scriptures as “intelligence” material to counter a challenge to his rule. It is not a pretty story and it is not a new one. People constantly prefer their own immediate interests to the wider picture. Scientists tell us the melting of Antarctica would be catastrophic for human life on earth but who is listening?

The good news is, of course, that the three wise men push on. This time the star and the scriptures converge on a simple shelter in Bethlehem where they find the child “with his mother Mary.” They are “filled with delight” and offer valuable gifts.

Their journey and their gifts then become the signs. T. S. Eliot describes their journey:

… the camel men cursing and grumbling / and running away, and wanting their liquor and women / and the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters. / And the cities hostile, and the towns unfriendly / and the villages dirty and charging high prices: / a hard time we had of it.

Do we experience something like that? But in the end we get there and offer our gifts. What are they? What have I to give? We all have something: a word, a smile, an act of compassion and solidarity with people suffering in a hostile world. The key thing is to reach beyond our little world of self-interest that traps us every bit as much as it did the scribes of Jerusalem.

7 January 2018                                    Epiphany

Isaiah 60:1-6                                       Ephesians 2:3 …6                               Matthew 2:1-12

   

MY BELOVED SON

PRAYER PAUSE

Saturday 6 January 2018

MY BELOVED SON

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Beloved Son; my favour rests on you.’” (Mark 1:6-11)

Reflection. The Christmas season goes back and forth between the adult and the child Jesus. Today is “Christmas” in the Orthodox Church and on this day many of our Catholic churches celebrate the Epiphany. In this part of the world we do it tomorrow. But the theme behind all these variations is that Jesus is intorduced to us. A new head or parish priest doesn’t just appear. She or he is introduced. This “introduction” of Jesus is another powerful moment to ponder in the Christmas season. We begin to get to know him.The people flocked “treading on one another” (Luke 12:1) to hear him. But when he spoke of his passion in Jerusalem they fell away and finally he was left alone. The introduction of Jesus, getting to know him, is no simple matter. It takes much reflection on our own experience of life.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to know you better that we may love you and follow you more closely.. Amen

YOU WILL SEE GREATER THINGS

PRAYER PAUSE

Friday 5 January 2018

YOU WILL SEE GREATER THINGS

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: Jesus said to Nathaniel, “You will see greater things than that. I tell you, you will see heaven laid open ….” (John 1:41-51)

Reflection. Fr Ted Rogers, who died on 30 December, was torpedoed off the coast of West Africa in World War II. The experience turned his thoughts towards a religious vocation and opened the way for his amazing imagination to do “greater things”. He founded a community school for poorer children, the School of Social Work, the Christian Aid initiative for the rehabilitation of returning exiles after the liberation war, the Jesuit AIDS network, Shelter Trust for single mothers and the Educational Trust for Orphans. His bubbling energy had no bounds and he “laid heaven open” for countless people. Nathaniel was astonished by Jesus and his promises. The same promises of abundant life are there before us today. We have only to grasp them.   

Prayer. Lord, help us to grasp the opportunities you open up for us each day. Amen

COME AND SEE

PRAYER PAUSE

Thursday 4 January 2018

COME AND SEE

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Jesus turned round and saw them following him and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Teacher, where do you live?’ ‘Come and see,’ he replied.” (John 1:33-42)

Reflection. We recall the two levels here; one the visual tent or shelter where Jesus is staying by the Jordan; the other, Jesus lives in the Father. But the disciples could not take in that second level then. Yet, if they came and stayed with him, they would become accustomed to the way he opens the minds of all those who would see what he does and hear his words. “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see,” he said later, “for many prophets and kings have longed to see what you see and never saw it.” (Luke 10:24)

Prayer. Lord, may we become accustomed to “staying” with you in our daily lives and seeing the world through your eyes. Amen.

THE NAME JESUS

PRAYER PAUSE

Wednesday 3 January 2018

THE NAME JESUS

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “When the eight day came and the child was circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus.” (Luke 2:21)

Reflection. There used to be a feast of the Name of  Jesus but we do not seem to have it now. We (Jesuits) still keep it as it is the name of our society. A name is personal and traditionally described the person or something about them, even feintly negative things. I remember a mother who called her last child “No Rest” meaning she kept on having children and got no rest from child bearing! God, in the Old Testament did not reveal his name beyond saying, “I am” or “I am the one who is.” And that is a great name for God as it really describes him. But in the New Testament – as a sign of God’s dwelling among us – he took a human name, Jesus. He was not the first Jesus, or the last. In Spain children are sometimes called ‘Jesus’. But it describes him perfectly. He is the Saviour.

Prayer. Lord, we reverence your name above all names. May we always act “in your name”.. Amen.

KEEP ALIVE

PRAYER PAUSE

Tuesday 2 January 2018, Basil and Gregory

KEEP ALIVE

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “Keepp alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning … and you will live in the Son and in the Father.” (1 John 2:22-28)

Reflection. Today you can light your stove with the flick of a switch. But some of us grew up where the fire had to be judiously fed with wood to keep it alive. We cannot presume on our faith. To change the image, it can be like a boat drifting into the shallows. We know that our faith dies if it is not constantly nourished. The New Year can be a time to look afresh at how we keep our eyes on “the one thing necessary” (Luke 10:42) and continually stoke our faith though our union with Jesus in all things.

Prayer. Lord keep alive in us the faith that you have given us. Let it not grow functional and ornamental. Amen.

PRAYER PAUSE

Monday 1 January 2018, Mary, Mother of God

SHINE ON YOU

Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you!” (Numbers 6:22-27)

Reflection. There is something cleansing about passing from the old year to the new. The Secretary General of the United Nations gave poor marks to our performance last year. “We have regressed.” And surveying the world of 2017 it is easy to see what he means. But now we have a New Year and new hope and a new beginning. Can we let the Lord’s face shine on our world and our families, communities and personal lives? Can we let his look penetrate us as it penetrated Peter when he denied him three times “and the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” It was a look that plunged Peter into sorrow – and hope. There was no judgement in that look – just love and forgiveness. Can our world receive that look? Eight days after Christmas we think of Mary, that beautifull woman who received the gaze of God and accepted his will as her calling.

Prayer. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us that we may receive, the loving look of our Father and let it penetrate our being. Amen.