Archive for January 3rd, 2009
Feast of Epiphany
Mt: 2:1-12
The Feast of Epiphany that we are celebrating today is popularly known also as the Feast of Three Kings. The Germans were the ones who “coined” and popularized this “Feast of Three Kings.” Based on the German tradition it was assumed that there were “three kings” because of the presence of the three gifts, namely, gold, frankincense and myrrh which were very expensive during that time that only a King can afford to give it as a gift.
If we go back, however, to the biblical texts of the Gospel According To Matthew we will discover that there were no mention of the word “king.” There were no mention also of the word “three.” What were being mentioned only was the term “magi” which literally means “wise men,” “learned men,” or “enlightened astrologers.” But they were not the “fortune tellers” or the “manghuhulas” that we have today.
What is something definite in the story is that there were wise men from the East who, under the guidance of the star, had searched and found the infant Jesus with Mary his mother. They knelt down and worshiped the new-born King, opened their gifts and offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These gifts have symbolical significance to the divine identify and mission of Jesus. Gold symbolizes the kingship of Jesus. Frankincense symbolizes the divinity of Jesus. Myrrh symbolizes the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross that brought about our salvation. Having warned not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
What is epiphany? “Epiphany” means “manifestation” or “appearance” of God in the person or humanity of Jesus. It is also a revealing scene and event when God was pleased to disclose His identity, mission and plan of salvation not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. Epiphany also means an illuminating discovery or realization that Jesus, indeed, is the “Immanuel” the “God-with-us.”
What are the significance or implications of Epiphany in relation with our sanctification and salvation?
First, epiphany tells us that in Jesus, God became visible and audible for us. Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God. In him the fullness of divinity dwells (see Col 1:15). St. John the Evangelist rightly describes the mystery of Incarnation in his Prologue when he wrote: “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; And the Word was made flesh; and He dwelt among us” (see Jn 1:1-5, 9-14). For John, however, Jesus is not only the “Word Made Flesh’ but also the “Love Made Flesh” when he declared: Through him we have seen and believe in the Love of God for us (1 Jn 4:16).
Second, epiphany tell us that the in Jesus God once again became accessible to us. In Jesus we have once again access to the Father. In Jesus we have once again access to the Father’s Kingdom. In Jesus we have once again access to the fullness of truth and grace that God alone can give. As Jesus himself declared: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6).
Third, epiphany tells us the God wants all men and women to be saved and to come to the fulness of truth (1 Tim 2:3-4), that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6). The kingdom of God is intended for all men and women of all generations. God does not want anyone to perish eternally in hell. Salvation, therefore, is inclusive not exclusive.
What are some of the challenges for all of us? Like the wise men let us keep on searching for the fulness of truth. Once we found the truth let us adhere to the truth. Like the wise men let us also acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior and do him homage. Like the wise men let us also open our gifts and offered them to Jesus which is the greatest gift of God the Father to His people. Of course, not gold, not frankincense, not myrrh but our body, our self, our whole life. As St Paul exhorted the first early Christians in Rome: “I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is the kind of spiritual worship God wants from you” (Rm 12:1).
Peace is Both Gift and Reward
Posted on: January 3, 2009
‘Peace’ is my farewell to you, my peace is my gift to you.” – John 14:27
What we receive from someone’s last will and testament can be a very personal and special expression of his or her love and concern for us. In His will, the Lord left His disciples peace. The traditional Hebrew shalom has a wide range of meaning. It is used as an ordinary salutation. In Scriptures however, it often indicates the well-being of men and women who live in harmony with nature, with themselves, with each other, and with God. It means not only blessing but also rest, glory, riches, salvation, and life. Simply stated, peace, is the fullness of happiness (Lv. 26:6).
By “peace,” Jesus means “shalom,” harmony, a taste of paradise, a foretaste of heaven. This is obviously not the peace that the world gives (Jn 14:27). It is a peace beyond human understanding (Phil 4:7). This shalom-peace is stronger than death and will last forever. It can be produced only by the Holy Spirit (see Gal 5:22). ). As the gift of Jesus shalom (Greek eirene) stands for salvation which brings the bounty of messianic blessings.
God loves all men and women on earth and gives them the hope of a new era, an era of peace. His love, fully revealed in the Incarnate Son, is the foundation of universal peace. Peace is possible. It only needs to be implored from God as His gift, but it also needs to be built day by day with His help, through works of justice and love.
“All things desire for peace,” St. Augustine tells us. John XXIII expresses a similar universal desire in the first paragraph of his encyclical Pacem in Terris (1963): “All men of every age have most eagerly yearned for peace on earth.” And yet, as look at our world and see situations of un-peace: wars, violence, division, injustice, oppression and exploitation, deteriorating poverty and un-love. “We desire peace and therefore St. Thomas adds, “we desire to obtain what we desire” (Summa Theologiae, II-II, 29, 2). Hence, all men and women of good will have to pursue and work for peace of all. For “peace is either for all or for none” (SRS 26).
As a community of disciples of Jesus Christ, we have the vocation and mission to be sign and instrument of peace in the world and for the world. For the Church, to carry out her evangelizing mission means to work for peace. “For the Catholic faithful, the commitment to build peace and justice is not secondary but essential. It is to be undertaken in openness towards their brothers and sisters of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, towards the followers of other religions, and towards all men of good will” (Pope John Paul II, Message for World Day of Peace, issued December 8, 1999).
How can we become peacemaker or builder or bridges of peace?
- Be at peace with oneself and with God. The heart of peace is the peace of the heart (Pope John Paul II). The words of St. Seraphim is worth recalling to explain this truth: “Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will find liberation.”
- Be at peace with individuals and groups near or close to you both in hearts, space, and time. Like charity, peace begins at home. It begins with our loved ones, relatives, friends and neighbors. Neighborliness leads to peace. Hence, we are challenged by the Church: “Today there is an inescapable duty to make ourselves the neighbor of every man, no matter who he is, and if we meet him, to come to his aid in a positive way, whether he is an aged person abandoned by all, a foreign worker despised without reason, a refugee, an illegitimate child wrongly suffering for a sin he did not commit, or a starving human being who awakens our conscience by calling to mind the words of Christ: ‘As you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'” (“Gaudium Et Spes,” 27).
- Be at peace to everyone even to individuals and groups who do evil against you and differ from you in many ways. As St. Paul advises: “Do all you can to live at peace with everyone” (Rom 12:18). “Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors. This will prove that we are sons and daughters of our heavenly Father” (Mt 5:44-45), do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who persecute you, love your enemies, rejoice with those who are joyful, weep with those who weep, live in peace with one another and conquer evil with good (see Rm 12:14-16, 21). Gandhi’s reminder is still relevant and urgent today: “A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye makes the world toothless and blind.” Hence, let us promote peace for all nonviolently and peacefully.
- Be at peace with the whole creation. Remember ultimate peace is either for the whole creation or none at all. If we are truly at peace with ourselves, with God, with our neighbor then we should be at peace also with the created world and everything that lives in it. The whole creation will only enjoy ultimate peace when we are at peace with God, the Father and Creator of all. “If man is not at peace with God, neither the earth is at peace” (Pope John Paul II, Message, World Youth Day of Peace 1990).
- Share to the poor, the needy and the suffering. Poverty and misery breed divisive conflicts. In fact, it is foolish to preach peace to an empty stomach. President Woodrow Wilson once said,”No one can love his neighbor on an empty stomach.” His point is an important one: We are made up soul and body.To address the soul without addressing the body is to ignore the reality of our human makeup. The insight of John Locke on this matter is of great importance: “A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full description of a happy [peaceful] state in this World . . .”
- Pray for peace. Peace is a gift of God, hence, Christians in particular should pray for peace and for the attainment of the essential elements of peace – justice, love, freedom and truth. As Pope John Paul II writes:
To pray for peace is to pray for justice, for a right ordering of relations within and among nations and peoples. It is to pray for freedom, especially for the religious freedom that is basic human and civil right of every individual. To pray for peace is to seek God’s forgiveness, and to implore the courage to forgive those who trespassed against us (Message, World Day of Peace 2002, no. 14).
The Lord died to give us peace. Receive this gift of peace, pray and pursue it . Help build, bridge and spread peace everywhere. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall see God” (Mt 5:9).
Thoughts To Live By... 