Happy Christmas Season Everyone!
We gather together on the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. Originally this feast was always on January 6th, the Twelfth Day of Christmas. However, it is now celebrated the Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Family.
This is a major feast for all who are missionaries throughout the world. We hear the story at the beginning of Christ’s life of the visit of the magi, who are gentile astronomers seeking to find the new born king of the Jews. They are called wise men, because they are seeking the messiah even though they are not Jewish. This story at the beginning of Jesus’ life ties in with his request to his disciples to go out to all the world and tell the good news. The message is clear, that they were to be missionaries, that the message of Christ was not only for the Jews but for the whole gentile world.
The disciples had a difficult time sharing their faith with gentiles. It wasn’t until the conversion of Paul that the missionary work to all the gentiles was able to fully take root. Peter even believed that the gentile converts had to follow all the Jewish dietary laws and practices, including circumcision. Through dialogue, discussion and prayer at the Council of Jerusalem they came to agree that all that was necessary for conversion was faith in Jesus Christ.
On this Feast of the Epiphany, I want to stress the importance of that first church council. We have differences in the church to this very day. Dialogue, discussion and prayer is very healthy. We need to communicate and come to understand each other, and most importantly to bring that to prayer and seek God’s direction, wisdom and guidance in coming to solutions and conclusions on where we are headed as a community of faith and a Church at large.
Imagine what a gift we give to one another as we enter this new year with a desire to dialogue, discuss and pray together as individuals, families, parishes, and communities! Understanding is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Understanding happens when we listen and genuinely want to come to know what is in the heart and mind of people we journey with. What a modern-day Epiphany and gift that would be!
Merry Christmas Season!
Fr. Bill