Merry Christmas everyone! It is the Christmas Season, and we are celebrating The Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany is a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand or suddenly become conscious of something that is especially important to you such as a powerful religious experience. This is the experience of the Magi when then finally made their journey to the manger and found the Christ Child.
When I think of Epiphany, I immediately think of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Paying attention to the ways that God is present brings us to that conscious understanding of the importance of Jesus in our lives. Sadly, we are often too busy to even bother to pay attention. We know in our heads about Jesus and about our faith but fail to know Jesus in our hearts.
As I was celebrating Mass at one of our nursing homes, an employee sat in the room during Mass simply looking at her phone. When it was time for this employee to take me around to bring communion to those unable to join us, she struck up a conversation. “Wow, all those people know how to pray. How lucky they are. No one ever taught me to pray or introduced me to God…” This was a young person who realized that those who assembled around the altar had something special that she wanted. It was her Epiphany moment.
We can go through life never having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe we have a relationship with Church, but it doesn’t go deeper than that. Alpha plants the seeds for that Epiphany moment. It is arriving at the manger and realizing that powerful religious experience that changes our relationship to Christ and the faith community we live and walk with.
I had several Epiphany moments during Alpha thanks to the faith sharing during the sessions. What a wonderful gift. Most, I believe I came to a new and wonderful understanding of the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in my prayer life. And, not to just say I will pray for someone, but actually pray with them at that very moment. Thank you, Alpha companions for assisting me in my spiritual growth.