Daily Retreat 01/06/06

2006 Jan 6 Fri: EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

Is 60:1-6/Ps 71(72)/Eph 3:2-3.5-6/Mt 2:1-12

From today’s readings: "Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.... Lord, every nation on earth will adore You.... The mystery was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed.... Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw His star at its rising and have come to do Him homage."

Are you a lax Christian, or max Christian?

God has graciously made Himself known to humanity throughout the ages. Every single instance of such divine revelation has been purposeful, specifically, to elicit a response of faith from all the beneficiaries of the revelation.

The magi who came from the east to honor the newborn King of the Jews were blessed with a revelation from God, but it was a minimal revelation. These wise men, who studied the stars, noted a peculiar star which stood out in some way and inspired their holy quest. They themselves were gentiles - pagans, fending for themselves without even the light of divine revelation from Old Testament times.

The Star of Bethlehem did not spell anything out for them - all it offered was an intriguing invitation for a closer look. But the magi reacted to this minimum of revelation with a maximum response of faith! Not satisfied to just cautiously observe the star from afar, they set out on the journey that was to lead them to the Epiphany of God Incarnate!

Unlike the magi, who were only led by the dim light of a single star, you and I start with the brilliant fullness of divine revelation! First, we have the complete revelation of God entrusted to His chosen people in the Old Testament scriptures. Most importantly, we enjoy the epitome of revelation in the Word made Flesh - Jesus our Lord! And He founded His Church to proclaim His Gospel to all the world, to go and teach all the nations, and continue His mission of sanctification through His sacramental presence. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Church published the New Testament scriptures, and over the centuries, holy shepherds of souls and other saints have enriched the Christian faith with their inspiring lives - clearly, we are blessed with the maximum, not the minimum of revelation!

But unlike the magi, who committed themselves to the maximum response of faith, you and I too often content ourselves with a bare minimum response of faith to this maximum revelation with which God has blessed us. Looking over the past year, who of us can claim that the quest for sanctity defined our lives to the degree that their holy search marked the mission of the magi?

Just consider, for instance, the Epiphany celebration. January 6^th, the 12^th Day of Christmas, has for centuries upon centuries been the traditional date to commemorate the Epiphany to the Wise Men. Yet in the United States and in many other countries, this solemnity has been transferred to the first Sunday after January 1, simply because lazy Christians weren’t making it to Church when this feastday fell on a weekday. In response, many national conferences of bishops, concerned that people were thus completely missing an annual commemoration and reflection on the solemnity of the Epiphany, thus settled on a minimal compromise: the Epiphany would be celebrated on the first Sunday of January, and because of the Sunday obligation to attend Church, fewer people would miss the feastday.

But God’s love and revelation deserves a maximum response of faith, never a minimum! Too often, Christian commitment is merely along the lines of "What’s the minimum I need to do to stay out of Hell?" Inspired by the example of the magi, who gave a maximum response of faith to the minimum of divine revelation, you and I, blessed and confirmed with the fullness and maximum of divine revelation, can resolve never to content ourselves with the minimum: that this new year, and for the rest of our lives, instead of crawling along as lax Christians, we will race ahead, following the true Light of revelation as max Christians!