Epiphany - a New Year 

Epiphany is a feast day in the Church's calendar observing the Visit of the Magi to the house where the Holy Family was dwelling. The word, however, has a broader meaning. According to the Dictionary, "epiphany" means also: "A revelatory manifestation of a divine being. 3.a. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something. b. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization..." That's the meaning on which I ask us to focus on this morning. 

The New Year offers us a fresh opportunity to discover once again the reality of our own special identity, our giftedness, our relationships, and most especially, the presence of the risen Lord in the midst of our ordinary lives. Too frequently we look for some "revelatory manifestation" that is dramatic. The sky opens, a heavenly figure appears, and we are overwhelmed with the reality of God's presence. That seldom if ever happens, but what does happen is a "sudden intuitive realization" that God is present at special moments in our ordinary lives: ecstasy of a love sexual encounter, the birth of a child, a tender or special moment shared with a friend, a prayer or worship experience - these are a few examples when we experience "a state of emotion so intense that one is carried beyond rational thought and self-control" to use the Dictionary definition for ecstasy. 

At such times, we grasp for a while the mystery of life and death, of ourselves in relationship with God and others, and similar epiphanies. These bring inner joy, deep hope and peace to the struggles of our day by day lives, and they are worth remembering in a journal or photography, or just mental imagery. If you have had such moments, you know what I mean. If you have not, perhaps you are too focused on controlling your life, and won't let the Spirit break in. 

Henri Nouwen has a wonderful prayer that I would like to share with you as we begin this New Year. It goes as follows" "Dear Lord, today I thought of the words of Vincent van Gogh: 'It is true there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea.' You are the sea. Although I experience many ups and downs in my emotions and often feel great shifts and changes in my inner life, you remain the same. Your sameness is not the sameness of a rock, but the sameness of a faithful lover. Out of your love I came to life; by your love I am sustained; and to your love I am always called back. There are days of sadness and days of joy; there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude; there are moments of failure and moments of success; but all of them are embraced by your unwavering love. My only real temptation is to doubt in your love, to think of myself as beyond the reach of your love, to remove myself from the healing radiance of your love. To do these things is to move into the darkness of despair. O Lord, sea of love and goodness, let me not fear too much the storms and winds of daily life, and let me know that there is ebb and flow but that the sea remains the sea. Amen" [A Cry for Mercy] 

That's a prayer worth saving and offering up to the Lord once a week or at least on some regular basis. When we have an epiphany, we can see the sea, we can realize that the ebb and flow of our lives are in the hands of a loving God whose Spirit is always present to us to guide us into the path which will lead to our wholeness in body, mind and spirit - what we call salvation now and for that realm beyond we call eternity. 

My New Year's wish for you is that you will have such epiphanies in 2003, and I will do what I can to assist you to the extent possible. As you expect, I highly recommend a New Year's resolution to spend some time, however brief, in prayer and reflection in the Divine Presence, even when you don't feel such epiphanies. One has to learn to play the scales before playing Bach or Bethoven! 

Joseph+