The Epiphany of the Lord

 "Where is the newborn king of the Jews?" Mt 2:2

Stability is something we all seek.  We want a permanent job, a house or apartment of our own that we can afford.  We want our children to do well in school and enter strong solid marriages.  It goes on and on.  Stability is like a prize that we cannot live without, but today's readings ask us to make a very deep examination of conscience.

What kind of stability are really seeking? Jesus does not promise us that we will have a land to call our own, but assures us that God will always be with us in the flesh, and will send his Spirit to dwell within us and among us forever. Rather than building temples, we are God's holy tabernacle. We are a pilgrim people who build places of worship and call them churches, but the real church is us! United in faith with the assurance that God will be our anchor, we are set free from the compulsive need to live in one place, have the same job forever, and measure our success by what we have rather than who we are.

Our challenge on the feast of the Epiphany is straightforward: How open spirited are we?  How ready are we to welcome the message of salvation and hope no matter where it comes from? The story of the Magi is still told today because it reminds us to let go of our limited understanding of the gospel and listen with open spirits to the epiphanies happening all around us every day.

Today, ask God to give you a stable relationship in faith to continue your journey.

Have you had an Epiphany lately?

Cana's Miracle

 "They have no wine." Jn 2:3

Today's gospel recounting the wedding feast at Cana lends itself easily to our own lives.  When Mary tells Jesus, "They have no wine," she could just as easily have said, "They have no coats, no food, no clean water, no hope." In the Jewish world that Jesus knew, the family of those being married had only one responsibility, to provide everyone with enough food and wine for a feast that might last several days. Not to offer their guests a simple table wine would have shamed the family and the newly married couple, and since the poor had only one real opportunity to celebrate in this manner, the shame would have followed them everywhere.

Mary knows this and points it out to Jesus who wonders why the failure of another family to prepare properly for a wedding is any of his business. He might have been feeling compassion for them but hesitates to interfere in a direct way and bring attention to himself. If he sent his disciples to buy wine, it might have embarrassed the couple more deeply. Clearly, another way of easing the tension in the situation was needed. When Jesus tells the stewards to fetch six stone water jars, no one could have known what he intended to do, and when the head waiter tasted the "new wine" he had no idea where it came from, but was amazed that this very fine wine had not been served earlier.  The party continued; no one was embarrassed or shamed, and the identity of Jesus begins to be revealed.

Today, do something for another anonymously.

How do you respond to the needs of the poor?

Jesus' Early Life

 "When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali." Mt 4:12

The gospels tell us little about Jesus' early life. Although Matthew's gospel has an infancy narrative and reminds us that Joseph took Jesus and Mary to Egypt to flee the wrath of Herod, we know nothing of their life together in Egypt or what their life was like when they returned to Palestine after Herod's death.

The next we hear of Jesus he is baptized by John in the Jordan, and  between verses 11 and 12 in the 4th chapter of Matthew's gospel a year goes by before Jesus hears of John's imprisonment prompting him to move from his boyhood home in Nazareth to Capernaum in Galilee.

Why Capernaum in the region of Zebulun and Napthali? Most commentators suggest  that Jesus moves to Galilee because, like the prophets, he wanted to go to the most forgotten and despised of places, areas where the Torah was only loosely lived, since that is how the Messiah would be known.

Little has changed in the intervening years. If we want to know who the Messiah is and how he acts, we do ourselves a favor by going to those places where no one expects much from the people living there. Ours is a nomadic God who accompanies those most in need, and unless we acknowledge our own weakness, we will never know God who seeks out the lost.

Today, visit a place within yourself that you fear or despise.

Have you ever been touched and lifted up by people from whom you expected little?

St John Neumann

 "If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?" 1 Jn 3:17

St John Neumann knew well the truth of John's first letter. Because he saw so many in need, he did everything he could to respond, including learning Spanish, Italian, French and Dutch. A a missionary to the United States, he became a kind of itinerant pastor, and although his ministry was rich and diverse, he needed community support so joined the Redemptorists.

Named bishop of Philadelphia at 41, the young Redemptorist, anxious to respond to the needy and unlearned, approached the teaching brothers and sisters in the area and invited them to serve with him in the schools of Philadelphia. Determined to give immigrant children especially a chance at a better life, John immediately began to build Catholic schools. In less than a decade Philadelphia, while had only two Catholic schools when he arrived, had more than one hundred.

Now it is our chance. How can we best advance the gospel in the 21st century? Are schools still the answer? Are hospitals? What will the new evangelization look like?

Today, pray to know how best to announce the Good News with your lives.

What aspect of church life has been most important in your faith life?

St Elizabeth Ann Seton

 "We have found the Messiah." Jn 1:41

Elizabeth Ann Seton had any number of firsts in her life. She founded the first American congregation of religious sisters in the United States, opened the first parish school and the first Catholic orphanage, but none of these is her greatest triumph. Despite being widowed at 30 with five young children, she decided to become a Catholic despite strong opposition from her staunch Episcopal family.

Elizabeth's courage at a time in her life that begged her to be careful and conservative remind us that when we depend totally on God wonderful things can happen. Not only are we able to make difficult decisions, we do so with conviction and serenity. When God is on our side, and God always is, no obstacle is too big to overcome.

In the United States women have always been the foundation stones of our parishes. They teach religious education, serve on every committee and week after week faithfully celebrate the Eucharist with devotion and passion. In all of this they have a wonderful model in Elizabeth Ann Seton. Not deterred by being ignored, dismissed or rejected, women know, like Elizabeth Ann, that God is their center and their guide. Nothing else matters.

Today, listen to a woman of faith.

What woman of faith do you most admire?

Look for the Spirit

 “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him." Jn 1:32

The Spirit of God is powerful and transforming, and when John the Baptist sees the spirit in the form of a dove descend and remain upon the Lord, he knows Jesus is the Messiah, the promised one. What is more remarkable is that this same spirit is promised to and comes upon us as well. While it is true that we can turn away from or reject the transforming power of the Spirit, it is God's desire that we accept and live in, with and through the Spirit.

It can be difficult and dangerous to speak of God's desire, but when we carefully read the scriptures and the tradition of the church, we can speak confidently. God wants to be near us. He sends prophets our way and eventually his own Son to demonstrate that he desires our salvation. God wants to be with us, to love us totally and to guide us to the fullness of life.

Paying attention to the Spirit around us, within us and among us will allow us to see God's love and know God's desire not only for us but for all creation.

Today, look for signs of the Spirit in your everyday life.

Where do you most often "see" God's Spirit?

Sts Basil and Gregory

 “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’" Jn 1:23

Most of the great saints of the early church, like Basil and Gregory, knew, like John the Baptist, that their primary task was to cry out the truth of the Gospel despite the personal cost to their own reputation and power. Basil did this by preaching twice a day, usually against Arianism which denied the divinity of Christ. His commitment to preaching the fullness of the truth caused others to accuse him of heresy. Despite his appeals to the Pope for help, Basil was often left dangling and vulnerable.

Gregory was first drawn to Basil, the founder of monasticism in the East, because he wanted  to live a quiet, secluded and prayerful life. Soon  however, he was ordained priest, then  bishop, and before he knew it he was sent to Constantinople to try to bring peace and orthodoxy to that troubled place. Despite his best efforts, he was also vilified and attacked personally. Still, Gregory endured and preached consistently and constantly about the great mystery of the Incarnation, only to be isolated and forgotten in his last years.

Only when we are clear about our role as Christians are we able to endure trials and difficulties. Like John the Baptist we are to make the Lord's way straight and accept the consequences, no matter how difficult, of living the Gospel.

Today, don't worry about your success. Worry about living the Gospel.

What is the most difficult part of living the gospel for you?