Epiphany (C)

Is 60:1-6
Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6
Mt 2:1-12

If one phenomenon marks our modern world, it's instant communication. The message you're listening to is just one way we interact at the speed of light. Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, and this is the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Feast of the Epiphany.

I sat at a computer to write this short reflection, and then someone took it—via the Internet—to edit and prepare so that it might be heard on our Web site or over the radio waves. If you wish, you could download the very text I originally typed. I still marvel at all the ways we can communicate today.

Today's feast of the Epiphany of the Lord is a feast that celebrates communication. The Gospel we read today portrays Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, revealed to the nations, as the wise men arrive to pay him homage. Whatever the historical facts behind the story, the message of faith is that God is reaching out to us, communicating to us the Word Made Flesh. That's communication that has transformed human history.

God's revelation in Jesus has a power surpassing all our modern technological "miracles," because it speaks to our hearts. Are we listening? Are we open to the Word?

Let's become modern channels of God's communication to the world in this new year, using our gifts—whatever they may be—to pass on the message of the Good News, that Love is born in our midst. I’m Father Greg Friedman with the "Sunday Soundbite" for St. Anthony Messenger Press, on the Web at FranciscanRadio.org.

Scripture:

•Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, (Isaiah 60:5)

•For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. (Psalm 72:12)

•…the mystery was made known to me by revelation. (Ephesians 3:3a)

•…and on entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother. (Matthew 2:11)

Reflection:

•What was the basis of Herod’s actions?

•What was the basis of the Magi’s actions?

•What did the Magi encounter when they came upon a very ordinary situation—a mother with child?

•What do you encounter in the everyday world that is ordinary yet profound?

As adults in a busy world, we find it difficult to act from a heart center. We are too often tired, distracted, or goal oriented. We think too much, and our thoughts are the source of anxieties, guilt and fears. We allow ourselves to be pulled into the past, into the future, and into fantasy. Thoughts split our minds from our hearts.

Francis reminds us of our fundamental desire for wholeness. We yearn to integrate mind and heart. We begin by first getting in touch with our heart, in other words cultivating a desire for God’s love. In time we will be guided more and more by a deeper spiritual energy. We will experience the revelation of the spirit in the here and now—in these people, in these birds, this landscape.