GOD MADE KNOWN

The Star, the House and the Detour

January 5, 2025: Solemnity of Epiphany of the Lord
Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3 : 2-3, 5-6; Matthew 2 : 1-12

The Word became flesh and came to dwell among us; today the world gets to see its Messiah. The Son who was promised to the Hebrews through the prophets through the ages, then revealed to Mary and Joseph in their private life and dreams, is now revealed to the world - that is why the Magi from the East, as East was then considered the end of the world.

The feast of Epiphany has three important symbols carrying three crucial messages for us disciples of Christ.

The first symbol is the Star: 

The guiding star which led the magi to the Lord. Stars shine, position themselves to be seen by all and remain above every thing unaffected! We all wish to be stars too... shining and glittering in the world of fame. The star of Christ or a star for Christ is called to shine too, not for personal glory but for people to be attracted. The star of Christ is called to be seen by all, not for adulation but for example! The star of Christ has to be above everything, not to insist on a superiority that is anti-Christian but to give hope to people at all moments including difficult ones. Everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ has to be a star that guides people to Christ. Are my thoughts, words and decisions shining enough to lead people to Christ?

The second symbol is the House: 

The star might have been magnificent but it rested on a simple manger. The signs and events might have been grand but the Messiah was found in a stable. What we are and what we have does not matter as much as who we are! Whether simple or sophisticated, whether learned or ordinary, whether rich or poor... we are called to possess the Lord, we are called to be one home that houses the Lord. People who come to us should be able to see, feel and experience the Lord and praise the Lord through us and for us. That is true Epiphany.

The third symbolic event is the Detour: 

The magi who came were asked to leave on a different way back. They had to make a detour... because they had truly seen the Messiah. Even we, if we truly see the Messiah, we would not be able to go back the same way that we came. We would have to make a detour for sure. That detour could be our sign of repentance, our change of ways, our going out of our way for the sake of someone else... in short, it is our New life, because we have come to know the Lord. How many we have heard, who speak of their moment when they met the Lord! It does not matter how many years or generations I am a 'Christian', but what matters is that I encounter the person of Christ - the moment of truth when I realise the meaning and call of my life! Once I do that, I cannot but take a detour!

God is made known... it is upto us to become God's guiding stars, true dwelling places of God and people who are ready to arise and shine!

God reveals: the Christ within us

WORD 2day: Saturday after the Christmas Octave

January 4, 2025 -  1 John 3: 7-10; John 1: 35-42

What the Word wishes to communicate today, proceeds from where it left yesterday, in fact, in continuity with the themes of revelation we have been discussing in the past two days. First we said, the revelation is about Jesus as Christ, and yesterday we reflected on how this Christ is the spotless Lamb of God. Today the Word tells us, we are like Christ too - children of God, as Christ was the Son of God. 

When Christ, in Jesus became just like us, he revealed to us that in the core of our beings we are just like him! We are begotten children of God. Let no one deceive us to believe anything on the contrary, warns St. John today in the first reading. Yesterday, when the Word said, Christ is spotless and we are called to be so: that is sinless, we might have had an instant question, "is it possible at all?" And Christ wishes to respond to us today - Yes, it is possible.

How is it possible? Because we are Christs too - the Gospel says, Christ means anointed and each of us has been anointed, right when God chose us to be children of God by the anointment of the Chrism, at our baptism. Jesus the Christ tells us today, that it is not only true that he became one among us, but it is equally true that he has made us ones like him, sons and daughters of God, begotten of God! The challenge is that we recognise it, get convinced of it and begin to live it in our daily life, because all the ends have seen the salvation of the Lord and we are the chosen instruments to experience and announce that salvation.

When John pointed out to the Lamb, there were persons who were ready to take a readical decision to follow Christ, to go where Christ is, to stay with Christ and become like him! That is our call too - to become like Christ, that is to distinguish ourselves as children of God, living a holy life and loving our brothers and sisters. We are saved by Jesus the Christ, but we shall experience that salvation only as long as we make a choice to, go out there and live like him!