God Comes in History to Change Us

BLESSED AND HAPPY FEAST DAY!

The Christmas season culminates in the celebration of "the Baptism of Jesus," known in the early Church (and still in the Byzantine tradition) as the Theophany. The mystery of the Trinity is revealed as the Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove and the Father's voice is heard (theophany means the "appearance of God").

We see this event portrayed and written in images in the basic structure of the icon of Jesus's baptism. Let us note a few other details: Jesus is immersed in the waters, not for his own purification (he doesn't need it, obviously) but to consecrate the waters of the world by contact with his body and to begin the restoration of all creation as the New Adam. Jesus is naked (sometimes, as here, portrayed with a loincloth), which symbolizes the restoration of Adam's innocence before the Fall. Strange beasts and humanish forms under his feet symbolize the demons defeated by Jesus. John the Baptist gazes not at Jesus but at the Holy Spirit, corresponding to his own testimony in John 1:32-34. Angels wait upon the shore in adoration and in readiness to serve Jesus who is the Lord of all creation.

This is brief reading of the icon above. As we reflect on the important symbolism here, however, let us not be led to think that this is nothing more than a clever and imaginative mythological story. This imagery conveys the truth about a real event that happened to a real man, Jesus. This man is the answer to the human search for the Mystery that sustains everything and gives ultimate meaning to life.

God has answered the question of our hearts by entering our history as a man, giving His life to us, and accompanying us on the journey to our destiny, to live in the glory of His love forever. Christians receive the sacrament of baptism from Jesus, through His ministers, because God's love for the world and for every human person is not abstract, distant, cold and inaccessible. God has touched us in Jesus, our brother. His love enters our history and changes us.

Let us be grateful for our baptism, or—for those who do not yet know Him—ardently seek this encounter with the Mystery who heals and saves and brings the heart to fulfillment, this touch of God who has come to meet every person on their journey, and who will begin to draw to Himself whoever opens their heart and asks for the truth and beauty of life.

Glory

Glory

Jesus has grasped us,

and made us his own.

He has raised us up

into the glory of his torrential out-pouring of himself,

his self-emptying, his giving-away-everything.

his drawing-all-things into the immense space

of his opened heart.

And we awaken from our paralysis,

and find that we are whole and free.

We are washed by him

washed and made clean in the roaring oceans

and the mighty winds of his life-giving Spirit;

so that we too might give everything,

become ourselves gift

live forever, given within the Infinite Gift

who is Love Eternal.

He has made us to live beyond our walls,

to live in the everlasting

of Love’s gift.

and to begin

even now

on this present earth

to taste and see,

to give and share,

in this Love,

the wonder, the beauty, and the ecstasy of his healing embrace,

which lifts up the fallen,

comforts the afflicted,

satisfies the hungry,

and shines in hidden places,

small, humble places,

glory among the outcasts. 

Remember: We're Still Having a Merry Christmas!

The Wise Guys have arrived!

Today is January 6, the feast of the Epiphany, in which we continue to celebrate God revealing Himself to the world in the flesh of Jesus Christ. We recall the "wise men from the East" who came from far away to pay homage and give gifts to the new king of Israel (see Matthew 2:1-12).

In the Byzantine tradition, today is the great feast of the Theophany, recalling the revelation of the Trinity as Jesus emerges from the waters of John's baptism (see e.g. Matthew 3:13-17). The Latin tradition will join in this commemoration in a few days.

And though the liturgical observance of the Epiphany is transferred to the nearest Sunday in the United States and a number of other countries, we are still observing "Epiphany week." Thus, in these days, the ordinary form of the Roman rite continues to pray:

"O God, whose Only Begotten Son has appeared in our very flesh,
grant, we pray, that we may be inwardly transformed
through him whom we recognize as outwardly like ourselves.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever."

The formal liturgical observance of Christmas celebrations continues in the Western churches until Sunday, January 11. Moreover, the "classical Christmas season" (still observed in many cultures) lasts for 40 days, ending on February 2 with the feast of the Presentation, which commemorates Mary and Jesus being brought to the temple to fulfill the law of Moses, and that moment when the poor of Israel recognize Him through the eyes of Simeon and Anna (see Luke 2:22-38).

We still have much to celebrate in these days.

So there is no rush to take down the tree and decorations. Light up your January nights and let the brightness warm your hearts.

Jesus is with us. The Mystery that makes us, for whom our whole life is one great longing, is here. He has made Himself present in time, in history, so that we can find Him, so that He can shape our history, so that He can dwell with us and draw close to us in all our efforts and our cheer, and especially our sufferings.

God makes our human reality His own. How small and strange we are, with our glittery kitch ornaments and our awkward expressions, our funny-shaped noses and faces, our complaints and our cleverness, our gadgetry and our games. He has come to be with us.

That's a fact worth celebrating for more than one day. This is a season for that profound and humble human quality that brings together beauty and humor, a dark and cold season in which nevertheless we are -- or at least we desire to be -- merry.

And so -- because I am astonished to find that I am a quirky and odd little man in a family of funny people who have been chosen to be brothers and sisters of God -- I shall even today greet you all in this fashion [there should be a video below]:

A Beloved Son

The feast celebrated in the West as "Epiphany" (highlighting the Magi) is observed in the East as the "Theophany," centered on the baptism and especially the manifestation of the Trinity: the voice of the Father, the Beloved Son, the Spirit in the form of a dove. Later, in the West, we added an additional feast of the Baptism of the Lord on the Sunday following Epiphany.

Here is, in any case, the culmination of our celebration of God's showing Himself to the world. Henceforth Jesus will bear witness to His Father in the Spirit, from Galilee to Judea to the Cross. God has entered our history in all the depths of His love. He reveals His Glory; He reveals that He is Love.

When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan 

The worship of the Trinity was made manifest
For the voice of the Father bore witness to You
And called You His beloved Son.
And the Spirit, in the form of a dove,
Confirmed the truthfulness of His word.
O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself
And have enlightened the world, glory to You!

Troparion, Theophany,

Byzantine Liturgy