We come this weekend to the feast of the Epiphany where we celebrate the manifestation of the Christ Child as God incarnate. You’ll recall that the word epiphany, when written with a lower case “e” refers to a kind of aha moment. When it is written with an upper case “E” it refers to this manifestation of the Christ as God.
The prayers of the Church for this Sunday are replete with references to light as an attribute for Christ. In the opening prayer (the Collect in Church speak) for the Vigil Mass we pray “May the splendor of your majesty, O Lord, we pray, shed it’s light upon our hearts, that we may pass through the shadows of this world and reach the brightness of our eternal home. In the Communion Antiphon for the Vigil Mass, which you won’t hear because of the Communion hymn, we hear “The brightness of God illuminated the holy city of Jerusalem, and the nations will walk by it’s light“. In the closing prayer (the prayer after Communion in Church speak) we pray “Go before us with heavenly light, O Lord, always and everywhere, that we may perceive with clear sight and revere with true affection the mystery in which you have willed us to participate.” And finally from the Preface (just before the Eucharistic prayer at the Altar) we hear “For today you have revealed the mystery of our salvation in Christ as a light for the nations, and when he appeared in our mortal nature, you made us new by the glory of his immortal nature.”
We also will likely hear the great hymn, Christ be our Light. This is a nice simple version of that great song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B63zLFQmp3U
The Vatican II Constitution on the Church, known as Lumen Gentium from it’s Latin title, begins with these words: “Christ is the light of the nations and consequently this holy synod, gathered together in the holy Spirit, ardently desires to bring all humanity that light of Christ which is resplendent on the face of the Church, by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature.”
So it is this little Baby, who would grow up to change the world by giving us hope, and an opportunity for reconciliation with the Father, would attract us by being the Light to the nations. Of course we know it doesn’t end there. We are to carry that light to others. It’s not enough for us to say yes to Christ, that we believe, it is also a call to action, to become light bearers ourselves.
So as we leave the season of Christmas, and before we start thinking too much about the bus of Lent that is careening toward us head on, let us give a thought to how we’re doing at being light for others. As St. Gregory Nazianzus write “You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven.”
I write this on Thursday, which is the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. She is honored as the patron of Catholic schools and education in general. So this is a good time to say thank you to those who teach. May your ministry be blessed and may your students draw closer to Christ through you. May St. Elizabeth Ann Seton be a model for you and may she intercede for you.
I hope Advent and Christmastime have been joyful for you, filled with love and family and friends and that you can take some of that love and fuel the light for your little corner of the nations.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
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