Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
The Epiphany of the Lord comes to all Christians
By Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
– a light that moves over the waters of baptism. The light, although at first a glimmer, must grow in faith, hope and charity to be the Sun of God in our universe. Ours and God's work, only, can increase that light in each of us and in the world.
For a time it was a light lost by our first parents and later relit by God and his promise to Abraham, that his progeny would be as vast as the stars of heaven. God's covenant with Abraham and to his son, Isaac, and his son, Jacob, were carried forward by the prophets to David and passed on to his son, Jesus Christ. The Epiphany of the Magi, wise men from the East, saw the same light above which guided them to Bethlehem who brought gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense which would were the resources the Holy Family needed to flee a jealous king in Israel and live for a time in Egypt much as Jacob and his twelve sons fled to Egypt and were later led by Moses to the land promised to Abraham.
God calls each of us to an epiphany. No other book of the Bible recounts more in personal terms our singular journey in life as does the Book of Psalms which in large part recounts the human struggle Jesus endured becoming man. The Son of God in our world as the Son of Man experienced our epiphanies in the history of creation which he witnessed, recounted in Psalm 104, and his shared experiences with us we endured in the march of world events recounted in Psalm 105. As each of us Jesus prayed to "Our Father" as we do for light and guidance as expressed in Psalm 25 while all the time he was bringing with him, as his close disciple testified: "The true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world," ( John 1:8).
The wise men who had followed a star to his birth had seen the light. Each of us has the same opportunity to "see the Light" in our lives and follow him.
© Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
January 8, 2018
– a light that moves over the waters of baptism. The light, although at first a glimmer, must grow in faith, hope and charity to be the Sun of God in our universe. Ours and God's work, only, can increase that light in each of us and in the world.
For a time it was a light lost by our first parents and later relit by God and his promise to Abraham, that his progeny would be as vast as the stars of heaven. God's covenant with Abraham and to his son, Isaac, and his son, Jacob, were carried forward by the prophets to David and passed on to his son, Jesus Christ. The Epiphany of the Magi, wise men from the East, saw the same light above which guided them to Bethlehem who brought gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense which would were the resources the Holy Family needed to flee a jealous king in Israel and live for a time in Egypt much as Jacob and his twelve sons fled to Egypt and were later led by Moses to the land promised to Abraham.
God calls each of us to an epiphany. No other book of the Bible recounts more in personal terms our singular journey in life as does the Book of Psalms which in large part recounts the human struggle Jesus endured becoming man. The Son of God in our world as the Son of Man experienced our epiphanies in the history of creation which he witnessed, recounted in Psalm 104, and his shared experiences with us we endured in the march of world events recounted in Psalm 105. As each of us Jesus prayed to "Our Father" as we do for light and guidance as expressed in Psalm 25 while all the time he was bringing with him, as his close disciple testified: "The true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world," ( John 1:8).
The wise men who had followed a star to his birth had seen the light. Each of us has the same opportunity to "see the Light" in our lives and follow him.
© Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
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