From The Rector - January '10

Dear Friends and Family,

Epiphany is the climax of the Advent Season (the weeks of the four Sundays before Christmas) and Christmas Season (the Twelve Days of Christmas –
the evening of December 25th until the morning of January 6th). January 6 is the Day of the Epiphany, and THAT begins the Season after the Epiphany which
ends on Shrove Tuesday (a.k.a. Mardi Gras), the day before Lent. This year, there are six Sundays in Epiphany, January 10 through February 14.

In Western churches, The Epiphany remembers the coming of the wise men who bring gifts to visit the Christ child. These “wise men” are likely from a learned class in ancient Persia whose skills include reading the stars. These three have witnessed something extraordinary in the sky, perhaps independently of one another, and then traveled from Persia all the way to King Herod in Jerusalem. They figure this king must know of this event they’ve seen written in the heavens, so they ask him, “’Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’” (Matthew 2:2)

The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." We use the word in the almost ordinary sense of a big realization or the proverbial light bulb going off above our heads. The birth of the Savior was shown and made known to these foreign men – note how God chooses unlikely people through whom to convey his messages and makes clear to outsiders important things! And when they pick up from the comfort of their highly advanced civilization to ravel to a carpenter’s house in dusty Bethlehem, to bring gifts fit for a king to a newborn, these Gentile foreigners "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King.

This act of worship by the Magi was an epiphany that Jesus came for all people, of all nations, of all races, and that the work of God in the world would not be limited to only a few. Their pilgrimage to find the King whose glory is written in the stars illustrates Simeon’s blessing that this child Jesus would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32).

During Epiphany, the lectionary gives us readings that shine light on events in Jesus’ life that show him to be the beloved of God, an authoritative teacher, a miracle worker, one who calls people into His ministry, and the eternal Son of God. Who is He for us? For you? Does His teaching amaze you? Has He filled your net to overflowing, and then called you to fish for people? Has His glory been revealed to you? Listen again this year to The Story, and let the epiphany be yours! Vicki†