<p>During this most Christian time of year wherein our faith has leaked so profusely into popular culture it can be tempting to rest in the comfort of our confessional family. However todays reflection reminds us that the story of the Epiphany contains within it the divine plan that Christs light shine upon all people no matter their ethnicity or faith traditions and asks us if our own lives reflect such a pervasive divine love.</p><div class=oldwebkit><p><strong>Sunday January 8 2023: Feast of the Epiphany</strong></p><p>Isaiah 60:1-6</p><p>Psalm 72:1-2 7-8 10-11 12-13</p><p>Ephesians 3:2-3a 5-6</p><p>Matthew 2:1-12</p><h3>Genuine seekers&nbsp;and the Wideness of Gods Light</h3><p><em>A reflection by David Jackson</em></p><p>Todays reading from Isaiah proclaims to the people of Israel&nbsp;Your Light has come the glory of the Lord shines upon you. In the gospel the light of the star guides the magi a light that shone on the angels. God wants this light shine on us.&nbsp;But mingle with the light guiding the magis journey there were the shadows of Herods hatred. We are called to invite the light of the world into our lives into our shadows.&nbsp;</p><p>The author of Matthews gospel is writing about the year 80 CE most likely for Jewish Christians living in Syria.&nbsp;They are living during two great transitions: separation from Judaism and adjustment to the influx of the Greco-Roman world of the Gentiles. They are being harassed by non-Christian Jews and overwhelmed by the great influx of Gentiles. These were turbulent years of transition and disruption. Matthews Church was fracturing under the strain suffering loss of perspective and unity. </p><p>One of the great seekers of our time a Jesuit priest-theologian Fr. Karl Rahner S.J. gave a talk some 16 years after the Second Vatican Council. It was his attempt to give a basic interpretation of the Council. In it he pointed out there have been three great ages of Christianity: First the short period of Jewish Christianity. Second the period of the Church in a distinct cultural region namely that of Hellenism and of European culture and civilization. Third the period in which the sphere of the Churchs life is in fact the entire world. Rahner suggested that we live in this third age and as such Christianity must address other faiths of the world: Moslems Hindus Buddhists Taoists etc.</p><p>The Gospel of Matthew tells something of the separation process of Christianity from Judaism that is the transition from the first age of the Church to the second. But it also addressed the second age the spread of Jewish Christianity to the Greco-Roman world. We call ourselves Roman Catholics.&nbsp;As Roman Catholics we have our own doctrines worship church law tradition. Our present-day Roman Catholicism has been profoundly shaped by the splits that took place in the history of our Church.&nbsp;There have been splits with the Eastern Churches and Protestant Churches (I refer to them as separated sister churches). But all these groups are Christian.&nbsp;The predominant geographical area for these religious groups has been Europe and then North and South America. There has been some spread of Roman Catholicism to the East but nothing compared to its expansion to the West.</p><p>Our World has changed. Now we refer to ourselves as living in a global village. We know of Moslems in Iran and Iraq Afghanistan Pakistan etc. We know of Hindus in India. We know something of Buddhists in China. We may be familiar with other more obscure (to us) religious traditions. It is in this world that we must now live and operate.</p><p>The Gospel of Matthew was written for Christians that had been Jews;&nbsp;people who continued to believe that only they shared the&nbsp;privileged state as the Chosen people but the gospel narrative asserts that is no longer so. There are no more chosen favorites in this way.&nbsp;What used to be exclusively theirs now belongs to all people.&nbsp;The gospel illustrates this through the scene in todays readings: magi who come from the East are looking for the new-born king of the Jews whose star they have seen in the sky.&nbsp;Anybody any woman or man of good will who sincerely seeks goodness justice and peace can see themselves in these wise ones from the East.&nbsp;Our Christian imagination has painted them with warm descriptive strokes.&nbsp;They are no longer just the kindly figures of the manger scene with their camels and dromedaries exotic names luxurious garments and their retinue like a fairy tale. They are all those who seek truth and love and who guided by the light of that star find Jesus and&nbsp;offer the best they have.</p><p>This vision of religious pluralism within Christianity our encounters with other religions in the world and dialogue with people of good will may very likely be an ever-increasing topic of discussion and discernment. Some have said it is the religious theme of this millennium.</p><p>For our celebration of Epiphany we might reflect on the guiding lights in our own lives. Who are they? What are we reading?&nbsp;Who are our companions along the way?&nbsp;What do I do when I get stuck like the magi did?&nbsp;St. Paul asserts that a mystery had been revealed to him. That mystery is this: God considers us all equal loves us all equally and has a special fondness for those who are excluded marginalized materially poor.&nbsp;Who might I be forgetting in the broader Jesus family?</p></div><div class=oldwebkit>&nbsp;</div><div class=oldwebkit><div class=mobile-full><img class=mobile-full src=https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/civicrm/persist/contribute/images/uploads/static/david_e426fcb3e8fbda982c14722151c350bc.png alt= width=166 hspace=0 vspace=0></div><div class=mobile-full><p><em>As a Catholic priest for 48 years&nbsp;<strong>David Jackson</strong>&nbsp;preached on most Sundays. His love of Scripture led him to pursue an M.A. from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. For the past 16 years he has sent out homily reflections to friends. For the last two years these reflections have also been available on Roman Catholic Women Priests Canada's bimonthly newsletter. Since he discovered Catholic Women Preach that web site is part of his weekly preparation. At 82 years of age he has been married for the last ten years to the love of his life Alva. In March he published his first book Jesus Gardens Me available on Amazon.</em></p><p></p></div></div><p style=text-align: center;><a class=btn btn-primary href=https://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/mailing/subscribe>Subscribe to Breath of the Spirit</a></p>