Gospel text for Feast of the Epiphany, Sunday 8 January 2017

Matthew 2.1-12        In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "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." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: `And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’"

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Reflection       “Why do we give one another gifts?” Habit? Duty? Obligation? Guilt? Manipulation? I believe gifts given in the genuine sense of giving are the outward and visible sign of our interior state, our intrinsic good will. Some gifts reveal our sense of gratitude, some extend healing, others communicate our inner desire for reconciliation, still others express our interior state of reverence or love. Given this way, gifts are means by which we make visible our hidden or invisible thoughts and emotions. When we choose the so called perfect gift for someone we are communicating by our choice that we know and value them as the unique person they are. 

Which leads us to the wise men in today’s teaching story. Finding the child Jesus they are “overwhelmed with joy,” they open their treasure chests (their hearts?) and carefully choose the perfect gifts for the infant Jesus, gifts that reveal they know and value the unique person Jesus. The wisdom of the wise is to look beyond appearances of  destitute Jewish parents with a newborn lying in an animal feeding trough, and see a human being, a divine being, a fragile being destined to die.  

As with all good teaching stories, the wisdom is hidden between the lines.  The wisdom of the wise men is hidden in the gifts they bring. Gold represents humanity. Frankincense represents divinity and myrrh is used when preparing bodies for burial. The wise men’s gifts are the outward and visible signs of their interior understanding of the true nature of this child, Jesus. Human, divine and destined to die.

The wise mens’ well chosen gifts communicate, “We see you for who you truly are.” Like the brightness of a star that illumines the entire world, the foreigners’ perspicuity  elevates the exchange of gifts from expressions of mass marketing or mad materialism to a spiritual transaction. 

Celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany we receive the incomprehensible gift given to all of humanity; the revelation that like our brother Jesus we are human beings, divine beings and fragile beings destined to die. There are no foreigners, there are no strangers. There are no “others.” Receiving this news we join the wise men, overwhelmed with joy and reaching into our hearts we search for the perfect gift to communicate we know and value each person we meet for who they uniquely are; human, divine and utterly fragile.

If you found this post to be meaningful please share by clicking on icons below. Thank you. 

Gospel text for Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, 20 July 2013

John 20:11-18        Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Reflection        Once upon a time there was a couple. From the instant they met something stirred inside each of them. They tenderly touched fingers to fingers, looked into each other’s eyes, told stories and laughed. When it rained they huddled close in the still protection of a cave and waited for the sun to return. One day an official arrived and said, “I have a book you must read. It tells you everything you need to know about love and relationships. It will tell you when it is proper for you to touch your fingers together, when you should look into each other’s eyes and when you should look away. It will tell you how to build a proper house. Everything you need to know about love and life is in this book. 

Being in love or learning about love? Being in love transforms us. Learning about love informs us. I believe the task of the 21st century is to move beyond this dichotomy or dualistic way of thinking and being. We are growing into non-dual consciousness as we recognize that we are people of mind and soul, body and spirit, science and religion. All of it is informed and transformed in God. We human beings are most fully alive when we welcome the paradox, live into the contradictions and refuse to be prisioners of judgement; good feeling - bad feeling; right thinking - wrong thinking; subject - object; other - self;  dead - alive. Non-dual consciousness emerges as humanity steps beyond a world divided into two camps into an awareness that embraces all that is. 

This is what Jesus was talking about when the Jews were questioning whether he was the messiah and he unequivocally declared,  “The father and I are one” (John 10.30). It was a radical statement of non-dual consciousness and it nearly got Jesus stoned. Then there was Jesus praying for the disciples,  another example of non-dual consciousness. “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one..” (John 17.22-23). 

All things are by God and with God and in God. No thing is outside of God, which is to say, all that is is of God. Non-dual consciousness apprehends there is only God; unborn and undying, being and nonbeing, always and everywhere, beyond all names and within all names. Paul’s counsel to the Romans, “Though we are many, we are one body,” (Ro 12.5) is yet another expression of the inclusivity of non-dual consciousness. Humanity and divinity are not apart from each other. As Jesus said, “The Father and I are one.”

I believe Mary Magdalene was the first person in Western spirituality following Jesus to experience and express non-dual consciousness. I believe that is how she recognized the resurrected Jesus. I believe that is why she is the apostle to the apostles. I believe that is why more and more people are fascinated by her presence in the Christian narrative. I believe that is why we observe the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. 

If you found this post to be meaningful, please share it with friends by clicking on the icons below. Thank you.