Dear Saints,

The root word of “epiphany” means to “make known” or “shine light upon,” and today we celebrate the reality that God has made known his saving will to the ends of the earth. The Magi’s visit to the child Jesus is a clear sign that his love is not exclusively reserved for a certain bloodline or doled out according to some meritocracy; rather, it is universal and extends to people of all races, of all conditions, of all times.

It’s an extraordinary blessing to be aware of God’s love, and those of us who have some understanding of it - paltry though it is compared to the whole - carry an awesome responsibility to share it. To start, we can never lord it over others or wield it like a club against those who disagree. The Book of Jude exhorts us to have mercy on those who doubt or waver (and considering that every one of us is here by the mercy of God alone, it would be especially absurd to offer others anything less). After that, we simply never stop inviting, but this we do more by deed than word. In short, we become the friend we’d want to have.

By consistently prioritizing genuine friendship with both God and neighbor, we open ourselves up to our own “magi moments” - those graced times of revelation in which we are drawn deeper into the mystery of salvation. Not only that, we become a “magi moment” for others, such that through us, they begin to experience God’s love for them and the whole world.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ