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epiphany While I was living and working in Haiti, I learned a few Haitian proverbs. “Little by little, the bird builds its nest.” “A beautiful funeral doesn't guarantee heaven.” “After mountains, more mountains.” And, my favorite: “If you want to see, you have to look twice.” My mentor and friend, Stephanie Paulsell (who wrote a lovely book called Honoring the Body which is all about the Christian practice of taking care of our beautiful, vulnerable, God-given bodies) once told me the story of her wedding day. It had all the usual trappings: a beautiful dress, flowers, hair, makeup, family flown in from out of town, and the rest. Everything had been prepared; everything was ready. Her father was by her side, ready to walk her down the aisle. The doors to the chapel were opened - and Stephanie saw her soon-to-be-husband at the end of the long aisle. He was standing there smiling at her, full of love on top of love, and she froze. For a split second she was paralyzed, unable to move, because all she could think about was that someday, he was going to die. She couldn’t love him, couldn’t marry her Kevin, because one day he was going to die. Then she looked twice, like that Haitian proverb, and she saw things more clearly. This is what she saw: the presence of death, inevitable as it may be, makes love all the more urgent, all the more powerful, all the more committed, all the more vulnerable, all the more tender. And so this is what she did: she took a deep breath, stepped into the sanctuary, and began the most wonderful, beautiful walk of her life. 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 threatened and 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 prophets.” So King Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. And 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 had been born. I had an Epiphany of my own this Christmas. I was in church, and we were singing, “Joy to the World!” It was bright and full and grand. The organ, the brass, and the timpani were swirling through the air of the big downtown church, and in my mind’s eye, I saw the wise men. I saw them setting out, following the star until it stopped over “City Soleil,” the “City of the Sun,” the “City of Light.” That’s what they call Haiti’s largest slum, the largest slum in the Western Hemisphere, home to half a million people. Sitting there in church, I saw the wise men following the star until it stopped over those houses made of concrete, plastic, cardboard, and tin. I saw them following the star right down into those narrow, overcrowded streets, hitching up their regal robes, standing knee deep in the poverty and sorrow. And when they arrived outside the stable, I saw them standing there paralyzed, as frozen as Stephanie at her wedding, unable to move, overwhelmed by the forces of oppression that made that baby lie in such a mean estate. But then they looked twice. They looked at Mary, and at the child nursing so quietly, so quietly. They looked twice and saw that it was God, God in the flesh, God coming in to the world in the City of the Sun. It was God, creator of heaven and earth, and of Saturn, and snow leopards, and sugarcane. They looked twice and saw that it was God, born in a stable, laying in a manger, siding with the poor, and turning everything upside down. They had gifts with them, of course: gold, a gift fit for the King of kings; frankincense, the incense fit for the Priest of priests; and myrrh, a herb traditionally used in burial. They knew he would suffer, they knew he would die. But that only made their love for him more urgent, more powerful, more committed, more vulnerable, more tender. They saw the shadow of death, but then they looked again, and saw things more clearly. And so this is what they did: they took a deep breath, stepped into the sanctuary, and began the most wonderful, beautiful walk of their lives. Thanks to Sam Fam for this festive photo!
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Današnji datum: 16. prosinca 2016. Bogojavljenje je blagdan sveopćeg poslanja Crkve. Dolazak Mudraca u Jeruzalem je znak okupljanja svih rasa i naroda oko Krista u jedan te isti narod, Božji narod. Čitanje svetog Evanđelja po Mateju Kad se Isus rodio u Betlehemu judejskome u dane Heroda kralja, gle, mudraci se s istoka pojaviše u Jeruzalemu raspitujući se: "Gdje je taj novorođeni kralj židovski? Vidjesmo gdje izlazi zvijezda njegova pa mu se dođosmo pokloniti." Kada to doču kralj Herod, uznemiri se on i sav Jeruzalem s njime. Sazva sve glavare svećeničke i pismoznance narodne pa ih ispitivaše gdje se Krist ima roditi. Oni mu odgovoriše: "U Betlehemu judejskome jer ovako piše prorok: A ti, Betleheme, zemljo Judina! Nipošto nisi najmanji među kneževstvima Judinim jer iz tebe će izaći vladalac koji će pasti narod moj - Izraela! Tada Herod potajno dozva mudrace i razazna od njih vrijeme kad se pojavila zvijezda. Zatim ih posla u Betlehem: "Pođite, reče, i pomno se raspitajte za dijete. Kad ga nađete, javite mi da i ja pođem te mu se poklonim." Oni saslušavši kralja, pođoše. I gle, zvijezda kojoj vidješe izlazak iđaše pred njima sve dok ne stiže i zaustavi se povrh mjesta gdje bijaše dijete. Kad ugledaše zvijezdu, obradovaše se radošću veoma velikom. Uđu u kuću, ugledaju dijete s Marijom, majkom njegovom, padnu ničice i poklone mu se. Otvore zatim svoje blago i prinesu mu darove: zlato, tamjan i smirnu. Upućeni zatim u snu da se ne vraćaju Herodu, otiđoše drugim putem u svoju zemlju (Mt 2,1-12). Bogojavljenje je blagdan sveopćeg poslanja Crkve. Dolazak Mudraca u Jeruzalem je znak okupljanja svih rasa i naroda oko Krista u jedan te isti narod, Božji narod. Na današnji dan je Bog po zvijezdi prethodnici objavio rođenje svoga Sina Jedinorođenca, a mi smo ga upoznali svjetlom vjere. Na ovaj blagdan događa se otajstvo rođenja Sina Božjega u Betlehemu, on izlazi iz svoje skrivnosti. Samo je mali broj ljudi do tada bio na neki način uvučen u ta buduća zbivanja: Marija i Josip, kao i pastiri. Taj veliki događaj koji se dogodio na Zemlji, mnogima nije bilo dano upoznati , tek su anđeli u nebu o tome znali, slavili i veličali Boga zbog njegove Ljubavi i Milosti prema ljudima. U jednom izvjesnom vremenu dogodilo se da su mudri, bogati i moćni ljudi s Istoka, dakle «Sveta tri kralja» , odlučili potražiti dijete Isusa. I bili su vođeni ka Djetetu jednim čudesnim nebeskim znakom – jednom zvijezdom koja im se pojavila. I budući da su bili učeni i s iskustvom u promatranju kretanja nebeskih tijela, mogli su taj znak i protumačiti ispravno: Kraljevsko dijete se rodilo na spas svijeta, i to je moralo biti u židovskoj zemlji. I nisu žalili niti truda, niti vremena ovi plemeniti ljudi i uputiše se sa svojom pratnjom u pravcu Jeruzalema. Nadali su se tamo pronaći Novorođenoga Kralja židovskog. A iznenađenje je bilo veliko kad su saznali da tamo nitko ništa nezna o novorođenom Djetetu Mesiji. Niti Herod, silnik, od Rima podržavani vladar, također ništa nije znao. I zato je bio silno uzbuđen kad je saznao za taj događaj i odmah je naredio da se ispita točno mjesto Isusovog rođenja. I kad je saznao da se mjesto zove Betlehem, s prikrivenom zlom namejrom poslao je mudrace u tom smjeru. Oni su ga trebali informirati čim pronađu Dijete. I on sam bi rado došao i poklonio se pred Djetetom. A zapravo je namjeravao ubiti mogućeg rivala. Kako je dojmljiva vjera ovih mudraca sa Istoka! Na svom putu nisu imali nikakvu sigurnost, osim zvijezde koja je u njihovim srcima održavala nadu. Nisu se dali zaslijepiti sjajem Herodovog dvora, nego su nastavili dalje dok nisu našli Dijete kako leži povijeno u jaslicama. I njihova vjera niti jednim trenom nije bila poljuljana, nego se baciše na koljena i iskazaše počest Bogu i Kralju koji pred njima ležaše. Donijeli su mu najdragocjenije što su imali: zlato za Kralja, tamjan za pravog Boga i mirnu kao znak njegove ljudskosti, predznak njegovog ukopa. Ovim darovima darovaše mudraci same sebe, svoje srce, svoj život ovom čudesnom Djetetu, koje je došlo promijeniti tok povijesti. Bili su spremni vratiti se s Radosnom viješću da su pronašli onog kojeg su čitav život tražili. Svoju nadu ubuduće će upravljati u nebo, jer savršenstvo dolazi od Boga koji će ih nakon njihove smrti primiti k sebi. Nemogu li i nas ovi mudri kraljevi potkanuti da i sami u svim previranjima našeg života nikada ne zaboravimo tražiti Dijete Isusa? Oni nas upućuju da i sami svoju zvijezdu slijedimo, onako kako nam u našoj savjesti osvjetljuje pravi put. Za nas traba biti jedino važno: Tražiti Istinu o Bogu i Spasitelju i nje se pridržavati. Boga i Kralja tamo moliti gdje ga možemo naći. Na poseban način nam je čovjekom postali Sin Božji prisutan u svojoj Riječi i u svome Sakramentu svete Euharistije. Dođimo i tamo mu se zajedno s Marijom i Josipom i pastirima pomolimo. Pokleknimo zajedno s mudracima s Istoka koji sve donesoše što imadoše. Darujmo i mi sami Isusu sve što imamo – naše svakodnevne patnje i grijehe!