The Magi and the Meaning of the Epiphany

The Epiphany C     January 6, 2019

Is.60:1-6,9      Ps. 72:1-2,10-17

Eph. 3:1-12   Matt. 2:1-12

Lectionary Link

The Christmas Pageant director always encounters a dilemma when it comes to the Magi or the Three Wise-men or the Three Kings.

Directorial decisions have to be made and usually directors depart from the Gospel text when it comes to the three Wise-men.  Most Christmas Pageant and creche scene place the Three Kings at the manger even though in the Gospel story the three Wise-men were never at the manger.

One only has so much room for scenery in the chancel and so one takes license with the placement of the Three Kings.

By calling them Kings, we are already taking license with the text, because they were Magi, the plural of magus, the same word from which we get magician.  So, they were probably sages associated with the wisdom schools of the time in foreign countries including astrology as a prominent "science" of their time.  The Psalmist wrote, "the heavens declared the glory of God," and the Gospel writers believed the birth of Jesus to be an event of the glory of God to which the heavens and all creation responded.  The magi were also regarded to be kings because of references in the Hebrew Scriptures about Kings coming to pay homage to some exalted figure.  And the Hebrew Scriptures provided the template for telling the story of Jesus.

Beyond the pomp and pageantry of the Kings and Magi which they do add to any pageant, is the function of the Magi story in the Infancy Narratives that arose late in the development of the Jesus Movement.

The Magi Story is the theology of St. Paul placed in a story to emphasize that the Gentile mission was God's priority from the beginning.

Is God available to everyone?  Is the God of the Hebrew Scriptures available to everyone?  The very notion of God would imply that God is universal?  How could God be truly a God if God was only for one tribe or nation or group of people?

It is more important to say that we are God's people than to say that God is my God or our God, the God who specifically belongs to the Episcopal Church, or to any religion or religious group.  For God to truly be "catholic," God must be universally accessible to all.  

Are water, air and food necessary to human life?  Yes, indeed.  God must be regarded to be as necessary and as accessible to human life as water, air and food, to be worthy of the designation of God.

So what's the problem?  The problem is when people become such exclusive gatekeepers of God, that they make God in the image of their own small rituals and practices rather than let God be God.  Members of all religious group can be guilty of over-associating the Great God with their petty practices and they can end up misrepresenting God.

St. Paul, a Jew and a Pharisee, wrote a theology of Gentile Christians in his letter to the Roman churches.  Paul wrote that through Jesus Christ his Lord he had: "received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name."

To bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles.  This sums up the meaning of The Epiphany, which means the manifestation of Christ to the nations.

Jesus in his own time and place was much more limited within specific religious parties of Judaism even though the control of the Romans of Palestine brought Gentiles into his life. 

How did the leaders of the early church present the Gentile mission in a teaching narrative of Jesus of Nazareth?  They understood that the Gentile mission was a message about the universal accessibility of God's love to everyone.  The magi story represents that the meaning of the birth of Jesus is that God is available to everyone because God took identity with a specific person Jesus, to indicate that God takes identity with us all as our heavenly parent.

The early Christian leaders who were Jews, searched the Hebrew Scriptures for the universal themes.  They read that the Temple was to be a house of prayer for all peoples.  They believed that Abraham was a father of all faith before Israel and Moses and the Law even existed.  They noted that Jonah preached to the foreigners of Nineveh.  They noted that Elijah healed a foreign general Naaman.  They quoted Isaiah about God's salvation being brought to the ends of the earth.

Peter and Paul had to accept the fact that such a mission of universal salvation was not going to be quickly implemented within the existing religious parties of Judaism.  These parties had a universal message but their invitation was more limited; "you have to come to us to receive a proselyte baptism and begin a life of ritual conformity."  What Peter and Paul learned is that people were having spiritual experience without ritual conformity;  Peter and Paul adopted their theology to what was happening in the spiritual lives of Jews and Gentiles.  A person could receive the birth of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and still be a ritually conforming Jew or they could be a Gentile who did not observe all of the ritual practices of the synagogue.

The Season of the Epiphany is about the program of the universal salvation that was offered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The story of the Magi is a story for the Epiphany because they are placed at the birth of Jesus signifying that it was God's intention to expand the universal message of creation, the promise of Abraham and the messianic meanings of the Hebrew Scriptures to all of the peoples on the earth.

And we are the recipients of this expanded message of universal salvation.  It has given us a bit different mission than Judaism but what it means is that we believe that God is actively coaxing people to accept their belonging in God's family.

Let us rejoice in the message of the Epiphany.  God is manifest to all.  And God is love.  Jesus is an expression of God's love to us.  And it is our epiphany to experience God's love through the birth of Christ within us, and be received into the company of Magi, made wise by having an Epiphany of Christ.  Amen.

Sunday School, January 6, 2019 The Epiphany C

Sunday School, January 6, 2019  The Epiphany C

The Wise-men and the Epiphany

The Epiphany ends the Christmas Season and begins the Epiphany Season in the Church Year

What does Epiphany mean?

It is a great discovery.  Think about the time that you have found something special and said, “Wow!”  Or you read something and learned how to do something new and it changed your life.  When little baby learn how to speak or walk it is a great Epiphany.  Why?  When a baby learns how to walk they no longer want to be held as much and they want their freedom to go wherever they want to go.

When you discover something really wonderful, it can change your life because it gives you new ability to do new things and act differently.

The story about the Wise-men coming to visit the baby Jesus is the story about foreigners who were not born in the country of Jesus but who came to honor the birth of someone who was to be the king of their hearts.  The foreigners in the early church were called Gentiles, this means they were not born into Jewish families.  Many Gentiles were excited to have the birth of Christ happen inside of their hearts and the story of the three Wise-men celebrates the fact that many Gentiles came to know the birth of Christ.

The birth of Christ into the lives of anyone who wants to know it is the meaning of The Epiphany and the Season of Epiphany.

Sermon:

Once upon a time in a desert area, people came to live.  It is hard to live in a desert because of the lack of water.

One day, a certain tribe of people discovered a cave and when they went deep into the cave, they found a great underground river of water.  They were so excited to find such a great source of water, but they wanted to keep the water a secret.  So, they carried buckets of water out for themselves and they put guards at the entrance of the cave to stop other people from discovering their secret.  When the tribe met, they told everyone to keep their cave water a secret or it would be stolen by others.

The members of the tribe watched the other tribes around them suffer because they did not have enough water, but they kept their secret. 

One day the children of the tribe began to talk with each other.  They played with children in the other tribes and they saw how they suffered because they did not have enough water.  The children from the other tribes asked them, “How come you are so healthy and get enough to drink?  How do you water all of your plants to grow such big gardens?”  But the children who had the water had to keep the secret, but they soon began to feel guilty when they saw the other children suffer.   They decided to do something.

At the next tribal meeting, the children ask the oldest child to speak for them.  He said, “Members of the tribe, we children have seen the suffering of the other children and their parents because they don’t have enough water.  And we’ve seen the endless source of water in the cave.  And we know that they only right thing to do is to share it with others and find a way to bring it to others to help them.  Water is so necessary that it should be available to everyone.”

The older members of the family were embarrassed by their hoarding the water.  On that day they voted to share the water with everyone.  They found a way to bring the water to the surface in great amounts and build adquaducts to share it far and wide.

When you have something good and necessary, you have to share it with everyone.

This is the meaning of the Epiphany.  The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the birth of Christ into our hearts does not just belong to us; it belongs to anyone who wants to know the joy of God living close in their hearts.

The Epiphany means the birth of Christ must be shared not only to the foreign wisemen but to everyone..  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

January 6, 2019:  The Epiphany

Gathering Songs: We Three Kings, The King of Glory, The Lord Is My Light, When the Saints Go Marching In

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: We Three Kings, (Blue Hymnal, # 128)

We three kings of Orient are, bearing gifts we traverse afar, field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star. Refrain: O star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright; westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.

Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain, gold I bring to crown him again, King for ever, ceasing never over us all to reign.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Prophet Isaiah

Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come.  They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 72

All kings shall bow down before him, * and all the nations do him service.

For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, * and the oppressed who has no helper.

He shall have pity on the lowly and poor; * he shall preserve the lives of the needy.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

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.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

The King of Glory  (Renew! # 267)

Refrain: The King of Glory comes the nation rejoices.  Open the gates before him, lift up your voices.

Who is the king of glory, how shall we call him?  He is Emmanuel, the promised of ages.  Refrain

In all of Galilee, in city or village, he goes among his people curing their illness. Refrain

Sing then of David’s son, our savior and brother; in all of Galilee was never another. Refrain

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

 And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Hymn: The Lord Is My Light (Renew! # 102)

The Lord is my light, my light and salvation: in Him I trust, in Him I trust. 

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: When the Saints Go Marching In (Christian Children’s Songbook # 248)

Oh when the saints, go marching in.  O when the saints go marching in.  Lord I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.

O when the boys go marching in…

O when the girls go marching in…

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God! 

Aphorism of the Day, December 2018

Aphorism of the Day, December 31, 2018

Stories invite elaboration in their re-telling and their application in new contexts.  Sometimes we are so fascinated with the story, we might neglect to consider the teaching goal of the story by the original writer.  Case in point:  The magi.  They became the Three Kings when the attempt was made to line it up with Hebrew Scripture motifs.  They became "three" in number when identified with the three different gifts, and probably lost was the details of the likely caravan of many who would have traveled together in their time.  But stories don't need to include all of the practical details.  The magi eventual attained names and places of origin.  Melchior, Balthazar and Caspar.  And for lack of scenery space in church chancels they get placed at the manger with the shepherds and the sheep.  But what did the Gospel writers intend?  The Epiphany or the manifestation of Christ to the "nations."  The magi signified that Christ was God universally offered to everyone.  The star that people follow is the interior star of the image of the divine within each person that locates the manger of Christ within one's heart.


Aphorism of the Day, December 30, 2018

In the beginning was all of the possible Scripts of life and from all possible Scripts the script of freedom resulted in some actual scripts coming into being and some actual scripts will come into being in the future.  People are scripts who have scripts and though we have our limits, we have within those limits, significant freedom to choose the scripts which we want to guide our lives.  Like an very particular actor, one can reject scripts which are not fitting.

Aphorism of the Day, December 29, 2018

"And the Word was God.  All things came into being through the Word."  There is a world outside of words but one has to use words to say and realize it.  One does not even escape words in claiming an "independent" Signified.

Aphorism of the the Day, December 28, 2018

"Nice play, Shakespeare," is often said in jest and irony because we regard Shakespeare to be the premiere playwright of the English language.  A chief biblical metaphor might be God as the Playwright who has Word as a Divine Equal because Word is the means of speaking living scripts of events and occasion into existence within human experience, or as Heidegger wrote, "Language is the House of Being."  Being would be "an empty space" if the walls and ceilings and roofs of language did not tell us it was there.  If God is the eternal Word who has spoken our life scripts into being known as life scripts by human actors, we the actors live trying to interpret the meaning of the original Playwright.  The limits that we have are the language products of speech, writing, interpreting what our external and internal senses process and our body language deeds.  As actors we have freedom to interpret the script given to us and we do so by the mutual influence of co-actors.  If God is the eternal Word and we are Word products/producers, we owe it to God to be sublime language used and users.

Aphorism of the Day, December 27, 2018

The Book of Proverbs are words in the quest of Wisdom.  For the writer of Proverbs Wisdom is a Divine manifestation who says: "The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago."  If Word is God from the beginning and all things come into being through Word, that is existence as it can be humanly known, then the proper ordering of words would be called Wisdom.  Wisdom is the invitation in life to make the very best possible arrangement of words in our speech, writing and body language actual in lives of love and justice.

Aphorism of the Day, December 26, 2018

St. Stephen is probably responsible in his death for the conversion of Saul.  Saul knew the law and the commandment, "thou shalt not kill."  And he found himself in the banal normalcy of participating in the stoning of Stephen, a "heretic" to what Saul thought was God's Judaism.  But when the background banality of killing Stephen was foregrounded into Saul's conscience the contradiction made him vulnerable to his Christophany on the road to Damascus.  When his participation in murder in such a casual way lost in an anonymity that one receives in a mob, Saul entire psychical life cracked.  And he was put back together again by experiencing forgiveness.  He was "fortunate" that there was  not a justice system which charged him as a co-conspirator in murder, convict him and punish him.  But forever in a state of forgiveness, Paul referred to himself as the "chief of sinners."

Aphorism of the Day, December 25, 2018

Before Bethlehem was written about in the Gospels, the birth of Risen Christ happened in the lives of many people.  And it kept happening and it created communities in many places.  And these communities wanted to teach the mysticism of the birth of Christ into their lives to anyone who would want to have this experience.  The Christmas stories are teaching stories about the mystical birth of Christ into the lives of the willing to let it be according to God's word.

Aphorism of the Day, December 24, 2018

Interesting Trinitarian problem arises when appropriating names for Jesus from the prophet Isaiah.  A child has been born for us who shall be Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.  Certainly one can say that Jesus is the original church "Father," but the Everlasting Father title would more likely designate another member of the Christian Trinity.  

Aphorism of the Day, December 23, 2018

The ascendancy of the "plain reading" of biblical texts coupled with modern historicism and scientific method has led to the diminishing of the poetic and mystagogic appropriation of the biblical writings and so poetic discourse is misread as empirical verification.  And we're still looking for unicorns.

Aphorism of the Day, December 22, 2018

The Gospel preachers and writers were very inventive in their appeals to the members of the community of John the Baptist to become followers of Jesus in John's posthumous days.  If John the Baptist was able to recognize Jesus when both he and Jesus were still in the womb, that is quite some sign.

Aphorism of the Day, December 21, 2018

If followers of John the Baptist were wondering if they should follow Jesus, what appeal would convince them?  How about gestational John the gymnast?  When the mother of John, Elizabeth met with Mary who was with child, John the gestational gymnast in Elizabeth leapt in recognition of Mary and the One whom she carried.  So the pre-born John recognized the pre-born Jesus.  This is why followers of John the Baptist should move on and follow Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, December 20, 2018

He has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  Mary's prayer is a prayer of the lowly for an enhanced sense of esteem that can only come from realizing that the over-shadowing Spirit has birthed within oneself the divine presence, or the Christ who is all and in all, rises to enhanced recognition in the soul.

Aphorism of the Day, December 19, 2018

It is interesting to note the aspirational use of the present perfect tense in the Magnificat.  "HE" (God) has shown strength, has brought down, has filled, has scattered....  Faith is proclaiming the not yet as the already will of God because faith is always pointed toward the perfect direction of Hope.  This is perhaps why people of faith come off as Quixotic because they choose to express aspiration in the direction of utopia rather than dystopia.  The utopian inspires as different kind of present action than the perpetual focus upon dystopia.  Dystopia is the fearful vision which can inspire actuarial wisdom for current living because freedom permits negative outcomes life based upon dystopia breed perpetual cynicism and the misanthropic.



Aphorism of the Day, December 18, 2018

The Bible is a collection of writings which developed within diverse communities even while there is a unity of motifs and genre.  The marvelous/miraculous birth motif is a repeated motif to retroactively extolle why a certain person became great.  Such motifs are expressed in the words like, "when you were still in the womb I knew you."  Marvelous and miraculous birth motifs are also accompanied with the genre of songs of praise, e.g., Hannah, Zechariah, Mary and Simeon.  These songs proclaim the special providence of the newly born and the vindication of those who have suffered.

Aphorism of the Day, December 17, 2018

Often Isaac, Samuel, John the Baptist and Jesus are presented as those who had marvelous or miraculous births.  This is probably a mischaracterization since births happen in the natural ways that they do, i.e, in how baby arrives from inside of mother to the outside world.  The marvelous or miraculous or immaculate conceptions seem to be the issue.  When a great person, an unsurpassed great person is born, then the story of the origin of  must be that the divine necessarily was involved in some providential way at the origin of a child or the child conception.  In a strange way, post-Pentecostal Christianity changed the meaning of conception stories.  Each person is over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit to have the Risen Christ conceived/born within one's inner life as it is constituted by words, which is why Christ is also called The WORD who was with God and who was God from the beginning (as human know beginning because they first have language).


Aphorism of the Day, December 16, 2018

John the Baptist is presented by the Gospel writer as one who did not have a Messiah Complex.  He is presented as the one who pointed to Jesus the Messiah who could do an inside job upon us.  Surely such presentation stemmed from the mystical experience of the Risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  This mystical practice and understanding of the same came to be presented in the Gospel story form and John the Baptist is viewed as the bridge to Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, December 15, 2018

The Gospels record that people asked John the Baptist if he were the Messiah?  What does this mean?  The presence of the question reveals that people were expecting the Messiah.  That John was considered a candidate for being the Messiah meant that he must have made a significant impact upon the people of his era such that he would be a "contender?"  How did John characterize the Messiah in contrast to his own ministry?  John was a "water baptizer," and Jesus was a "Spirit baptizer."  The Christian Messiah was the Risen Christ born in the lives of people after the conceiving event of being over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit.  One can see in the discourse of John the Baptist, the words of the early church explaining how they understood their mysticism.

Aphorism of the Day, December 14, 2018

The stinging harsh words of John the Baptist and Jesus have to be reassessed in light of them being the oracles of the same being channeled by early church preachers and writers who lived after the church/synagogue split.  In the wake of immediate separation, the words are perhaps harsher and the historical consequence of the harshness has been manifest in how Christian majorities treated Jewish minorities.

Aphorism of the Day, December 13, 2018

John the Baptist says to a crowd, "You brood of vipers..."  This is like saying you offspring of that serpent who deceived Adam and Eve, a rather harsh judgment indeed.  This raises the issues of the harsh pronouncements of prophets against their own religious and political establishments in their time.  There is the sentiment that one can criticize the members of one's own family but one comes to the defense of one's family, even if flawed, when outsiders criticize a family member.  John the Baptist and Jesus were Jews offering prophetic criticism of the religious authorities of the Jews in their own time, but when they appear in the Gospels, they are presented by members of the Jesus Movement who have left or are leaving or have been excommunicated by the synagogue.  Are the words of John the Baptist and Jesus then out of context when they are presented by members who have left the synagogue?  One can note how Gospel words have been used by Church and State to mistreat Jewish minorities, and therefore it is very important note the different missions of Judaism and Christianity which came after their separation.  The ancient separation and the rhetoric of that separation must not be used for oppression of another community.  Any oppression betrays a belief in the providential winsomeness of the message to the people for whom the message comes to benefit.

Aphorism of the Day, December 12, 2018

The Gospels are discourses of the early Christians asking, "How did we get to where we are?"  And where were they?  They were a burgeoning movement with no signs of decreasing and they were in need of "origin" discourses to explain to new members how they had come to be the movement that they had become.  How did they become separated from the synagogue?  In part the separation began with John the Baptist and his community which were a separation movement within Judaism which started as a radical reform but became a "proto-church" when John was gone and when members of his community made their way to the communities of Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, December 11, 2018

John the Baptist as the bridge to Jesus can also be seen a bridge that was burned for followers of Christ ever being able to return to Judaism.  John is quoted as saying that the ax was lying at the root of the tree (of Judaism) ready to be a stump into which Gentile Christianity would be grafted.  One can find Paul's theology of Gentile Christianity represented in the ministry of John the Baptist.  John the Baptist is a polemical figure who is presented as one who prepared the way for the separation of the church and synagogue.

Aphorism of the Day, December 10, 2018

Providence or favorable aftermath sometimes clouds or overturns the stark reality of what actually happened.  John the Baptist as an itinerant firebrand prophet who gathered crowds during the time of Roman occupation was a threat to the rather tenuous situation for the Jewish religious coalition of the Sanhedrin that wanted to avoid any gathering of crowds which would bring Roman disapproval.  The fact that John drew crowds before Jesus drew crowds was a prelude to the popularity of Jesus being interpreted by the Romans as an insurrection which needed to stopped by removing the leader through crucifixion. 

Aphorism of the Day, December 9, 2018

The church and any organization can accrue much in our histories.  We can begin to carry lots of baggage and slowly the task of carrying our baggage make us forget that we are really here to make the journey directly to God; we are not here to do luggage shopping.

Aphorism of the Day, December 8, 2018

The importance of John the Baptist was articulated by the early church as it explicated the outcome of the success of Jesus Christ in his post-resurrection mode.  In face of the rejection of Christ by many in the synagogues, the community of John the Baptist were more likely to convert to the Jesus Movement and so John the Baptist and his community are presented as a "seamless" transition to the Jesus Movement.  The emphasis upon "individual" repentance for spiritual validation rather than the automatic validation through birth into Judaism was a prelude to the individual faith event that Paul saw as the validation of Gentile inclusion in salvation history.  John the Baptist's stress on "individualism" in matters of faith was seen as a set up for the Jesus Movement which moved far beyond the synagogue community.

Aphorism of the Day, December 7, 2018

Repentance is a word that for some has a bad reputation.  It is associated with the one's past sins for which one is supposed to grovel in penitential reparations.  The word itself is very "futuristic."  The Greek word is "meta-noia," or the after mind, the future mind or as St. Paul wrote, "be transformed by the renewal of your mind."  Repentance is literally the renewal of one's mind which expresses what education really means.  Such a view is based upon the location of the "mind" as being a command center which works with the emotions and the will to expedite what one actually does with the entire body language of one's life.  The mind might be an interior place where the synthesis of language events collects information and creates the interior hierarchies which results in the volitional expression of the priorities of one's life to the point of driving the words and deeds of one's life toward the coalescing of the character of one's life.

 Aphorism of the Day, December 6, 2018

In hagiography, the most made-over saint of all is probably Nicholas of Myra who after many cultural make-overs to be the Dutch Sinterclaus, became the most famous secular saint in the world, the commercial world.  One could say he is the Mad Saint, aka the Madison Avenue saint whose Americanization has elevated him to rivaling popularity with the Christ Child at Christmas.  Santa Claus has been exported around the world as lots of country need American Christmas excess to build all of the trinkets which the mythical Santa Claus delivers, not with angels, but with flying reindeer and elves.  If one believes that the Virgin Birth is fantastical, what about Santa Claus?  At what age does a child reach doubt about the reliability of empirical verification of Santa in your household?

Aphorism of the Day, December 5, 2018

One of the schizoidal results of people who limit themselves to biblical piety or who try to privilege biblical language to equality with empirical verification in all applications, is that one is trying to cram rounded poetry into the square hole of places where it does not fit. "All flesh shall see the salvation of God."  What does that literally mean except a poetic aspiration for everyone who ever is born to know an enlightened original health as intended by the One who is the greatest?  What is empirical about aspirations is that people have aspirations which come to poetic verse; what is expressed in poetry is the fact that people are constructed to have all manner of imaginations which function for their existence.  The human task partly involves how to weave the imaginations as they arise out of the great imagination maker, Language itself.

Aphorism of the Day, December 4, 2018

The long history of religious faith in societies at different times means that institutions grow and accrue lots of extraneous practices and pieties which subtly become elevated in importance even to the point of covering up what is central to faith.  Reformers like to return to the quickest route, "as the crow" flies.  John the Baptist was regarded to be such a reformer; no more long journey on a curvy path with detours, no more high mountains or low valleys to impede the direct arrival.  If John the Baptist were a piece of machinery, according to the Isaiah passage, he would be a "bulldozer."  He was to make the path straight and direct.

 Aphorism of the Day, December 3, 2018

How does the Gospel of Luke describe the ascendance of John the Baptist in becoming a "bridge" person to Jesus of Nazareth?  Luke wrote, "the word of God came to John."  The word was "like" the words of the prophets but it was unique in its "liturgical" innovation.  John made everyone including the Jews go through what had heretofore been required of proselytes to Judaism; he made everyone undergo "mikvah" or baptism in the living waters of the Jordan.  To treat his fellow Jews as proselytes to Judaism was a prologue to the redefinition of the church being the new Israel.  John could be seen as a "bridge" to Jesus, but he also could be understood as one who began to initiate the re-interpretation of the themes of Hebrew Scriptures in a way that eventually could no longer be called Judaism in Gentile Christianity.

Aphorism of the Day, December 2, 2018

Jesus said that the trees on the leaves change and they mark a seasonal change and we can read these natural signs.  He also invited us to learn how to read more complicated signs found in human life cycles both personally and as communities of people.  The oft fickleness of human behaviors, though repetitive in nature, are not also so easy to read and predict as are the cycles of nature.  A goal of living is to attain the gradual actuarial wisdom from our observation of probable outcomes so that we can wisely ponder how to respond to the next transitions which await us in our lives.

Aphorism of the Day, December 1, 2018

The cultural effect of deconstructive postmodernism is to live on the surface of everything.  Why?  In the postmodern world, there is no "inner world of ideals," and no "deep structures" because the access to the "inner world" can only be achieved by generating more "surface" signifiers about the "previously known signified" within the classic and modern systems of processing reality.  The solution may be to re-hierarchize the importance of the language signifiers regarding interiority.  With language we can elevate the importance of the language of the value of interiority (since language is essentially INTERIORITY),  particularly as signifiers represent human solidarities which speak on behalf of what love and justice can mean for everyone.

Quiz of the Day, December 2018

Quiz of the Day, December 31, 2018

Caspar, the name of a Magi, most likely derived from which of the following sources?

a. Acts of Thomas, an apocryphal writing associated with the famous "doubter"
b. the Gospel of Matthew
c. a reference in the Psalms referring to kings
d. a Parthian inscription found in Iran

Quiz of the Day, December 30, 2018

In the beginning was the Word.  What is the Greek word for "word" used in John 1:1?

a. lexi
b. rhema
c. dabar
d. logos

Quiz of the Day, December 29, 2018

What was the primary reason for a pilgrimage to Canterbury such as was recorded in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales?

a. to visit the See and the Chair of Augustine of Canterbury
b. for the Easter Visit to the Cathedral to be blessed by the Archbishop
c. to obey the command of the Monarch to make the pilgrimage
d. to visit the crypt of the martyred Thomas a Becket

Quiz of the Day, December 28, 2018

The Gospel writers' penchant for parallel themes in the life of Jesus with themes in the lives of Hebrew Scriptures brought the feast of the Holy Innocent.  What is the Hebrew Scripture parallel?

a. Pharaoh's edict to slaughter all infant boys in the time of Moses
b. the plague involving the death of all first born sons
c. the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham
d. the death of David's first son born to Bathsheba


Quiz of the Day, December 27, 2018

Why have man asserted that John the Evangelist and John the Divine are not the same person?

a. the language of the Book of Revelation is significant different than the Johannine Gospel and Epistles
b. the theology of revelation is different from the other Johannine writings
c. Several Early Church Fathers/Persons asserted they were different people
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, December 26, 2018

What ordained ministry of the church did St. Stephan have?

a. priest
b. bishop
c. presbyter
d. deacon
e. prophet
f. apostle
g. martyr

Quiz of the Day, December 25, 2018

Why is Christmas often rendered as Xmas?

a. the secular world want to leave Christ out of Christmas
b. X stands a missing word
c. X is actually the Greek letter Chi, the first letter in Christos, the Greek work for Christ
d. X is for the Hebrew word for Messiah

Quiz of the Day December 24, 2018

In which book does it say a child has been born who shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace?

a. Micah
b. Zachariah
c. Haggai
d. Isaiah

Quiz of the Day, December 23, 2018

When did the text of the Hail Mary come to its current form?

a. in the Gospels
b. at the council of Trent
c. in printed text of Savonarlo in 1495
d. in Pius VI Roman breviary in 1568

Quiz of the Day, December 22, 2018

In the Bible, what is the city of David?

a. Jerusalem
b. Zion
c. Shiloh
d. Bethlehem

Quiz of the Day, December 21, 2018

Which of the following is not true regarding the Immaculate Conception?

a. it refers to Mary
b. it refers to Jesus
c. it cannot be found in Holy Scriptures
d. it is a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church

Quiz of the Day, December 20, 2018

The phrase in the "Hail Mary,"  "blessed art thou among women," is a quote of which biblical person?

a. Gabriel
b. Simeon
c. Anna
d. Elizabeth

Quiz of the Day, December 19, 2018

Which Gospel begins with John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, December 18, 2018

Whom of the following did not compose a song found in the Bible?

a. Miriam
b. Hannah
c. Mary
d. Anna

Quiz of the Day, December 17, 2018

Of the following biblical women, which does not match in significant life events?

a. The Virgin Mary
b. Elizabeth
c. The widow of Zarephath
d. Sarah
e. Hannah

Quiz of the Day, December 16, 2018

What was the occupation of the father of John the Baptist?

a. rabbi
b. scribe
c. priest
d. seer

Quiz of the Day, December 15, 2018

The 3rd Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday?  What does gaudete mean?

a. Repent
b. Confess
c. Rejoice
d. Exalt

Quiz of the Day, December 14, 2018

The purgative, illuminative and unitive are spiritual stages in the writing of what mystic?

a. John Climacus
b. Nicolas of Cusa
c. John of the Cross
d. Teresa of Avila
e. Walter Hilton

Quiz of the Day, December 13, 2018

In which Gospel does Jesus say, "Let the one without sin among you cast the first stone at her?"

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, December 12, 2018

Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima and Medjugorje are places associated with what saint?

a. Paul
b. Therese
c. Francis
d. Mary

Quiz of the Day, December 11, 2018

Pius XII regarded whom of the following to be the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas?

a. Paul Tillich
b. Reinhold Niebuhr
c. Karl Barth
d. Karl Rahner

Quiz of the Day, December 10, 2018

This American Trappist monk on the Episcopal calendar of saints, died of accidental electrocution in Bangkok, Thailand in 1968.

a. Thomas Keating
b. Thomas Merton
c. Fulton Sheen
d. Basil Pennington

Quiz of the Day, December 9, 2018

Which of the following words would be fit the meaning of repentance?

a. penance
b. education
c. piety
d. ritual

Quiz of the Day, December 8, 2018

To which church did St. Paul write to address the concern that members have about the fate of people who predeceased the return of Christ?

a. Corinthian
b. Thessalonian
c. Philippian
d. Galatian

Quiz of the Day, December 7, 2018

Which saint was chosen to be bishop before he was even baptized?

a. Clement I
b. Ambrose
c. Basil the Great
d. Athanasius

Quiz of the Day, December 6, 2018

Santa Claus is derived from whom?

a. Nicolas of Cusa
b. Pope Nicolas I
c. Pope Nicolas II
d. Nicholas of Myra

Quiz of the Day, December 5, 2018

Which of the following is not true regarding Clement of Alexandria?

a. he knew the apostle Peter
b. Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem were his pupils
c. he believe Plato gained knowledge from the Egyptians
d. he confronted what has come to be called Gnosticism

Quiz of the Day, December 4, 2018

John of Damascus is not known for which of the following?

a. being an iconoclast
b. supporting the Assumption of Mary
c. serving an Islamic Caliph
d. was in favor of icons and their devotional significance

Quiz of the Day, December 3, 2018

Who was a co-founder of the Jesuits who was a successful missionary to Asia while riding the coat tails of Portuguese colonial power?

a. Alfonso Salmeron
b. Francis Xavier
c. Ignatius Loyola
d. Peter Faber

Quiz of the Day, December 2, 2018

The writer of the Epistle of Peter wrote that for the Lord, one day is like a thousand day and thousand days are like one day.  Where in Hebrew Scriptures can this exact saying be found?

a. Proverbs
b. Psalms
c. Isaiah
d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, December 1, 2018

What writer immortalized Nicolas Ferrar's community of Little Gidding as a place "where prayers have been valid?"

a. C.S. Lewis
b. G.K. Chesterton
c. Charles Williams
d. T. S. Eliot