The season of epiphanies is upon us again. Last Sunday, we celebrated the epiphany of the three Magi visiting the Child Jesus. This Sunday, we will celebrate the epiphany of those that witnessed the baptism of the Lord.
As you may recall, this is a time for us to remember that epiphanies occur when people are hungry. The wise men represent a hunger for a king. John the Baptist and his disciples represent a hunger for a savior. In our reading yesterday, the congregation at the synagogue in Nazareth represents a hunger for a prophet.
The man in our Gospel today also experienced an epiphany. He was hungry. He was hungry to be cleansed. He was hungry for a savior. He surrendered that hunger to the will of the Lord. The Lord made him clean. His epiphany made manifest as the report of his healing spread among the people.
We talked about Advent being a season of spiritual reset and preparation for receiving the ultimate Christmas gift. Advent has passed. Christmas is here and nearly gone. However, some of us may still be hanging on to the spiritual leprosy we carried into the Advent season. Some of us may still hunger for the Christmas gift that we feel like we never received…or if we are being honest, we probably received but never opened. We hunger for our epiphany.
Meanwhile, the Spirit wants to testify to the Truth in your life. The Spirit wants to work great signs and wonders in your life. The Spirit wants to give you the epiphany you are hungry for.
This gives us an opportunity for self reflection. Have we truly fallen prostrate like the Magi, surrendering our hunger, our life, our will to the Lord, pleading with Him to fulfill our desires? Forsaking all else that we are tempted to put before Him? Forsaking all else that may prevent us from experiencing the epiphany?
We must remember the Blood and Water that flows from the side of Jesus Christ on the Cross flows into the sacramental life of the Church and becomes the source of our great epiphany.
When we present ourselves to the priest for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we surrender our burden of sin and any other sources of pride or selfishness that may blind us to epiphanies. We are truly made clean.
When we present ourselves to receive the Eucharist at Mass, we receive the medicine of immortality. We receive the means of our sanctification and our conformity to Christ. We receive the fulfillment of all our desires.
The Blood and Water that flows from the side of Christ can satisfy any hunger you may have, if you are truly open to and receive the testimony of the Spirit.
What is it that you hunger for today? Pray for the Spirit to reveal to you where pride, selfishness, or some other human weakness may be interfering with your ability to receive the gift Jesus wants to give you to satisfy that hunger. Surrender that weakness through the Mass, perhaps even through Reconciliation. Then allow yourself to be truly bathed by the Blood and Water flowing from the side of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Allow that grace to enter into you through the Eucharist….healing all wounds, cleansing all imperfections, wiping away all tears.
In doing so, we join the great crowds that assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, as we answer the call to “Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!”
Thanks be to God!
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