We have visited again the feast of Nativity, the coming of the Lord into
the poverty of this world, a child born in a barn in the small Judean town of
Bethlehem.
So where are we now, in the early days of a new year, all this time on
from that singular event? Traditionally the twelve days of Christmas end with
the Feast of Epiphany, the celebration of men bringing gifts, sometimes called
“kings”, at others, ”wise men or magi”. They were in any case,
outsiders, men from the East, rich men we are led to believe, Gentiles, who came
to acknowledge the poverty of a Jewish new born baby.
Not only did they explore and find, but in their exploration found and
gave. Later, when Simeon blessed the Child, he said that this boy would be “a
light of revelation to the Gentiles”. It was clear from the earliest days that
the incarnation was not an event restricted to a select few but had broad and
inclusive consequences for the whole of humanity. Others don’t hear a story
unless someone has taken the time to tell the detail. It was to give rise to the
substance of the Council of Jerusalem.
That was the first task of the early Church, that in their living of the
Gospel they determined not to keep it to themselves but to invite others to hear
the good news.
To see someone standing on a street corner bellowing the Christian message
to all and sundry, is to invite a cynical and somewhat bemused response. Our
cultural background would not be receptive to such an approach.
What is in tune with the times, is the action of individuals or groups
whose life patterns tell of their belief. The image that is reflected of their
own lives and the encouragement they give to others is a continual re-enactment
of the Magi encounter with the Christ.
It happens within the home, round the family table, it happens in our
relationships at school and at work. It is ever-present. In our drive to obtain
ever higher grades in academic work, we too easily forget what should be the
principles of a school. Lawrence Downey wrote that ‘a school is known by
what it teaches, how it teaches and by what kind of place it is’. To me,
that last point underpins all. The kind of place a school is, is determined by
the teachers who shape it and sustain its welcoming culture.
Replace school by Church and teachers by Christians and the model still
holds. St Benedict spoke of the monastery as a ‘school of charity’.
That is why it is so damaging when scandal and misbehaviour taints the Church.
It is not the encouraging welcome that we expect. It does however reveal a
Church in need of redemption.
On
this feast of Epiphany it is worth remembering that they came and found, they
found and shared. Let us do likewise.
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