The
great 20th century theologian Karl Rahner (1904-84) wrote,
‘The Christian of the future will either be a mystic, or will not
exist at all.’ We are called to be mystics, that is, to continually
seek and be open to what is mysterious. Sometimes I think we can be
too inclined to ‘explain away’ everything in our faith, when in
fact it is very mysterious and should be. The truth is that God
continues to speak to us in unexpected and mystical ways. And God
will continue to draw us closer to himself, as long as we remain open
to that journey. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), a 16th
century mystic, said that the Lord will bring us to the greatest
union with him in this life, as long as we remain open to it. She
said that the only thing that prevents us from reaching the deepest
union with God, is our own fear and unwillingness to go any farther.
God wants us to be as united with him as is possible in this life.
Why doesn’t that happen to more people? Because we become afraid
and want to put the brakes on. It is easier to settle for a basic
understanding and practice of our faith and not go any farther.
The
feast of the Epiphany is the feast of Christ being revealed to the
world. The three wise men, or astrologers, were led to this
place where Christ was. They are supposed to have come from
different countries, pagan countries, who did not know the true
God. They were astrologers (those who study horoscopes!), which
is expressly forbidden in the Scriptures.
Let
no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the
fire, who
practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages
in
witchcraft, or
casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who
consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable
to the Lord. (Deut 18:10-14)
The
Magi (possibly ZoroAstrian priests) represent all the peoples of the
world since they were not Jewish, but came from pagan nations who did
not know the true God. It is a way of saying that Jesus’
coming is for all peoples of all religions and race. All people
will recognise that Jesus is the Son of God. God guided them
through what they were involved in, astrology, which was how they
were searching for God. It is a reminder to us that God can and does
use all and every means to speak to us and draw us closer to himself.
The
three gifts are symbolic. Gold is the symbol of a king. Jesus
is a king, King of kings and the master of the whole universe. The
use of frankincense is a sign of recognising a divinity, or
God. Jesus is Son of God, the second person of the Godhead. And
myrrh is a perfume that represents the suffering He will go through
to win eternal life for the human race.
If
you think of most of the figures in the Bible to do with Christmas,
they all had mystical experiences which led them closer to God. The
angel Gabriel appeared to Mary; he also appeared to Joseph. Angels
appeared to the shepherds and a star guided the, or Magi.
Different
events and experiences often open people’s hearts to God. Sometimes
it is through a crisis, such as sickness, or the death of a loved
one, that gets us thinking differently. Many times I have seen people
deciding to come back to Church after the death of someone close to
them, because it has got them thinking about the more important
things and that is always good. The Spirit keeps calling us to search
for God. What is important is that we keep searching and remain open.
It is good that we ask questions about what we believe in. I believe
and accept that the Scriptures and the teachings of our Church are
from God and I submit to them, but I will continue to ask questions.
The more searching I do, the more my faith grows.
Each
week when we come to the mass, we come to an encounter with God which
Jesus revealed to us, which is why we never change it. That’s also
why the time before mass is not just the time for a social gathering,
but the time for us to prepare for this wonderful encounter with God
through the Scriptures and the Eucharist. God wants us to meet him
and hear him and this is one of the most wonderful ways that He helps
us to do that.
It
might seem a bit arrogant of us to say that all people will recognise
that Jesus is the Son of God. That seems to imply that we are
right and that everyone else is wrong, but that is not the
case. People of different religions have very different
understandings of God and God speaks to all people through different
religions. Even for those who never come to know Jesus in this
lifetime, they still have eternal life won for them by the death and
resurrection of Christ and eternal life is still offered to them
through him, just as it is to us. When they die they will see
this at once. They will know immediately who Jesus is and what
He has done for us.
Although
we lost the possibility of eternal life with God through what we call
Original Sin, God regained the possibility of eternal life for us
through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We can accept or
reject this gift individually and we do this through our faith. All
people are offered this possibility regardless of whether they come
to know of God in this life or not, but it is not as if there is a
kind of neutral ground for those who do not believe. We accept
life with God when we die which will be our total fulfilment, or we
lose it forever and that is the choice we must make.
This
is also where our conscience is so important, because even if we
never hear of God during our life, God speaks to us through our
conscience, giving us a basic understanding of what is right and
wrong. Our faith and the teachings of Jesus through the Church,
give us a better understanding of what is right or wrong. All of
the decisions that we make throughout our life are bringing us closer
to, or driving us farther away, from God.
We
Christians are the people who recognise that Jesus is the Son of God
and has done all these things for us. We consider ourselves
blessed that God has made himself known to us in this way, but it
doesn’t mean that we have a better chance of going to heaven than
anyone else. That depends completely on how we live our life.
When we die we will realise that all this is really true. And
when other people of different religions die, they will also
recognise that Jesus Christ is Lord. What is important for them is to
live their faith as well as they can just as it is for us. If they do
this, God will also draw them closer to him and bring them to
holiness, just as He will with us if we remain open.
Meanwhile
we pray that all peoples will begin to recognise that Jesus Christ is
Lord even in this life, because this is the truth which God has
revealed to us Either way we try to respect people who believe
differently to us and remember that they are also children of God.
Every knee shall bow
in heaven, on earth and under the earth
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11)
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