-I have been leading up to this…The Manifestation of God…
-From John stressing thru Jesus…The Invisible becoming Visible…
-This Visible King who will allow John the Baptist to baptize Him in the Jordan…Thus, this King anoints and makes Holy the “water”…He gives His followers a Visible Baptism where we pour this blessed Visible water over our bodies…& Filled with the Holy Spirit…We die and rise with Christ…With this Visible entrance Sacrament we enter into the Visible Holy Family of God…
-Upon entrance into this Visible Church & Sacraments instituted by Jesus…He gives us a Visible liturgy where we can use our bodies to worship him…We can bless ourselves with Holy Water, genuflect before the Real Presence of Christ hidden in a Visible Tabernacle…We use our bodies to kneel, stand, sing, & pray…Who needs a gym when we have the Holy Mass where, like the Magi we can prostrate ourselves before this Visible King…Where we see our prayers lifted up to the Father thru the Son via the Smoke of the Incense wafting up towards Heaven…We can taste and see as we receive the Holy Eucharist of the Body & Blood of our Lord Jesus…
-Thru Jesus we receive a God who is no longer an abstraction, but tangible…
-Just like the King Baby in the manger is real flesh…not an abstraction…
-In His 2 Natures (Human & Divine)…Is found Transcendence & Intimacy…How should we approach Jesus?…When I was young my mother was a rock, who was bigger than life…When she became sick, as an adult, I developed a deeper friendship with her…Yet in the end she was the one who gave me life…So above all things even in friendship…There was always a deeper respect because she gave me life…Helped me to realize this was no ordinary friendship…Our relationship with Jesus should be similar…We can come to Him as a friend, but at the end of the day we should also come to Him on our knees giving Him thanks for giving us life as our creator and Logos…
-I have put this into daily practice…I Begin each day in the chapel (Perhaps with a cup of coffee)…But I always End the day on my knees In Thanksgiving.
- Please remember the church worship space… is Sacred Space…
Fr. Doug in his wisdom built the church with a beautiful welcoming area. - After Mass please move to that area, so others may kneel or sit and pray in the church without distraction…I ask you to let the church worship space be a place of prayer & also one of intimacy…And may we do the latter in the welcoming area so the church proper may be a place for prayer…
Finally from our readings on Epiphany Sunday…Herod feared Jesus…Jesus as a Visible King was seen as a competitor…The World has never understood God…When asked: “What do Christians believe God is”…Atheism rarely gives a proper answer…
-God, as “Being” & “Existence” itself…isn’t a part of creation nor in competition with creation…The world, such as Herod, has never understood this…This worldview leads to fear…notice how people (like Herod) “Live In Fear.”
-Jesus simply came to bring us out of fear (into Light)…Abolish death…Give us a life based on the Hope of not ending…We share in God’s immortality…A Bodily Resurrection…
-When we fall prostrate before the Lord we learn not to Fear but to Hope…For thru God & His Creation – The invisible becomes visible…
Why matter isn’t all that matters…Darkness becomes Light…Light brings Hope…Hope leads to a life fulfilled in participating in the Divine Life of Almighty God…This is our gift of Hope as we enter the season of Ordinary Time…And the ministry of Jesus…
Blessings…Father Vic