A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
It's the Third Sunday after The Epiphany in the Church's traditional calendar. I know I've carped about the use of the phrase "Ordinary Time" in the new calendar, but this won't be yet another such carp. Rather, let's simply look at the wisdom that accompanied the centuries-old practice of referring to the Sundays following the Christmas Season as "after The Epiphany."
"Epiphany" refers to the manifestation of Christ to the world. While the Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the visitation by the Magi, the term has that broader meaning. In the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church, three incidents in Our Lord's life concern His manifestation to the Jews and to the Gentiles: The visit of the Magi (Three Kings), Our Lord's Baptism in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist, and the Wedding Feast at Cana. Each event is told in a Gospel story.
Having heard all three of the Gospels during the latter days of the Christmas Season, and the first days thereafter, we are then transported on subsequent Sunday's to Gospels that describe how Our Lord began His public life. Each Gospel expands on the previous, recalling specific incidents that raised the awareness of His unique Presence to those around Him. While no one grasped the fullness of this at first - including His chosen 12 Apostles - over time the reality that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, became clearer.
Now let's circle back to why "After the Epiphany" makes so much more sense than "Ordinary Time." It's simply this: When we are reminded every Sunday that we are in a time "After the Epiphany," we are reminded of this manifestation of Our Lord week after week after week. The string of Gospels are thus tied together under that theme. While the meaning of each individual Gospel can be understood on its own, a richer, deeper meaning emerges when we they are seen as a piece of a whole. Sure, a priest celebrating the Novus Ordo Mass in "Ordinary Time" can help us to understand the connection in his sermons. But that can more or less be hit or miss affair. But with "After Epiphany" emphasized each Sunday, we don't have to rely on a given priest's, or a particular parish's, practices. Doesn't that make a lot of sense? It does to me.
So there, not really just a carp, right? Simply sharing the reasons for the traditional approach, along with an implicit plea to - maybe some day - return to a venerable practice that served the People of God for centuries.
But whatever liturgy you attend - traditional (Extraordinary Form/Tridentine Mass) or new (Novus Ordo Mass), you can certainly fill your mind, heart, and soul with the wonderful manifestation of Our Lord to all those with whom He can into contact, in His words and His actions. Allow the Gospels of these weeks to help you absorb the full measure of the example He gave to us. Decide to make that example your light, your guide for how you live your own life from now until the day He calls you. Ask for the graces you will need to do this, despite your fallen human nature and the inevitable shortcomings, slips, and falls that will accompany your efforts. Do so and pray that St. Paul's words in, the Epistle for this Third Sunday after Epiphany for Mass in the traditional or "Extraordinary" form may become your own:
"Bretheren, be not wise in your own conceits. To no man rendering evil for evil; providing good things not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of men. It it be possible, as much as it is in you, having peace with all men. Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written, Revenge is mine; I will repay saith the Lord. But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat, if he thirst, give him to drink, for doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil by good." (Romans 12:16-21)
"Epiphany" refers to the manifestation of Christ to the world. While the Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the visitation by the Magi, the term has that broader meaning. In the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church, three incidents in Our Lord's life concern His manifestation to the Jews and to the Gentiles: The visit of the Magi (Three Kings), Our Lord's Baptism in the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist, and the Wedding Feast at Cana. Each event is told in a Gospel story.
Having heard all three of the Gospels during the latter days of the Christmas Season, and the first days thereafter, we are then transported on subsequent Sunday's to Gospels that describe how Our Lord began His public life. Each Gospel expands on the previous, recalling specific incidents that raised the awareness of His unique Presence to those around Him. While no one grasped the fullness of this at first - including His chosen 12 Apostles - over time the reality that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, became clearer.
Now let's circle back to why "After the Epiphany" makes so much more sense than "Ordinary Time." It's simply this: When we are reminded every Sunday that we are in a time "After the Epiphany," we are reminded of this manifestation of Our Lord week after week after week. The string of Gospels are thus tied together under that theme. While the meaning of each individual Gospel can be understood on its own, a richer, deeper meaning emerges when we they are seen as a piece of a whole. Sure, a priest celebrating the Novus Ordo Mass in "Ordinary Time" can help us to understand the connection in his sermons. But that can more or less be hit or miss affair. But with "After Epiphany" emphasized each Sunday, we don't have to rely on a given priest's, or a particular parish's, practices. Doesn't that make a lot of sense? It does to me.
So there, not really just a carp, right? Simply sharing the reasons for the traditional approach, along with an implicit plea to - maybe some day - return to a venerable practice that served the People of God for centuries.
But whatever liturgy you attend - traditional (Extraordinary Form/Tridentine Mass) or new (Novus Ordo Mass), you can certainly fill your mind, heart, and soul with the wonderful manifestation of Our Lord to all those with whom He can into contact, in His words and His actions. Allow the Gospels of these weeks to help you absorb the full measure of the example He gave to us. Decide to make that example your light, your guide for how you live your own life from now until the day He calls you. Ask for the graces you will need to do this, despite your fallen human nature and the inevitable shortcomings, slips, and falls that will accompany your efforts. Do so and pray that St. Paul's words in, the Epistle for this Third Sunday after Epiphany for Mass in the traditional or "Extraordinary" form may become your own:
"Bretheren, be not wise in your own conceits. To no man rendering evil for evil; providing good things not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of men. It it be possible, as much as it is in you, having peace with all men. Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written, Revenge is mine; I will repay saith the Lord. But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat, if he thirst, give him to drink, for doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil by good." (Romans 12:16-21)
Happy Third Sunday After the Epiphany!
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