Abstract
Epiphany and Beatitude
The month of February is in the season of Epiphany. It is a time when the Church ponders the ‘divine’ moments in the life of Jesus. The gospels bring to our attention special times when his ‘heavenly’ origin and identity became real to himself and to others. Sometimes these disclosures were public, as with Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan; on other occasions they were private, as when Peter, James, and John witnessed his Transfiguration. But Epiphany may also be thought of in a wider sense. In the experience of Daniel O’Leary, priest and author, “nothing is too insignificant to be an epiphany of eternity”. 1
Let us consider the Beatitudes as epiphany. The term beatitude in itself suggests the gift of divine presence, happiness, and joy. It is of course a ‘strange’ happiness because it belongs to the poor in spirit, the tearful, the meek, etc. The pithy precepts of the Beatitudes and the wider teaching of Matthew 5–7 affirm that God is disclosed to us in darkness as much as in light, in suffering more so than in ease. The beatitudes are at one with the perspective of Easter: the way of the Cross is the way of life.
2nd February: Presentation of the Lord
Matthew 5.1–12
Lord, we are inclined to look for happiness in prosperity, in material comfort, in ease. The culture of success has a subtle hold on our perceptions. It is so different in the beatitudes; there we are directed to dark experiences, to emotional emptiness, to tears and to humiliation. These are the very places where our spiritual capacities are enlarged, our sympathies are broadened and our faith is empowered. When the cup is empty then it is filled with love.
Lord, when life leads us into pain and suffering, reassure us of your presence with us and in us. Enable us to see heaven around us, in every circumstance. Comfort us in sadness; let humility be our strength; may mercy flow in and out of our hearts. Give us hunger and thirst for goodness, beauty and truth. Shine the light of your Holy Spirit in our souls so that we may be accepting of ourselves and kind to others. Keep us faithful to the heavenly vision and so blessed in earthly living.
5th February: 5th Sunday after Epiphany
Matthew 5.13–20
Lord, we are not only searchers after you; we are revealers to others. You have gifted us with the ‘power’ of Epiphany. We are bearers of light. Give us courage to shine the light of understanding in an often dark world. We are salty preservers; help us to see what needs preserving; give us grace to move amongst the ruins, gathering up what can be saved. Make us preservers in our own hearts, in our relationships with others and in our stewardship of nature.
Lord, our traditions encourage us to think of love as good and law as bad. Yet, here you tell us the law and the prophets are not abolished. But you never intend the written code to be the end of any matter. The law is a vantage point, a place from where we can glimpse the distant horizons of your compassion. Help us, we pray, to respect the law and the prophets so that we may better discern the ‘more excellent way’ we have still to travel.
12th February: 6th Sunday after Epiphany
Matthew 5.21–37
Lord, you direct our attention from the outward deed to the inner motive. The life of religious observances, aided with a pinch of hypocrisy, may satisfy the canons of respectability. But in these verses you speak from a different perspective: from the heart. Give us grace to live in the strange and wonderful house of the soul, to honour our desires, to befriend our moods, to love the variety that we find there.
The mystics who look inward and the psychologists who explore life come to our aid. Anger, lust, infidelity, and dishonesty: these need attention in the home of the heart. We are tempted to be either judgemental with ourselves or excusing and lax. Help us, Lord, to be wise, understanding and nurturing of the hurting child, the rebellious daughter, the prodigal son within.
Lord, come into the house of my soul and befriend my family of emotions; some seem like little angels, others more like angry devils. They were all given to me; some came from my ancestors, some from I don’t know where! Help me to love them so that they do not run riot, or hurt or destroy; help me to love them in their imperfections. Grant that their moral weaknesses may, with patience and understanding, become beautiful strengths.
19th February: 7th Sunday after Epiphany
Matthew 5.38–48
Lord, you have now brought us to the summit of Epiphany. Here is a vision that dazzles the pilgrim soul. The Kingdom of Heaven is realised on earth, in the most unlikely of ways. Enemies are welcomed as friends; love stays the hand of retaliation; charity goes the second mile. Perfection does not stand apart and aloof; perfection is inexhaustible mercy; perfection fears no identification with the evil and despicable.
Our Heavenly Father, let this perfection be in us that we may bear your likeness and live as a family that will make you proud: a family redeemed from its ancient hatreds, restored through forgiveness, healed of its wounds.
We thank you for all those who have shown us the more perfect way. Many are unknown to the world at large; some are called to be beacons. Nelson Mandela was an epiphany to his oppressors and a light for his hurting people; Gordon Wilson, saint of the Enniskillen Remembrance Day massacre, prayed for the bombers and was an ardent peacemaker. You have shown us, Lord, that, in the miracle of love, the impossible is possible; this stirs our hope; warms our hearts; gives birth to courage.
26th February: The Transfiguration
Matthew 17.1–9
Lord, it is difficult for us to imagine what the Epiphany on the mountain felt like. Bathed in the light of divine glory, you must surely have felt affirmed, loved, empowered. Then, you could face your destiny in Jerusalem, knowing that you were safe in your Father’s love, no matter what the coming days might bring.
Peter, James, and John also glimpsed the divine glory; yet the experience had no lasting effect. Their courage failed after your arrest; their loyalty was ephemeral in the face of danger. With us, too, mystical elevation often does not prepare us for the shadow lands of our lives.
Help us, Lord, not to miss, or forget, or squander the visitations of your Spirit to our souls. These may be simply a beautiful thought in ministers’ peace; or mindfulness that gives rest to our thoughts; perhaps a moment of insight that we need to act upon. Help us not to hold on to the mystical merely for its own sake. May the peace of the mountain top be our strength for the fight, the good fight of faith, in life and in death.
Footnotes
1
Daniel J. O’Leary, Unmasking God: Revealing God in the Ordinary (Dublin: Columba Press, 2011), 30.