Epiphany - Homage to the Divine Wisdom

Question for you...in the story of Adam and Eve, who or what is the snake?  What if the snake is not the devil? What if we learned the snake actually represented wisdom? The snake was a symbol for worldly wisdom. How would that change our understanding of the “Fall”?

Another question for you. Who are the magi? What does this mean for our gospel and how it applies to our lives?

One of the greatest crisis we face right now in our Church, especially the American church is that people are leaving us. It is the rise of the Nones and the Dones. People saying they are done with the institution of the church; not with God, but with the institution or at least their perception of the institution.

I think if asked, the general perception of the Catholic Church, at least among the Anglo-Saxon-ish people, is that we are a rule-bound, regulated community.   This was for us of certain generations how we were raised. Go to mass every Sunday and on days of obligation, “Get” the sacraments...and you will be good to go. We can get into heaven.

Society has changed. Generations now don’t buy that. They want more out of life. They seek deeper meaning. They seek a deeper wisdom. They want to make a difference.  There is a hunger out there for life.

And us, what do we hunger for?  

The Magi come to the Christ child, and what do they do? They do the Christ child homage. A symbol of the worldly wisdom humble themselves to the divine wisdom. There is no conflict. There is harmony. Healing of the world begins.

Here is the Good News of our Gospel.

Divine wisdom heals. Divine wisdom builds bridges. Divine wisdom brings people together. In Christ, the wisdom of God is fully and amazingly revealed.  

This divine wisdom exists within our faith. It always has. It has formed our very roots. Way before there were rules and regulations, and proscriptions, and an organized institution, there was love. Love is the the seat of all wisdom.

Love is the reason for the Christmas Season, as some of us heard last night in the Keynote address at the Conference.

Why was the faith so successful in the early years...because people saw a better way to live in Christ.  Instead of vengeance, there was forgiveness.  Instead of power over others, there was helping others up.  Instead of greed, there was generosity.  Instead of divisions, there was equality and unity.

The divine wisdom of God, as revealed by Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit formed the core of the community.

Throughout our some 2000 years we got lost at times, we forgot the wisdom. It took the saints to bring us back. It is a pattern that has repeated often.  Makes me wonder if we are not in the “bring us back to true wisdom” phase? Instead of one saint, we have a generation calling to us, “saying feed us better. Get back to our true tradition, the divine wisdom.”  Show us the value of forgiveness. Show us the value of compassion. Show us the virtue of generosity. Show us Love.

All of us are tempted to follow a more worldly wisdom, to be concerned with the things of this world, and concerned with only ourselves. The Original Sin is faced by each of us each day. I see some of your Facebook posts about opposite political parties and people you don’t like. 

Centered in on Christ...we can resist that temptation.   We can transform the wisdom of the world, and make it one that helps all to flourish.  

It also means there will be sacrifice. We have to give up easy answers. It means that we don’t rush to a rule book or a catechism and give the response. We have to give up the belief that everything is black and white. 

It means we have to give of ourselves to grow, to discern, and to be patient. 

It means we go to our Scripture, we go to our Tradition, we go to prayer.

It means we re-center ourselves in Christ, in the divine.

And in a world that demands fast, easy answers, in a world that seems to operate on faster and faster speeds...this can be a challenge.

This is why there is the wisdom of our rituals.  They make us slow down. They make us refocus ourselves from ourselves to a higher purpose; to see others and their needs.  Rituals make us think about what truly is of value, so that we can discern better the divine wisdom in our lives and in the lives of others.  Rituals ask us to think about which wisdom do we truly give homage to.

And when we are giving homage to the divine wisdom, how much healing we will find.