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This month's "Grace Notes" newsletter
Father David's Page
Januafry 2012
The Epiphany
Of all the possible human experiences, an epiphany is
one of the most wonderful, startling, stunning and
delightful. The dictionary defines it as a sudden, intuitive
perception of or insight into the reality or essential
meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple,
homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
One of the best known occurred to Archimedes as he
was taking a bath prompting him to run naked down the
street screaming, “Eureka!”, which means, “I found it!” So
many of my personal epiphanies have occurred while
mowing the lawn like the time I realized my Mom didn’t
make beef stew. It was left-over pot roast which was why it
was so wonderful and had such a unique flavor that I
hadn’t been able to duplicate.
In Church life, we use the term to commemorate the
revelation of the Christ-Child’s true identity to the world.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) full of grace and truth.
We remember the revelation to the astrologers from the
East as we sing “We Three Kings”. They had followed the
star to a distant land. So powerful was their epiphany that
they brought valuable gifts fit for a king.
But as wonderful as this tradition is, it pales in
comparison to a personal revelation of Jesus in your own
life. Such an epiphany has been life changing for everyone
who experiences it. It has produced wonderful music like
“Amazing Grace” and “Blessed Assurance”. William
Booth’s epiphany created The Salvation Army. The
epiphany of William Wilberforce signaled the beginning
of the end of slavery in Britain. The Christian Faith
continues from one generation to the next only because of
that supernatural event we call an epiphany in the lives of
individuals. The Church has a technical name for that
phenomena, “conversion”. The Baptists describe it as
being “born again.” Other’s refer to that moment as
being “saved”.
Whatever you call it, that’s when that new, abundant and eternal life begins to unfold in all it’s endless wonders and
possibilities. The good news is that Epiphany is available to
anyone who will seek and knock and ask. As the bible puts
it, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved !”
And in the words of Jesus, “Fear not, little flock; ...it is
your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
—FR. DAVID+
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