This weekend we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. In Christian tradition, this feast day was celebrated much the way we celebrate Christmas with the giving of gifts. The Epiphany represents the unveiling or revealing of Jesus as the Son of God. The wise men from the east follow a celestial star to find the child. Clearly this \u201cstar\u201d represented to the three men that this child was one of great significance to humanity and the Jewish people. They stopped their lives in order to travel and behold the existence of the newborn king.\u00a0 Their journey was one of great desire that culminated in them offering the gifts of gold (for Christ\u2019s kingship), incense (to adore his divine nature), and myrrh (to acknowledge his humanity). We are called from the example of the wise men to offer our gifts to one another and to always serve God with the gifts we have received from God. In the spirit of the Epiphany, over the Christmas season, I received so many kind words, cards, and gifts. I am truly thankful for all your kind gestures. Thank you! I pray we will continue to grow in our love for God and one another.<\/p>\n
St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, gives us an important theme to reflect upon this week. \u201cYou have heard of the stewardship of God\u2019s grace that was given to me for your benefit\u2026that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.\u201d Stewardship represents the duties of the steward of someone else\u2019s possessions. Technically, I am the steward of the Bishop and the people of St. Philomena Church and my ministry is stewardship for this community. St. Paul invites us to reflect on him as a steward of God\u2019s grace and thus his ministry of stewardship. In this season of celebrating Christmas and Epiphany, we give gifts as a sign of our love for Christ, our love for each other, and our understanding of the gifts we have all received. We trust the Biblical words of St. Paul because we know God entrusted him with the truth of the Gospel message. All of us are invited by God to trust that God has given us each the gift of life and the blessings of our natural and spiritual gifts to be a steward for the world. We are each a steward of God\u2019s creative order. We are called to know ourselves so we can know our gifts and best share them with the world. May 2020 be an opportunity for us to live true Christian stewardship, in thanksgiving for all the Lord has entrusted to us.<\/p>\n
God bless,<\/p>\n
Father David<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"