January 6, 2014
Christmas Day was wonderful. After 7:30 a.m. Mass, I made the easy drive to New Jersey, where I was able to hang out with my sisters and relatives, eating many courses – all of it aided by wonderful sips of wine. I was into New York City by 8:30 p.m. and decided to walk off those extra calories. On my way to 34th Street and the Empire State Building, I crawled through a jammed Times Square. I could not believe the numbers of people there, surrounded by so many blazing lights on the billboards, all of them taking selfies in the heart of the city. The ultimate selfie? People were watching a huge, blazing sign that had a camera that was taking a selfie of the crowd. Waving hysterically, people were thrilled to see themselves being thrilled.
“Selfie” has now become one of the newest words in our dictionary. The pope takes selfies with visitors, and President Obama got some guff for his selfie with other world leaders at Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Most of Facebook images are selfies. What is this, so much self-absorption? Or is it something else – a way in which people put themselves into larger situations, near famous sights, with famous people or into the network that Facebook and its counterparts represent. The selfie puts is into another scene.
So how does God take a selfie? That’s what God has been doing during this Christmas season, which comes to its climax in today’s feast of the Epiphany. God sends us an image of himself, not as the Eternal Transcendent, because there can be no photo of that, but as one of us, in our flesh, in our own life. God enters into the human situation, to taking on our life so we can take on God’s.
The Magi represent the sweep of this presence in our midst. Because when God enters our situation, God broadens it to include everyone, and deepens it to touch every human heart. God comes into the Jewish world so that God can come into all the world. These Magi represent all of us, from all races and nations, looking for the God who would draw us into one, and bring salvation to the human situation of sin and death that besets us all.
Isaiah captures the sweep of this feast with his majestic language. In the midst of the darkness of their exile, God has shown the light of his favor. Jerusalem will be radiant at what it sees caravans and camels coming with the wealth of the nations. But God reverses the image, because it’s not the world coming to Jerusalem, but God’s grace going forth to the world. The second reading puts it quite plainly: the mystery revealed in Jesus is God’s embrace of all the world, that the Gentiles – the unclean and unchosen – are now co-heirs and members of the same body of Jesus Christ. God takes a selfie in Jesus, and includes us all in the picture!
There are two spiritual tasks we have. First, we have to experience God’s light coming to each one of us, Christ beaming a message of grace, pardon, and love. For Jesus comes for each of us, as Jesus comes for everyone. Polish away the tarnish we let build up on our spirit, so Christ can shine in us. Secondly, we have to see Christ’s light shining on all the world, every person, especially those who seem distant, strange, or estranged. Each of us has the ability to radiate Christ’s light upon the seekers in our own world, letting them see God’s glory reflected in our own faith.
Of course Times Square was filled even more for New Year’s Eve. The ultimate scene for the ultimate moments of one year and the beginning moments of 2014. God wishes us much more than New Year’s Greetings; God wishes us new life, escape from the darkness that encircles us, and entry into unending light.