Thomas Keating
The Feast of the Epiphany, given December 2014
"Invited into The Fire"
Christmas is only the beginning. Christmas shows us the Word Made Flesh in the form of thislittle infant, a form that grows into his full humanity, and then the sacrifice of that human nature for the healing and salvation, or nowadays if you're into the scientific discoveries, evolution is the way of creation and then human development, including Jesus’ own humanity, develops and becomes more complete and full and capable of being shared with others, always from a motive of unselfish love.
What Epiphany emphasizes, once we accepted or expressed our belief in the Son of God becoming a human being, then we need to realize - and this is also the other major aspect of this feast - that we are invited to become living cells or members in the Mystical Body of Christ, which is Christ resurrected and body glorified, and sort of consumed in the fire of the Spirit, a fire that moves like a moving stream throughout the relationships in the Trinity and into which we’re invited to share. That's what’s meant by "grace," a sharing in the divine life itself, which means the divine light, life and love.
What we need to keep in mind, perhaps as a conclusion of the whole liturgical year as well as its beginning - Advent is not only the beginning but the end of time, looked at from a mystical liturgical perspective – so what we might keep in mind for this coming year is the awareness that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves – a part of a living divine human organism that is partly in the next life, or in heaven and partly in this life, in the various ups and downs.
This life is wonderful, but what is to come is much more marvelous. It's impossible to imagine this,as Paul says, what God has prepared for those who love him and true love always involves some sacrifice of ourselves. The more advanced the love, the more willing is that sacrifice, entering into the stream of pure love that flows like blood in the human body throughout the whole organism, both in heaven and here, filling needs, according to its vocation, and inviting us to consent to whatever God would like us to be.
The Spirit is weaving us together in the intricacies and interconnections and interdependence of every cell in the body with the willingness of each cell to go or do whatever particular ministry, or work, or job, or suffering, even at the Spirit feels is part of our own destiny and our own place in that body. Whatever we’re doing we’re first of all, a member or a cell in the Body of Christ. We want to always remember that that presence of the Spirit is moving within us, and moving us along in our own human development to partake in the glory of the human race that ultimately is designed to be transformed into the image and likeness of God in the fullest possible sense.
We’re adoring the Word Made Flesh, but the Word Made Flesh really is us. We’re accepting our place in the divine plan and we’re ready and consenting to grow. Centering Prayer and all the other great means of transformation are all designed to become one in that body while serving it in our own particular way as given to us by God in the Spirit so, one heart, one mind, one spirit, one life, one love, one destiny to be evermore deeply emerged in the divine life, and evermore a manifestation in whatever life we’re in, of the great goodness, and tenderness and compassion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who live in us and who are living there dynamically and with great power, but with great respect and sympathy for our weakness, difficulties and trials of life, which is as we know God himself freely undertook to experience in the person of Jesus Christ.
So may this marvelous vision of human life in its fullness be ever, at least, in the back of our mind as we do our daily chores, or serve or actively engage in all works of charity to help the needy and whatever God wants us to do. It's not the thing itself that we’re doing that is the ultimate goal, but our motive in doing so, just the pure love of God and allowing God to be God in us and consenting to letting him work in us evermore completely.
That is my prayer for us all and especially for you folks who will be joining us next year for oneor other of our programs.
Be full of prayer for the needs and woos of this poor humanity of ours at this time of many trials and places of violence that love, the love of God can and will triumph over all of that in due time and those who are suffering will be greatly rewarded for their patience.