By Cn. J. Davey Gerhard, TENS, Episcopal Network for Stewardship
“Because of when Easter falls in 2025, we get all eight Sundays of Epiphany this year: Eight opportunities to read and learn how the spirit of the law, the new life that Jesus came to proclaim, spreads throughout the world. This Epiphany is all about the Truth being revealed. It is a Truth that not everyone welcomes the same way – when Jesus reveals the wisdom of the scrolls, or when he tells us we must love those who wish us harm – these are hard truths to accept. It’s not all wedding wine and divine blessings in the Temple – Truth settles on each of us.
“The thing about the Truth that Jesus brings is that it is so wonderful, so different, so transformative, that it needs to be shared. It can barely be contained. Our hearts, our mouths, our souls cannot hold back. “Tell out my soul,” Mary sang to the Angel. It is as if to say, I have learned something so beautiful that I simply must share it, it is impossible to keep to myself.
“The Epiphany asks much of us. It asks us to reflect on an internal moment of awareness, of spiritual awakening, and find the words and ways to share it with the world. As Christ is made manifest to the whole world, unbound by social convention, religious authority, or political geography, we too are called to seek the neighbor beyond our immediate vicinity to accompany, to teach, to love.
“The theological mystery of the Epiphany calls us to have one foot in the spiritual, deeply personal realm of revelation and the other foot in the world, learning how to seek and serve those who most need our help. We learn about the movement of the Spirit through Jesus and are motivated into ministering with him to the outcast, the stranger, and to those who most need to feel the warmth and light of His love.