Sunday, January 08, 2012

Saints and Scripture Theophany

The sea saw and fled;
the Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams;
the hills, like lambs.
Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Jordan, that you turned back?
Mountains, that you skipped like rams?
You hills, like lambs?
Tremble, earth, before the Lord,
before the God of Jacob,
Who turned the rock into pools of water,
flint into a flowing spring.

This past Friday was the Feast of the Epiphany in the Roman Catholic Church and the Theophany in Eastern Catholic Churches. I'm not sure how many Eastern Orthodox celebrated Theophany on Friday, because so many still use the Julian Calendar (Its 19JAN in the Julian Calendar). Both Epiphany and Theophany are from Greek words meaning that God is revealed. The Roman Church celebrates this with readings about the Magi emphasizing the revelation of His divinity to the Gentiles. In the Eastern Churches though, the readings are from the Baptism of Christ when God the Father is heard to say "This is my beloved Son" and the Holy Spirit descends as a dove.
One of the songs sung during the Divine Liturgy was Psalm 114. It emphasizes the wonder and amazement of all creation that the Creator humbled Himself. During the homily Father Damien mentioned that when He was baptized it wasn't so much that He was cleansed by the water so much as the water was sanctified by His presence.

May God bless all who read my ramblings,

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1 comment:

Dianna@KennedyAdventures said...

I have a good friend in the Eastern Rite .... on my bucket list is to attend service with her one day.

Thanks for stopping by!