Epiphany of our Lord – 6th January 2013

Dear Readers,

My name is Fr. Franz Devantier of Saint Titus, Independent Old Catholic Church (IOCC) of Africa, operating in South Africa, and also creator of this blog.  My background was that of a liberal Catholic Priest, and a Traditional Catholic Priest in South Africa, and then an independent Priest in the Catholic tradition.  I was incardinated into the IOCC by Archbishop-Primate Emeritus Maurice McCormick founder of the IOCC of America.  

IOCC of America

Primate Archbishop George Le Mesurier,  IOCC of America
Primate Emeritus Archbishop Maurice McCormick, IOCC of America
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IOCC of Africa

Bishop George Otieno Odhiambo, IOCC of Africa

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Saint Titus IOCC South Africa

Saint Titus IOCC Newsletter

Father. Franz Devantier, IOCC South Africa

In nomine Patris, et Filii, + et Spiritus Sancti.  Amen   (In the name of the father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen. )

Epiphany of our Lord  –  6^th January 2013 (Colour of Celebration – White)

Traditional Catholics:

The word “Epiphany” means “Manifestation”.  The Church in the Mass, commemorates a triple manifestation of Christ: to the Magi, that is, to the Gentiles; in His Baptism, when the Voice from heaven declared: “This is my Beloved Son”; and in the miracle of changing water into wine at Cana.

Liberal Catholics:

O God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest our Lord to the wise men of old, we ask such zeal and wisdom as my help us to guide longing souls to thee, who are the Father of All.  Amen.

Roman Catholics:

The Lord and ruler is coming; Kinship is his, and government and power.

Father

you revealed your Son to the nations

by the guidance of a star.

Lead us to your glory in heaven

by the light of faith.

Announcements:

We are collecting names for submission as Marriage officers, for promotion to lay-Pastors, and for training for the Priesthood, under Saint Titus.  If you are interested, then please contact Fr. Franz  devantierf@gmail.com

Sacred References:

Isaias, chapter 60, verses 1-6

Matthew, chapter 2, verses 1-12

Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 2-6

Revelation, chapter 21, verses 3 onwards

Homily:

We take up the story with the Birth of Jesus in a humble stable, after his immaculate conception.  He was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, during the reign of King Herod.  You see King Herod was the king of Jerusalem, he was the Roman king of the Jews.  The king had heard rumours that there was a baby that was to be born, that would become the king of the Jews, the king of Jerusalem.  To make it worse it had been prophesized and written in the Jewish books of prophesy.

King Herod was therefore very interested when he heard about the three wise men from the East, in search of the baby king.  Were these three men rulers of countries, or were they spiritual leaders?  Indeed they may have been spiritual outcasts for all we know.  Whoever they were they were very noteworthy people.  These knowledgeable Kings had come from the East, possible from very far to meet somebody very special.  They wanted to meet the baby Jesus, because they knew who he really was.  King Herod had entertained them, and convinced them to come past him on their way back to their countries, to tell him about their experience.  King Herod had ulterior motives, but they had not picked it up yet. These men were learned men, and in those days astronomy and astrology were still one discipline, so they had studied the stars for purposes of satisfying science as well as religious ideals.  Like for example finding the baby Jesus.  When Astronomy and Astrology became separated, the science part and the religious or spiritual parts were split into separate disciplines.  The scientific field of study lost its spiritual insights, the spiritual field of study lost its scientific validation.  Both disciplines may have been the poorer for the split.  If the same thing happened today, the greatest scientists in the world would have lacked the spiritual insight to see that the star was telling them about the baby Jesus.  The greatest Astrologers around, if they wanted to convey the same story, would be marginalized, and not taken seriously in favour of the scientific disciplines.  So basically our leading academics today, would firstly not be able to see such a phenomenon, and secondly, they would not be in a position to legitimately report on it.

The wise men found the Baby Jesus, and worshipped him.  They presented gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.  Now we all know that Gold is something that is considered to be valuable.  Frankincense is considered to be one of the better ingredients for a really good incense.  Myrrh was considered in those days to be a really good herbal preparation for all sorts of ailments, and purposes.  Even today, Myrrh is considered to be very good herb, that has healing properties for a wide range of ailments.  So if you consider these gifts, Gold was to give something of material value, Frankincense, so that the baby Jesus could live in a sweet smelling environment, Myrrh so that they could look after his body and his health.  These days we have anti-biotics and other powerful pharmaceuticals, so we don’t concern ourselves too much with Myrrh and other herbal preparations.  However in those days, it was considered to be a very special herb.  So you could say they gave the king of Kings, money, perfume and medicine, but most of all they worshipped him.   

They were alerted in a dream of the ill-intentions of King Herod, and so took another route home in order to avoid King Herod.  You see this dream of theirs tells me that they were spiritual people.  Scientists would not typically have taken a dream too seriously, but these wise men did, they understood the value of a dream, they understood the language that was conveyed in a dream.  So these very spiritual wise men leave the story, and we never hear of them again in the bible.

And now we skip into the future, all the way past these first two thousand years, and to however long it will take before the second coming of Christ takes place.  We find that Jesus is the King of Heaven on Earth.  It has become heaven on earth.  There is no more death, no more pain and suffering.  People don’t get old, and their old sick bodies can regenerate and become healthy again, there pain wracked bodies can become pain free; can you imagine.  There are so many questions that you would want to ask about these things.  Are peoples bodies repaired by spiritual power, or by advanced technology, like for example nana-bots, that move through your body and repair all the ageing damage and genetic damage on a cell to cell basis.  Would be great to know.

Jesus says he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the root of David and the offspring of David.  That’s a big one, in other words the genetics that formed the line of David was created by God somewhere in the past.  Maybe even way back during the operation that God did on Adam to fashion his life partner Eve.  Could Eve have been like a Goddess?  Jesus was to be born of the line of David, and that is where the offspring comes into it.  As it turns out, Jesus was of the line of David.  I am the bright and morning star, which sounds very similar to the ancient Egyptian belief that the Pharaoh’s were both the morning and the evening star.  Actually maybe the same star, that you could see both in the morning and the evening; that was pointing to the Orion constellation. 

Remember the word Epiphany also refers to a sudden understanding of something in life.  Like after a period of struggle, you suddenly get it, you understand it, you have had an Epiphany.  The personal Epiphany’s in our own lives should be treasured, much as the Epiphany’s that Jesus the Christ revealed to us about himself.   

Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name:  Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation.  But deliver us from evil.

[Protestants can optionally add:  For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.]

Amen.

Benediction:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son, Christ our Lord; and the Blessing of God almighty, the Father, + the Son and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with you always.  Amen.

Love,

Rev. Fr. Franz Devantier of Saint Titus, IOCC, South Africa,

devantierf@gmail.com

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