Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today, as I write this, it is the feast of The Epiphany, and our choristers will be preparing to sing our Epiphany mass the following day, on January 7. We also look forward to this Sunday, when the story of Jesus’ baptism will be read in church, kicking off an entire season of Epiphany—a season celebrating Christ’s gift of salvation. 

These events mean that the celebration of Christ’s nativity has now exploded into a full manifestation (the Greek word sometimes used for this day is Theophany) of Jesus as the divine Savior of the whole world, both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus’ true nature is revealed as he submits to baptism: the Spirit of God descends and “breaks the air/ With flame of incandescent terror,” (to quote T. S. Elliot) and God the Father speaks audibly, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

This glorious manifestation of God in Trinity makes evident who Jesus is and what his appearance means for us. He is God’s only begotten Son, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God—and all of the other things the Church affirms about his divinity. And yet, that divine person (“of one substance with the Father”) has been joined to a human nature. It is this God-Man who was revealed to us in human time, born in the flesh yet conceived by the Holy Spirit and the Theotokos, in order, as St Peter preached, “that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” (Acts 10:34)

What a beautiful and exciting time of the year this is, as we relive and proclaim the manifestation of God in Christ to us: “the people that walked in darkness” who now have “seen a great light.”

A happy feast to all of you!

In Christ,

—Justin