The Feast of the Theophany is upon us! To explain, theophany means the appearance of our God to humanity. This is the feast when the Holy Magi, practitioners of the Eastern religion of Zoroastrianism, came to visit the Christ-Child. They came to see this God who is with us. They did not care that he came to the Jewish people. And Mary and Joseph did not care that they were Zoroastrians. They all marveled at this wonder given to us.
Far too often we as Christians get wrapped up in who is valid, who is theologically right, or who is the chosen of God. We tend to use our own twisted and warped view of our holy books as a weapon against anyone we see as different from ourselves. This has led to the “Holy” (sic) Crusades and to “Holy” (sic) Wars throughout history.
Even today, many “Christians” use their self-righteous attitudes to attack fellow Christians for their perceived sins, perceived shortcomings, or for no other reason than they heard a lie through the grapevine that “seemed credible”. They work to tear down others ministries and good works simply because they worship differently than they do. Or they work to destroy their church, their family, and their friends because they are not the right kind of “Catholic” or “Christian”.
Mary and Joseph did not care about the religion of the Wise Men. They did not care about the rumors being spread throughout the land. The Wise Men did not care about the backstory of Mary and the conception of Jesus. In fact, they did not even ask! They believed the message given by the stars that this was a holy Child. And they believed the stars so much that they even went out of their way to avoid reporting back to the King that they knew would visit harm on the Holy Child.
While you are reading this post, many of you nod in understanding. Others are getting angry because they feel called out. And still others feel nothing because it is the words of a “heretic”. To you all I plead, stop the violence. Stop the lies. Stop dividing the Body of Christ with nonsense. Stop being the abusers you claim to loathe. Stop abusing those of other faiths. Stop calling out women who are pregnant out of wedlock. Stop abusing the LGBTQIA+ community because of your own insecurities when it comes to your own gender or sexuality. Stop using your children as excuses to attack Drag Queens. Stop using politics as a measure of the church. And for the love of God, please stop believing every lie and rumor you hear without any proof or evidence!
Only then will our world become a better place! God Bless!