Receiving, Radiating, and Revealing: The Message of the Epiphany
By John Graveline, Director of Parish Life
January 4, 2026
“Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you . . . upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes and look about . . . Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.”
-Isaiah 60:1-5
This weekend we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany comes from the Greek word (epiphaínein) meaning “to reveal or make manifest.”
To manifest something suggests bringing something of great importance to light. The glory and presence of God around us and in us is often symbolized as light. This analogy seems right to me. We can’t see light with our eyes unaided, yet it surrounds us making life possible. When we are in darkness, it is difficult to accomplish anything meaningful.
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’”
-John 8:12
Receiving the Light:
The first thing that Jesus invites us to do is to receive the glory of God by receiving his light. We are called to become like solar panels, receiving the Light of the Son of God, energizing us by receiving the unconditional love of God. We receive his powerful rays thought the gift of Revelation found in the Bible and in the Apostolic Tradition. When we truly listen to and heed the Word of God, the light of God’s wisdom illuminates our hearts and minds so that we can judge rightly and act justly and compassionately. By God’s light, we see the world and each other truly, the way God sees them.
We have also received the light of God within us through the gift of the Holy Spirit that we received interiorly at our baptism. This light is the spark of God’s breath within us. “In your light we see light.” (Psalms 36:10) Through the Spirit’s gift of Understanding, a spiritual dialogue takes place between the Holy Spirit that has poured out into our hearts and the Word of God that is inspired by that same Holy Spirit, drawing us into deeper communion with God.
“You are the light of the world . . . let your light shine before others,
so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
-Matthew 5:14,16
Radiating the Light:
The second thing that Jesus invites us to do is to radiate the luminous glory of God which we have received. This is our mission of evangelization. Light has two properties that can guide our evangelization: light illuminates and it gives heat.
Evangelization illuminates the deepest truth about God and human beings. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh [Jesus] that the mystery of [the human person] truly becomes clear.” (no. 359) What is the deepest truth that the Son of God came to reveal to us and that we, therefore, are called to proclaim? That God loves us completely and unconditionally, even to the point of becoming one of us through the Incarnation, even to the point of dying and rising to give us new and eternal life through the Paschal Mystery. There are no greater tidings, nothing more important upon which for us to center our lives and that our wounded world more greatly needs to understand. We are called to share this foundational truth to everyone, especially those who are currently in darkness and the shadow of death.
Because light also gives heat, our evangelization efforts should resemble a warming fire through our passionate zeal and compassionate care. As the old saying goes, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” When people see that God’s love has so penetrated our innermost being that it flows through us into compassionate care for them, their minds and hearts may become more open to receiving the gift of God’s love themselves. I think of the Peter Gabriel song In Your Eyes, “In your eyes/The light, the heat/I am complete/I see the doorway to a thousand churches/The resolution of all the fruitless searches/I see the light and the heat/I want to be that complete/I want to touch the light/The heat I see in your eyes.”
A main theme of the Epiphany of the Lord is that the message of God’s covenant love will now be expanded to reach all people, as symbolized by the Gentile magi who sought the newborn king. May our celebration of this Solemnity inspire us to once again receive the light of God’s love to let it radiate through us, inviting more and more people to experience the Good News of God’s love and care for them this year.
John