There are many discoveries that have changed the way we live forever. The most obvious is how technology has transformed almost every aspect of our daily lives. However, even though it has been over a century since Edison invented the lightbulb, the world is still covered in darkness. In this episode of By Your Life, we talk about doing something about this.

Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_01_05.mp3

The Epiphany of the Lord – January 5, 2020

Welcome to the ninety-third episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, so I thank you for choosing By Your Life.

My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.

In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the feast of The Epiphany of the Lord. This week there was a story in the Wall Street Journal about the Chinese scientist who created the world’s first genetically modified babies and was sentenced by a Chinese court to three years in prison. Although he expected to be praised for his work when he revealed in November that he had engineered twin girls, he was immediately condemned by bioethicists and fellow scientists, including the inventors of the Crispr gene-editing technology. Despite the outrage, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the Crispr inventors said she supports efforts by the international scientific community to discuss not only the technology but the social, ethical and technical challenges. She said, “To me, the big question is not will this ever be done again. I think the answer is yes. The question is when, and the question is how.” (WSJ 12/30/19)

The article was disturbing to me on many levels. But when I put the newspaper down and got up to make myself a second cup of coffee, the Non-GMO certified label on the package of coffee beans stuck out in bold black letters. On the one hand, we’ve become obsessed with the health risks of eating genetically modified foods, and at the same time are on an unstoppable path to creating genetically modified humans. All I could think of is that as a society, we’ve lost our minds.

Later this week, there was another article about how marijuana laws are loosening while vaping restrictions are growing. (WSJ 1/2/2020) The Food and Drug Administration said it would bar the sale of fruit- and mint-flavored e-cigarette cartridges while eleven states have now legalized marijuana for recreational use. Are we nuts? Does anyone think that using either of these products is good for your health?

Today, there was another article about a villa that was recently put on the market in the Spanish village of Cadaqués, in Catalonia. (WSJ 1/3/2020) At $24.5 million, this 6,700+ square-foot house is priced at over $3,600 per square foot. In this little Spanish village, it is not uncommon for second homes of the wealthy to sell for over $10 million, at the same time, there are people throughout the world who are homeless. Again, it makes me think we’ve lost our minds.

Perhaps we haven’t lost our minds, we’ve just lost our way in the darkness. As we heard in our first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, “See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples.” (Is 60:2) As is evident in the daily news, darkness still covers the earth. People are searching for happiness in honor, pleasure, and wealth and coming up empty, and you and I know why. It cannot be found there.

This week, a friend of mine shared a YouTube video of the conversion story Roy Schoeman. I encourage you to listen to his testimony. Schoeman is a former professor at Harvard Business School, who was raised in a devout Jewish family, but accepted atheism when he went to MIT. He pursued worldly success but found it lacked meaning and purpose, and instead of finding happiness, he was dragged into a pit of darkness and despair. In the video, he shares how God graced him with a miraculous personal revelation. He now works as a Catholic speaker inspiring thousands of believers and nonbelievers with his story.

As he journeyed from atheism to theism, to Christianity, to Catholicism, he struggled with leaving his Jewish roots behind, until he had an epiphany. He said, “When I entered the Catholic Church, I became more Jewish than ever because I became a Jew who was following the Jewish Messiah. I realized that Judaism is pre-Messianic Catholicism, and the Catholic Church is post-Messianic Judaism. They are one and the same plan for salvation.”

I share his story because the Epiphany is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. This story is repeated every day when someone recognizes Jesus as the Christ. Roy Schoeman’s story is just one story of a private epiphany. Every person with a conversion story experienced a personal epiphany.

A lot of people know who Jesus was historically. They recognize the figure, but they don’t know who Jesus is, yesterday, today and always. If they did, we wouldn’t have a Pew Research study reporting a dramatic decline in the share of the US population who identify as Christian as being down from 78% in 2007 to 65% in 2018-19. That is a thirteen percent drop in just 10 years. The world has grown darker for that 13% and it is likely dark for many more of the 65% who identify as Christian in name only, and we work with these people every day.

It is sad. When a person lives in darkness, they don’t realize it. They know something is wrong and they know they aren’t happy, so they seek more honor, wealth, or pleasure, but the emptiness returns because what they really seek cannot be found there. Only light exposes darkness, and the Light of Christ conquers it. The only solution is Jesus Christ, but they don’t know Him, so they don’t know to look to Him.

And this is where we come in.

In our second reading from the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul wrote, “You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for your benefit, namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.” (Eph 3:3) We know St. Paul’s story because he shared it. He was graced with a personal revelation, but he wasn’t supposed to keep it private. In fact, he couldn’t keep it private. He had to share it because he wanted everyone else to have a share in it.

At daily Mass on Saturday this week, the Gospel from the first chapter of John told us that John the Baptist watching Jesus walk by said to Andrew and another of his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God.”, and the two followed Jesus. (Jn 1:36) Andrew then found his brother Simon and told him “We have found the Messiah.” (Jn 1:41) He couldn’t help but share that good news.

God also graced Roy Schoeman with a private revelation of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God, but he didn’t just keep this incredible news to himself. He too shares his story for the benefit of others. Every believer has their own personal story. Not everyone is given the gift of a mystical experience of God like St. Paul or Roy Schoeman, but if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, God has graced you too. The question is, are you a good steward of the grace given to you? Is your life a light to a world that is covered in darkness? Are you sharing the beauty, the good and the truth with those who are desperately seeking it in wealth, pleasure and honor?

The Feast of the Epiphany not only celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ but is also a reminder that this good news is for everyone. The identity of Jesus as the Son of God was revealed first to Mary and Joseph, then to shepherds, the magi, and later to John the Baptist, the disciples, and to you and me. This truth isn’t intended to be kept to ourselves. The mission of the Church is to make Christ known to all nations, starting with you sharing it with the person who works in the cubical next to you.

How do we do this in a secular business world? We do it by our lives. When we are pressured to bend the truth, cross a line, cover up someone else’s wrongdoing, or compromise our values, we don’t cave to the pressure of the economic, political, or social consequences. It can be as simple as asking ourselves when faced with a dilemma, “In the scheme of eternity, what is the right thing to do?” If we know where we want to spend eternity, the right answer will follow. And just as importantly, we put honor, wealth, pleasure and power in the proper place in our own lives, always seeking Him first and allowing Him to change us.

The literary definition of epiphany is the moment when a character is suddenly struck with a life-changing realization which changes the rest of the story. No one who comes to know Jesus as the Son of God is left unchanged. If the 65% of Americans who identify as Christian were truly walking in the light, there would be a growth in Christians, not 13% decline. But, it’s not too late. It is up to us to be a light-bearing force that changes the rest of the story for those living in darkness, one person at a time.

As we head off to work this week, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us.

O Lord my God, we are grateful that you are the light of the world, guiding our steps on your path. Guide our words, thoughts, and deeds each day so that we may reflect your light to those who walk in darkness. Help us to be good stewards of the grace given to us so we may share it for the benefit of others. Strengthen us when it is difficult, we are tempted to walk away or remain silent. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

May God bless you abundantly this week as you glorify the Lord by your life.

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