The Epiphany celebrates the Magi’s historic visit to discover and pay homage to newly born king, Jesus.  They followed a sign in the sky, a star, without any real understanding of who it was they sought.  Yet, trusting, they went forth.

Not long ago, I had an epiphany of my own. We, like those Kings of old, are called to seek Jesus.  The Magi were provided a star to guide them. Have we too been granted a guiding star? Yes, God is the same today, yesterday, and forever.  If He provided guidance to find his Son then, we can believe and trust many spiritual compasses will be provided for our personal faith journeys.

A Path to Jesus

The surest path to finding Jesus? Allowing ourselves to be filled with grace. Grace is the undeserved yet freely given gift of God’s Holy Spirit within us. Although there is not limit to God’s goodness or how He can or will provide this gift ot us, I have discovered three ways to keep drawing from the wellspring of grace — prayer, sacrament and Scripture. 

Prayer in its purest form is simply a conversation. We can chat with our Guardian Angel, the Saints, Our Blessed Mother, or of course, God through either the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.  These conversations open our hearts to follow God’s will for our lives, increase our ability to make good choices, and grow us in holiness. Prayer can be anything from “Good Morning, Lord, please guide my day,” to a beloved prayer from our childhood, or even a more focused prayer such as the Rosary or Lectio Divina. 

Bottom line there is no wrong way to pray.

God Never Stops Giving

When we reach the Feast of the Epiphany in the Liturgical calendar, it marks the end of the traditional gift giving season.  Yet the outpouring of heavenly graces from the greatest gift ever bestowed, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, never cease.

The seven Sacraments are outwards signs of God’s active and effective grace in our lives. This flows through the grace of our Baptism, in the Eucharist we receive in Communion, or through the absolution bestowed in the Sacrament of Reconcilation.  When we seek Jesus through the Sacraments, He is always found. If we want to truly emulate the wise men who first sought Him, we can seek to adore Jesus in Eucharist Adoration.

Come, let us adore Him. Perhaps, you will experience an epiphany of your very own?

Transforming Power of Adoration

Eucharistic Adoration became a transformative part of my faith journey over 10 years ago.  Gently encouraged by a lift changing invitation to sign up for a weekly holy hour. Barely sure what one does in Adoration, I was nervous and uncertain how I’d fill an entire hour when I first arrived.  I looked around at what the other adorers were doing. I was relieved that some were sitting (I did not have to spend the entire visit kneeling), others reading, and even found one woman journaling. These were all things I loved to do, little did I know the power of doing them in the presence of Jesus. Sitting in the quiet with the Scriptures and good spiritual reading, along with a favorite writing pen and journal, gradually inflamed my lukewarm faith.  I’ve since made a date with Jesus for at least one hour every single week, just like date night with my husband, keeping my weekly holy hour keeps our relationship fresh and exciting. 

Word of God Speak

The last of the grace trifecta elements is the Scriptures.  God’s words carefully written down through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If you have been seeking to hear Jesus’ voice in your life, but have not yet opened His word, this may be the answer to the silence.  How can you recognize what you’ve not heard? Spending time with the bible, particularly the Gospels, opens your mind and heart to receive the Word of God in a more powerful than ever before way.  

“They were overjoyed at seeing the star,” we read in Matthew’s Gospel, because they knew it lead them to Jesus.  We too will be overjoyed when we recognize and follow the guiding stars in our lives because they will lead us right to Jesus. Like the Wise Men of old, when the Spirit moves, wise women will always seek Him.