Manifestation

Right now we are in the season of the Church year called “The Season after the Epiphany”. It is the season following the feast of the Epiphany (surprise) and it comes between the Nativity Cycle (Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany) and the Resurrection Cycle (Lent and Easter seasons). It is also known as “Ordinary Time”. This season is called ordinary because the Sundays are ordered by number, like ordinal numbers. But I would like to suggest a new name for this time.

The theme of this season is Jesus being made known to the world as the Messiah. There are four festivals associated with this time period that show us who Jesus is: the Epiphany, the Baptism of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the Transfiguration. All of these feast days begin to draw back the curtain and show how God is being made known to us through Jesus. Jesus identity as the fullest revelation of God is being made manifest through the visit of the Magi, God’s voice ringing out, “This is my Son!”, water being changed into wine, and Jesus truest self being revealed to the disciples on the mountain top.

But Jesus is still being made known to us today. It may not feel as grand as the signs listed above, but Jesus is still revealing to us the fullest nature of God in so many ways. There are stars in the sky that still point to the Creator and Savior, friends still call one another “beloved”, meals are shared where the best is saved for the end, and we can still see the Body of Christ, shining with the radiance of God’s light whenever we gather together.

So I ask myself: Where is Jesus being made manifest in the world around us? How can we open our eyes to see it?

So while the official name of the season may not change, let’s change our mind about it. Let’s remember it as the Season of Manifestation. Let’s remember all the ways Jesus’ is revealed to us and how we are called to make him manifest to the world.