A Shared Promise

A Reflection on the Second Reading for January 3rd, 2021:
The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

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Ephesians
3.2-3a, 5-6

Brothers and sisters: Surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation.

In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind as it has now been revealed to his holy Apostles and Prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

In this brief passage, my attention was drawn to the line, “the Gentiles have become fellow heirs… sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel”. I wondered about the meaning of “fellow heirs”, and with some research I found that the original Greek word, sygklēronomos, is usually used to describe “one who obtains something assigned to himself with others — a joint participant” (Blue Letter Bible).

Joint participation strikes me as a beautiful way to describe the communion we are called to as members of the Church, and it also challenges my heart to actively work against my own tendency towards individualism. Selfishly, I read this and at first glance I wondered, “what am I inheriting?”, when I should be asking, “what are we inheriting?”.

Christ’s promise, communicated and achieved through the Gospel, is salvation, to enable our participation in the life and love of the Holy Trinity. This is what ought to motivate us in our efforts to evangelize and build community. In reading this passage, I feel a call to expand my heart — to widen it and become more open to receiving and welcoming others, just as God the Father opened His heart to allow Gentiles to have the rights to His inheritance in the same way as the Jewish people.

All throughout Jesus’ ministry we hear this message — the Kingdom of God is open to many. The stranger, the outcast, the poor, the forgotten, the rejected, and all in the world are invited to the wedding banquet; Christ grants us access to all the good that belongs to Him by virtue of His sonship, despite our unworthiness. We receive it, not based on merit or efforts to perfectly fulfill the law, but, because He chose to make us sharers and joint participants in the glory of His life, death, and resurrection.
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Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to continually remind us of how we share in Christ’s promise, and to help us understand the joint nature of this gift which reveals our communal nature and identity as Church.




Kendra L.

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