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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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Epiphany
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Epiphany
of the Lord - Cycle C
Matthew 2:1-12
The seventeenth century painter Guido Reni has left us a magnificent
painting of Matthew. An angel is whispering to him various events in
the life of Jesus. The attentive Evangelist is frantically writing down
all that he is told. The tale will become his Gospel. A portion of
those whispers is today's story of the Epiphany. It is only Matthew who
tells us this tale filled with wonder. Why the other Evangelists
ignored this magical story, we will never know - at least this side of
the grave.
But how fortunate we are to have the poetical story at all! Its charm
is eternal. It has inspired millions! It has taught countless others!
For example, it was an excited little girl who told me this story. The
first two wise men offered their precious gifts to the Babe. He
declined them. When He did so with the third, the exasperated savant
asked, "Then what do you want?" The Child answered quickly and with a
warm smile, "Your camel!"
A confessed feminist asked me why God gave the star to the wise men. I
professed ignorance. She told me with glee, "God knows men are too
proud to ask directions."
I read recently of the traditions the wise men have inspired in various
countries. In Latin countries, boys and girls leave hay in their shoes
for the camels on the eve of the Epiphany. They hope the camels will
reciprocate by leaving gifts. In France, cakes are baked and coins
placed in each. He or she who gets the coin is king or queen for the
day. In Greece, a cross is thrown into the water. Whoever retrieves it
receives presents.
It is silly, perhaps spiritually suicidal, to turn one's back on this
account as so much child's play. We do so only at our own risk. The
shrewd Matthew has much to teach his readers.
As their journey began, the three pilgrims left behind them the warmth
of their own fires and the love of their families. Alone and undaunted,
they went searching for God.
Eagerly they responded to the invitation of the Spirit. They abandoned
their own country with its familiar tongue and culture. They came into
a foreign land among an alien people. The record shows they nearly lost
their lives. Yet, for them the search for the God was worth all
risks and dangers.
At last their quest was done. They found their God. He lived not in a
palace surrounded with retainers and ministers. Rather, He was in a
manger surrounded with the foul odors of farm animals. Matthew does not
record any disappointment on their part. Rather, they humbly fell to
their knees and placed their finest gifts at His disposal. Then, and
only then, they returned to their homes, wives, and children.
They were energized. They were new people. They had become the first
Gentiles to worship the Christ. They had become the first Christians.
They also had walked into history. Wherever the Christmas story is
told, they will be remembered.
These men had proved wise indeed. They had risked all for God and they
had become big winners. Is there anyone who still doubts that the
equally wise Matthew is attempting to teach us something? Each of us
too must gamble if we too are to find God. If we play cautious and
afraid, we will come up with hands groping frantically at empty air. We
will not be energized. We will not become an Epiphany people. We will
not enjoy our own epiphany.
How unlike the Temple priests, who surrounded King Herod, the wise men
were! These priests knew the Scriptures. They knew the Messiah was to
be born in Bethlehem. As a matter of fact, Bethlehem was but a short
hop, skip, and jump from Herod's home. Yet, the priests declined to
join the wise men in their search. They would not leave their libraries
and creature comforts. History passed them by. Now we only shake our
heads in wonder at their blindness and pity them. Hopefully we will be
wise enough to learn from their obtuseness.
The wise men of today's Gospel would applaud the Epiphany wisdom of
another finally successful pilgrim, Malcolm Muggeridge. It was he who
wrote the following. "God signifies an alternative impulse - to
sacrifice rather than to grab, to love rather than lust, to give rather
than take, to pursue truth rather than promote lies, to humble oneself
rather than inflate the ego."
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
Epiphany
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The Epiphany: The Ultimate Road Trip
It
was the ultimate road trip. The destination was unclear. Perhaps the
joy would be found in the traveling. They journeyed in the dark,
led by a star, a star that led them to the Light. T. S. Eliot, in
his poem the Journey of the Magi, concludes the story like this:
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
The
boy, the girl, started with pot, and then graduated to being a living
pharmaceutical factory. He was cool. She was cool.
Way cool. He was popular. She was popular. At least,
among the other druggies. They ploughed their way through life,
one train wreck after another, destroying and being destroyed,
until one day Grace overcame them and called them to a journey, a road
trip if you will. They walked in darkness, not sure of where they
would end up, but feeling a great deal of fulfillment just in the fact
that they were finally traveling away, and traveling to. They
knew they had ruined much of their lives, but they also knew that they
had a great deal of their lives left. And there was the
goal. The goal was to find the Lord. It was not an easy
search.
They
went to all the wrong places, often getting the wrong directions.
They even went to the court of the so called leader of the religious
people, Herod by name, a pious Jew by acclaim, a worst sinner than they
by reality. There are a lot of sinners out there. But even
sinners live surrounded by truth And through the counseling, the
drug rehab programs, the N.A. meetings, they were led to Bethlehem,
they sought the healing strength of the Savior. They gave
themselves as presents to the true King of the Jews.
And
then they returned to their lives, to those places of darkness they
used to embrace. But instead of darkness, they found light, and
wisdom, and the radiance of Jesus. And others saw the Christ in
them. They looked back at the journey and realized that it was
hard, and wonderful. They would gladly do it again.
Another boy, another girl, were overpowered by the forces of
lust. In the name of love, they lost their ability to love.
There was porn, and casual sex, and the objectification of others that
led to a meaningless marriage, a marriage where the only concern
was to take. They told others that they were enlightened, modern,
fulfilled. They weren’t. They were needy, primitive, and in
darkness.
But
then Grace drew them away. It was Christmas, or Easter, or
whatever, and they began to question their lives. They had no
meaning, no purpose. They missed Jesus. So, they went on a
road trip. It was not a pleasant journey. The darkness kept
over-powering them. But they kept their eye on the goal.
And, yes, they stumbled at times. They were often convinced that
they fell more than they stood. But they kept their minds set on
the journey. They leapt into the Presence of the Lord. They found
Him. Or He found them. Then they returned. They were
dead to their past. Yes, the temptations of the human
condition assaulted them. Yes, they had moments of missing sin,
moments of longing for the days of darkness, but their joy at the
birth, the new life of Christ within them, was not momentary. It
was eternal. Like the poet, Eliot, they willing embraced a
death that would give them such a wonderful life. They lived
under the Mercy of God. And others saw the Christ in them.
We
are all on the journey, the ultimate road trip. We are all called
away from the hollow life, the life of a dead world. We are all
called away from darkness. The journey is not easy. Others
mock us, call us Jesus freaks, and hypocrites. They tempt us with
the very objects of desire that we used to embrace. “Come to the party,
there will be great stuff there. Be sure to have someone watch
your kids for the next day, you probably won’t be returning home till
who knows when. And who knows who you will end up with? Hey,
what’s with you? Why do you say now that what you did before was bad
when you know you loved doing it? Come back to our lives, to your
old life.”
It
is all there for our taking. It is there for our losing. We would
have to sacrifice the journey. We would have to give up seeking
the goal, seeking Jesus Christ.
We
have to fight them off, all these temptations that are drowning us,
sucking His Life out of us. We have to fight them off and we can,
because the goal of the journey is so wonderful, so delightful, that
nothing can ever replace it. Nothing can ever replace Him.
And
so we are overwhelmed by Joy, the Joy of the Lord. One tradition
calls the magi Kings. Another refers to them as wise men.
When we join them on the journey of life, we are both. We are
wise because we see the reality of Life with Jesus, and we are kings
because we reign with Him in the Kingdom of God. And His Life
becomes our lives. And His purpose becomes our purpose. He
came for no less than the transformation of the world. We live
for no reason other than to join Him in the Quest. We live for
Jesus Christ. We live for the Kingdom.
They
call this feast the Epiphany, the showing of the Lord. And it is
true. When we walk away from the darkness, when we walk to the
light and embrace Jesus Christ, the Lord is shown to us in every aspect
of life. And we show His Presence to others.
Are
the temptations too great? Is the night too dark? No, no power is
greater than His. No darkness can smother His Light. We can
be epiphanies, manifestations of His presence to others.
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see
Spanish homilies
Epiphany
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Three
Types of People
(January 3, 2010)
Bottom line: On Epiphany Sunday we see the three types of people: Those
who have found God and serve him; those who have not found God and seek
him, and those who live not seeking, or finding him. Astrology can have
some place for the second type, but not the first.
Today is the Feast of the Epiphany: The visit of the Magi to Jesus. I'd
like to begin my homily with a quote from Blaise Pascal. He was a
seventeenth century scientist who - among other things - invented a
calculating machine that became the forerunner for the modern computer.
Those of us who pull out our hair (what little is left) in front of
computers can forgive Pascal for that. What interests me on today's
Feast is this quote:
"There are only three types of people; those who have found God and
serve him; those who have not found God and seek him, and those who
live not seeking, or finding him. The first are rational and happy; the
second unhappy and rational, and the third foolish and unhappy."
We see those three types represented in our readings at Christmas time.
Among the the foolish and unhappy is King Herod. He pretends to seek
God, but his real concern is to defend his power - and his pleasures.
But he was far from happy. Tortured by suspicions, he murdered members
of his own family, including his wife, Mariamne, and two sons. This
caused the Emperor Augustus to remark, "“I would rather be Herod's pig
(hus) than his son (huios) ." Herod - in an extreme way - represents
the class of people who neither seek nor find God.
At the other end of the spectrum are those who have found God and serve
him. Two obvious examples are St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
We can also include the shepherd in that happy group.
In the middle are the Magi. They represent all honest seekers. From the
Greek "magoi" we get our English word "magic" or "magician." They were
not ellusionists like modern magicians, but rather they studied the
heavens and tried to figure out the relationship between the stars and
what is happening on earth. They were part astonomer and past
astrologer. The Magi are also called "Wise Men" because they followed
celestials signs that lead them to Christ.
We do not know what those signs were. The Chicago Planetarium has a
famous presentation on the Star of Bethlehem. Recreating the heavens at
the time of Christ birth - and speculate that the "star" may have been
a comet, a conjunction of planets or some other astronomical event.
Whatever it was, it led the Magi to Jerusalem, then to Bethlehem. When
they arrived at the dwelling of Joseph and Mary, they stopped being
seekers. They worshipped the child, that is, they acknowledge him as
God. And they gave gifts that represented Jesus' kingship, his divinity
and his priesthood.
Now, I mentioned that the Magi were astologers. Astrology can lead a
person to God. A recent poll revealed that 34% of American believe in
astrology. It is better to believe in astology than, for example, to
believe in mindless evolution. Still, for a Christian, astrology can
have no ultimate place. You will notice that when the Magi found
Christ, they no longer looked to the stars. God guided them in a more
direct way.
In the bulletin this Sunday, I gave you a quote from the Catechism.* It
clearly states that astrology is a form of idolatry - a sin against the
first commandment: I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange
gods before me. God is a jealous God. In his case the jealousy is
proper and logical. He does have a complete and total claim on us. He
created us and redeemed us.
So, while astrology may have some place for those seeking God, it has
no place for those who - like the Magi - have now found God and serve
him. Remember the three types of people: "Those who have found God and
serve him; those who have not found God and seek him, and those who
live not seeking, or finding him." I hope no one here is in the
category of Herod, who neither seeks nor finds God. Those who honestly
seek God, will find him. But best, like Joseph and Mary, like the
shepherd and now the Magi, the Wise Men: to find God and serve him.
And, now, I invite you to listen to the Proclamation of the Date of
Easter 2010.
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*Here is the relevant section:
2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints.
Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself
confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the
future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence,
however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.
2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or
demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to
"unveil" the future.48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading,
interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and
recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history,
and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to
conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and
loving fear that we owe to God alone.
2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame
occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a
supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of
restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of
religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when
accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have
recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also
reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices;
the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to
so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of
evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.
General Intercessions for Epiphany (from Priests for Life)
Spanish Version
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
Epiphany
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http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/homilies/index.lasso
Epiphany
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
Epiphany
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Sunday
within the Octave
Epistle: Galatians 4. 1-7; St. Luke 2:33-40
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
"Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel,
and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through
your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."
(Lk 2. 34-35) Simeon the prophet greets the Holy Family with words grim
and foreboding. Welcoming a new child into the world is a joyful time,
a moment full of hope and promise. But this man, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, speaks words which inspire trepidation, not expectation.
The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn
Son who belongs to the Lord. (Lk 2:22-39; Ex 13:2, 12-13) With Simeon
and Anna, all Israel awaits its encounter with the Savior - the name
given to this event in the Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as
the long-expected Messiah, the 'light to the nations' and the 'glory of
Israel,' but also 'a sign that is spoken against.' The sword of sorrow
predicted for Mary announces Christ's perfect and unique oblation on
the cross that will impart the salvation God had 'prepared in the
presence of all peoples.' (CCC 529)
To welcome any child into a family is a time of joy, but every life
also includes the sword of sorrow. The Holy Family is the model for all
families, the "icon" of the family. Every family, according to God's
plan, begins in the bond of a man-husband and a woman-wife, who share
in an exclusive and life-long commitment. In responsible parenthood the
married man and woman preserve the right of every child to be brought
into the world within this bond of one man and one woman. The family of
our Lord is holy, not only because Jesus is the God-Man and Mary is an
immaculate creature and Joseph a saint, but also because of their love
for and obedience to God's plan and their service of one another.
Today the family is the subject of social manipulation and
experimentation, a tragedy with far-reaching implications. We may use
the name 'family' to describe whatever we please, but God has made
plain, through Jesus, Mary and Joseph, his will for every family. Every
child has a right to enjoy the security of committed love and
consistent example, both of a man-father and a woman-mother. If any
woman was capable of running a household singlehandedly, our Lady was,
and God might very well have asked Mary to go it alone, but he didn't.
He called on Joseph to marry, love and protect our Lady and to be the
foster-father of the God-Man, Jesus. God demands that each child have
the gift of an authentic family life. Under God's law, every child has
a right to be naturally conceived. The divine Artisan has crafted man
and woman such that they are capable together of bringing new life
about in a manner particular and never to be replaced. The
child-yet-to-be-conceived depends completely upon the holy cooperation
of man and woman with God in this regard.
Every family must struggle, as the Holy Family did, to do God's will
both when it is easy and when it calls for sacrifice or hardship. In a
recent audience, our Holy Father spoke on Simeon's prophecy of the
"sword" which would pierce Mary's heart and soul with sorrow. In the
shadow of that prophecy, the Holy Father pointed out, the Virgin Mary
"united her life, in an intense and mysterious fashion, to the
sorrowful mission of Christ. She became a faithful cooperator with her
son for the salvation of the human race."
Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the
mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the
first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared
her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit
could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often
read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. (Cf. Prov
8:1-9:6; Sir 24.) Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as
the "Seat of Wisdom."
In her, the "wonders of God" that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ
and the Church began to be manifested. (CCC 721)
Because of our encounter with the Savior and his family, we know that
God's grace enables us to struggle, despite our sinfulness, to live up
to his plan for the family. Though without sin, the family of the
Savior was not shielded from hardship. Do we expect to attain our call
to holiness without some sacrifice, toil, or self-denial? We know that
forgiveness, given to us with the new-born Christ and completed on the
cross, makes it possible for husbands and wives to live in a love of
generous reconciliation with each other. Their deepening relationship
provides the environment of security and well-being that nourishes
every child's deepest hunger, the hunger for love.
I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we
"meet Christ in the liturgy." Father Cusick
(See also CCC 149, 575, 587, 618, 711.) (Publish with permission.)
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
Epiphany
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Feast of the Epiphany
Every year around this time when there isn’t much else that is
newsworthy the media come out with stories purportedly explaining away
the star that the Magi followed. They drag out some pundit who tries to
make out that it was a supernova, a comet or a special conjunction of
the planets.
These things didn’t trouble people of an earlier age. First of all they
didn’t have the same preoccupation as we do with scientific theories
for everything. But more importantly they understood the meaning of
allegory –something which is largely out of fashion in the modern world.
In an allegory a person or a thing is used to represent an abstract or
spiritual meaning. A good example is to be found in the Pilgrim’s
Progress where the character Christian represents Everyman. When, for
example, he puts down a heavy pack we understand him to be laying aside
the burden of sin.
A more modern example is in the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, not
that I watch it! In her programme Buffy fights against all kinds of
evil personages who represent the problems faced by her as young person
going through High School.
We can see from this that the star in the story of the Wise Men is
clearly an allegorical star. No real star would or could behave as the
star described by Matthew, moving here and there and leading these men
on a journey. Matthew even goes so far as to call them Magi or
astrologers.
What they are searching for is Christ who is a star because he brought
light and hope to a sorrowful world.
The Three Wise Men themselves are, of course, also allegorical figures
in that they represent the Gentiles while Herod stands in for all who
reject Christ and principally the Jewish authorities of the time.
Many of Matthew’s readers would have been Gentiles; non-Jews who had
accepted that Christ is at one and the same time the Jewish Messiah and
the Saviour of the World. They would therefore have easily identified
themselves with the Three Wise Men.
They would also have recognised the attitudes of these Magi as
described by Matthew: they were seekers, like themselves, who had
searched for the truth, and once he was revealed to them they truly
accepted him and paid him homage. His readers probably saw their own
journey of faith, which led them from darkness into light, as something
similar to the Magi being led by a star.
And then there are those who reject Christ as exemplified by King
Herod. His rejection is followed immediately by the massacre of the
innocents. Again this is something that Matthew’s readers would have
understood perfectly since many of them were suffering dire persecution
at the hands of the Roman Emperors.
So these two models, that of acceptance followed by homage and
rejection followed by persecution, which are so much part of the story
of the Wise Men are also an essential part of the reality faced by the
new Christian converts. In the story of the Magi they see their own
story and are heartened and strengthened for what they might face.
These days it is slightly different. Those who reject Christ do not
turn to active persecution of Christians, what they do instead is to
actively create an atmosphere of indifference to God and to promote
individualism within society at large. And these thing certainly do
affect the world in which we live.
The important thing though is ourselves; we have searched and found
Christ and our response is to do him homage, in other words to worship
him. We do this best of all. As we are doing right now, through the
Eucharist –that memorial of his sacrifice on the Cross par excellence.
We gather around his table and share the gifts of bread and wine and
are renewed and restored in our faith. And from this table we are sent
out to bring the Good News of the Gospel to those around us.
This is in direct contrast to those with no faith who promote
indifference and materialism. Their agenda does not move humanity
forward for it is essentially about self-sufficiency and satisfying
one’s own desires.
Our task in the world is to bring life and hope; to enable people to
reach out to each other; to build up the virtues of faith, and love. We
see our mission as spreading light in the darkness and leading our
fellow human beings to something better, something higher, namely to
God.
The coming of the Magi to the manger of the Infant Jesus clearly
indicates that Christ came to redeem all mankind, not just to bring
glory to the People of Israel. It means that he is the Saviour of all;
that his salvation is meant for everyone and that we only come to our
full stature as human beings by accepting his Gospel of love and
putting it into practice in our lives.
The first readers of Matthew’s Gospel weren’t reading it as a factual
story with scientific verification but nevertheless they saw that it
contained profound truths. They saw that it contained their own story
and that it was a message of life and hope for the world.
We modern day readers do the very same thing. We understand that the
coming of Christ is a gift for the whole human race, we recognise that
the salvation he brings is as much needed now as ever it was. We
understand that this dynamic of acceptance leading to homage is the
most fulfilling way to live our human lives and we want the people
around us to understand this tremendous message of hope.
Our prayer today is that Christ will become ever more manifest to the
world and that just as those three Wise Men represented all the peoples
of the known world –Europe, Africa and Asia– so today may the people of
all nations come eventually to worship him and lay the gifts of their
lives before him.
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Father Bonar will not be posting homilies for Cycle B to allow himself
time for other projects. His collection of homilies (including homilies
for Cycle B) is available at www.clydebonar.com.
Epiphany |
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use;
however, they may not be commercially published without permission of
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