Epiphany January 2 nd, 2011

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Epiphany January 2 nd, 2011"

Gertrude Murphy
5 years ago
Views:

1 ...and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage (Matthew 2:11). Epiphany January 2 nd, 2011 First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6 Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.

2 Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the LORD. Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 Brothers and sisters: 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. It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Gospel Reading: Matthew 2:1-12 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage. When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,

3 are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage. After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. Homily Today we have some of the most beautiful passages in the Holy Bible for our celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany. It is at this time we rejoice in the news of Jesus birth being spread beyond the Jews to all the nations of the world. Today s feast is called little Christmas in some countries while in others, it is actually the main Christmas celebration. In today s Gospel, we have the arrival of the Magi from the east. The word, magoi, has been translated as kings, as in the song, We Three Kings of Orient are, but it doesn t really mean kings. They have also been termed astrologers, but that is not accurate either, in the modern meaning of the word. In that era, it was believed that the future could be told from the stars and your destiny was determined by the star under which you d been born. It is perhaps helpful to realize that people saw that the universe was orderly and if there was a new brilliant star, it was taken to mean that God was announcing an event that broke through the normal flow of events. Our Gospel passage doesn t say how many magi visited. They are the first of the gentiles to seek the Savior. They were described as wise men, those who sought deeper understanding. They were pilgrims. The wisdom traditions across all cultures take us to that human urge to seek truth, discretion, understanding, which goes beyond

4 a factual knowledge. There is wisdom in the folklore of many different countries and cultures. Perhaps in the coming of the magi, we see the weaving together of sources of wisdom from around the world coming to seek the revelation that is found in Christ Jesus. We definitely need something more, something that goes beyond our own intellectual pursuit and insights. We need the manifestation of God, his epiphany. Our own wisdom is rather thin. If you could imagine one couple representing humanity for each generation since we became homo sapiens about 50,000 years ago, there would only be about 2,000 couples. The first 1400 would have lived in caves. Just the last 33 would have ever known what a printed page is. But perhaps wisdom was taken more seriously in earlier eras where we were not so proud of our own informationgenerating capacities, which isn t the same as wisdom. Of course, we can integrate modern knowledge with the wisdom of the ages if we understand that not all information is based purely on linear, rational, or easily verbalized logic but takes in intuition and integration of multiple and complex levels of emotional and spiritual awareness. There were early traditions that there were twelve magi, but eventually it was reduced to three because of the three gifts. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were very valuable gifts and they also became symbols in early Christianity. And medieval legend added to the richness of the story and its meaning as representing God s universal call to all of humanity, going beyond the Jewish Messiah. Gold, of course, has been regarded as a highly valued gift across all times and cultures, and fit for a King. So our early Church Fathers viewed it as symbolic of Christ, the King. According to legend, the gold was brought by Melchior, an old grey-haired man with a long beard. He represented the Semitic peoples. Frankincense was used in Jewish Temple worship and was a gift for a high priest. A Jewish priest served as a mediator between God and His people, and Jesus was the perfect High Priest. So Frankincense represented his mediation for us with God. According to legend, this magi was Gaspar representing the white races. He was young and beardless. In that time, myrrh was used to embalm, so the early Church Fathers saw myrrh as representative of Jesus humanity and a gift for honoring someone who was to die. Balthasar was depicted as a swarthy bearded man who represented the African races. The Gospel tells us that they were warned not to return to Herod when they found the Child. They were warned in a dream not to do so. Dreams were a well-recognized source of insight and intuition known in biblical times and still can instruct us even today. Joseph dreamed that he should not give Mary up and that he needed to escape to Egypt so that the child would not come to harm. Part of wisdom is paying attention and being attuned and intuitive. It is what has been called discernment, where we

5 listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. The magi pursued wisdom, and did not wander about aimlessly. They had a purpose in mind. They followed their star, which perhaps represents an encounter with God. They speak to us of that desire to seek God, to be open to his leading, to go into foreign lands, as it were. We too can cross over into unfamiliar lands, unknown turf, taking risk to offer our worship. And we too are called to bring our gifts. We are called to bring an epiphany to someone around us who might not otherwise hear the Good News. We are the magi crossing over into unfamiliar territory, taking chances we re unaccustomed to taking. What will it be? Remember, if you ve offered your gift to anyone, you have given it to Him. Shall I move the garbage cans to and from the street for my elderly neighbor? Shall I give up a trip to the movies to feed someone today? Will I take the trouble to call that person with whom I had a misunderstanding this past year? Will I visit that person? Will I leave my gift at the altar and first go reconcile? Will you behold the star? Will you search diligently for him? Will you open your treasures to him? What is your gold, your greatest treasure, your deepest source of security, that you think you cannot be without? Only you know what it is. What is your frankincense, your gift to keep the Altar for the People of God, to bring them to His Table? What is your myrrh, what needs to be given a proper burial? Only you know the answer. I ask you to write a word or two on a card, depicting the gift of yourself that you will offer to Christ in the week ahead. What you write does not have to make sense to anyone else, because no one else will read it. Put it in the bag that we pass during Mass and we will pray for our gifts to be received by the Christ Child today. Then the paper will be burned. O Child Who offered us yourself, coming into our world, we now bring you our intentions to serve you and your people. May we go out, cross the mountains and valleys in our lives, and take risks in new places for your Kingdom. Amen.

Epiphany Reading 1 Is 60:1-6

Epiphany Reading 1 Is 60:1-6 1 This story of the wise men and King Herod from the Gospel of Matthew is always interesting to look at more closely. First of all, we know from history that King Herod was a paranoid power-crazed megalomaniac