Homily for the Week of January 4, 2009

The Epiphany of the Lord, 2008
First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12

Manhattan College is one of the oldest Catholic Colleges. It is located in New York City. It was started by a group of Christian Brothers in the 19th Century. It athletic teams are called the Jaspers after Brother Jasper. One of the greatest achievements of Brother Jasper was that he brought the then little-known sport of baseball to Manhattan College and became the team's first coach. During one particularly warm and humid day when Manhattan College was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy as Manhattan came to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called time-out and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed.

Since the College annually played the New York Giants in the late 1880's and into the 1890's at the Polo Grounds, the Manhattan College practice of the seventh inning stretch spread into the major leagues, where it has now become a time-honored custom practiced by millions of fans annually.

In the Catholic Church this weekend is like the seventh inning stretch. It is towards the end of the spiritual season of Christmas, and today is THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS. As the song goes: on the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me twelve drummers drumming. Today is the twelfth day of Christmas, or what we call Epiphany.

I just read in today’s Gospel about Wise Men from the East arriving in Jerusalem, saying Where is the new born king of the Jews. We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage. Many people have various opinions about the events of Epiphany, and they are opinions. About all we know of this feast is from the reading I just read from St. Matthew. Matthew is not recording precise historical events. Matthew is making a profession of faith. What matters is not so much the story as the message it conveys. It's possible to get lost in questions, such as:
how many Magi or Wise Men were there (Matthew doesn't say other than there were three gifts) where exactly did they come from ("from the east" is not very helpful and probably from Persia)
what kind of star was it that guided them to the stable? (was it a comet, an asteroid, a supernova -- did it really exist?)

The real message of Epiphany is about a gift: about the gift of God to each of us through the baby Jesus. On Epiphany we are invited to recall our image of God.

Sometimes we read the newspaper, listen to the news on the radio, watch current events on television and we wonder where is God in this world of ours. In the long daily litany of pain, sorrow, suffering, dishonesty, death, greed…where is God? Where is God among leaders of nations that call up their soldiers to fight a war? Where is God in the earthquakes, the hurricanes, the mud slides? Where is God in poverty? Where is God in a hurting relationship or marriage? And I could go on and on.

But God is there because we have Epiphany. Epiphany means to reveal, to show, or to make known. The enduring insight from the earliest days of Israel to our own modern Christianity is that God is not remote from us; God is actively involved…God cares…God is concerned. So where’s God? God is present in the epiphanies of our life each day.

Perhaps we think of these epiphanies only in way one – the good and nice events of our day.
I stand on the banks of the Saranac and watch a perfect sunset and say to myself “yes, there is a God”.

I receive a gift of forgiveness from a friend and say to myself “yes, there is a God”.
A wife and husband look into each other’s eyes and say: “yes, there is a God.”
However, as believers we know that God comes to us in many ways. Spiritually God is revealed in the mystery of the crib in a stable, and a grown up man killed on the cross. The depth of God’s being is made visible in the vulnerability of a child and in the perfect weakness of a man on a cross.

We find God in the sacrament of everyday life. We encounter God in trials, sufferings, joys, triumphs, hopes, fears, defeats and successes that come to us each day.
when our best efforts at work go unappreciated, God is present.
when we make an “A” in a difficult class at school, God is present.
when our child is born, God is present.
when our parent dies, God is present.

On those mornings when we wake up, sit on the edge of the bed, rub our eyes, think of the problems we face, worry whether our life has any real meaning, and wonder if there is even really a God…God is present.

The epiphanies of life are not just about us. God is present in the way we serve our neighbor. God is forever the beggar outside our gate, the victim left on the side of the road and the voice of those who have no one to plead for their needs. We are not just called to be sensitive to God’s presence within our own lives but we are also called to extend God’s presence through our care for others. Each of us is called to be a living epiphany and a sacrament of God’s love to the world around us.

when we reach into our pocket and give to the poor, God is present.
when we hug our child, God is present.
when we take time to listen to a young person who seems to have lost their way, God is present
when we work to correct an injustice, God is present.
when we pray with a friend in the hospital, God is present.
in the seventh inning stretch God is present.

God is with us. Sometimes all we have to do is take the time to open our eyes and see…open our ears and hear…open our hearts and feel the presence. May we all see and hear and feel the epiphanies of God in our lives this day and in each day to come.