Homily for the Week of January 8, 2012

The Epiphany of the Lord, 2012
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

Think of the time that you might have been in an open field or on a hill and watched the stars in the dark sky above you. Perhaps you saw a shooting star or tried to follow a satellite or an air plane. There is something mysterious about watching stars. They seem so far away and we feel so small and insignificant. God’s creation is mysterious, amazing. As we watch those stars, it even becomes easier to imagine the Magi fixed on following that star to Bethlehem so long ago. If we stop to think about it, today’s feast of Epiphany is both mystery and revelation.

Our first reading from Isaiah is a good preparation. He is excited as he urges Jerusalem to rise up in splendor, to see the glory of the Lord shining on the people. When we hear about gold and incense we immediately think of those Magi and the gifts they brought Jesus. It sounds like a grand celebration. But if we stoop to think about it, was it all that grand when they came? Wasn’t it hidden, perhaps dangerous? We know that Herod’s intentions were not good. He wanted no rival to his power, and the Magi, warned in a dream, went home by another way.

St. Paul, in our second reading tries to explain. Paul tells us that you and I have inherited a tremendous treasure. We have all won the lottery. We are all partners with God and Jesus. Maybe we were not expecting this. Paul could just as easily have told us that God loves us immensely and left us with some warm feelings. Paul’s words are strong. And they are even difficult at times. Put simply, all people, every last one of us, share in the same inheritance, we are members of the same body, and share in the same promise in Jesus. God has been made known to all of us through Jesus; Christians, Jew, Muslim, Mormon. God does love us all.

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 are at war with each other? 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.

But with this love there are also expectations. We need to be strong daughters and sons of God, loving sisters and brothers of Jesus. Today we are those Magi when we are persons of good will and want to know Jesus. But we might ask: where will we find Jesus now that today, Epiphany, Jesus will leave Bethlehem and the stable and the sheep and shepherds. We will find Jesus in those sitting beside us, we will find him in those with whom we share our home and our table, in those who are hungry and come to take some of the food you give each month in the St. James Food Shelf, we will find him in the sick and homebound and nursing homes, we will find him in the unhappy in our families, in those living next door, in our classrooms, and perhaps we will find him even in our mirror if we have the courage to look.

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.

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.

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. We need to stretch ourselves, to leave our comfort zone and realize life isn’t all about me. Life is about us, about our shared inheritance, our membership in the same body and the same promise in Jesus. God has been manifested to all. We need to open our hearts and our eyes.