HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

The Epiphany of the Lord

Jan 4, 2015

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First Reading

A reading from the Book of the Prophet 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 people; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears His glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. 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.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13)

(R) Lord, every nation on Earth will adore you.

O God, with your judgement endow the king, and with your justice, the king's son; he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R)

Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Rover to the ends of the Earth. (R)

The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the king of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him. (R)

For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians (3:2-3a. 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.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the Gospel according to 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, 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.

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

A schoolteacher used to take a short nap every afternoon. When his pupils asked him why he did so, he said that he went to dreamland to meet ancient sages. One afternoon some of the pupils fell asleep in class. When the teacher chided them, they said, "Sir, we went to meet the sages in dreamland." "Oh! Really! What did they say?" asked the teacher. The pupils replied, "We asked them if a school-teacher had been going there every afternoon, but they said they had seen no such person."

Many people may not believe the biblical account that over two thousand years ago, one night, a star led three wise men or magi from the East, to Bethlehem in Judea where Jesus was born. But when King Herod and the people of Jerusalem heard directly from the men that they had seen the star and had come to pay him homage, they were greatly troubled. Herod gathered all the high priests and religious scholars to find out where the Christ was to be born. They referred to the scriptures for the prophecies concerning Christ's birth and told him that he was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. So the Jews had a pre-knowledge of Jesus Christ long before he was born. They knew about it because the Magi, the Star, Bethlehem and Christ's birth had been mentioned in the Jewish sacred scriptures, particularly in the Book of the prophet Micah written seven hundred years before Christ.

The early Greek Christians named the visit of the Magi, "The Epiphany of the Lord", and started celebrating it from the end of the second century. Many Christians around the world still celebrate the feast of the Epiphany on January 6. However, because of its significance, we, Catholics are now invited to celebrate it together as a community of believers on a Sunday as holy days of obligations are difficult to observe on weekdays. The word "Epiphany" comes from two Greek words epi and phaneia. It has been variously used in the scriptures to mean "to shine upon", "to reveal", "to appear" or "to manifest". At times the word was used to refer to the first appearance or revelation of Jesus. At other times it was used to refer to the second coming of Christ whether it be at the end of time, or at the time of our death or any other time or occasion during our sojourn on Earth. It was also used at the time of Jesus' baptism on the river Jordan and his miracle at Cana and so on. However, today we commemorate the first and the most important occasion on which Jesus' divinity was manifested when the three wise men visited the infant Jesus in Bethlehem. The second one was when John the Baptist baptized him in the River Jordan.

Regardless of how the word "epiphany" in the scriptures is used or the number of times used as manifestation, we must bear in mind the fact that God revealed the true identity of Jesus as God and Messiah to the world at different times to different people. And all the revelations of God were permeated with grace and the gospel message. In every revelation God took the initiative. God did not wait for human beings to discover Him on their own but rather revealed Himself to them in ways that they could understand. For instance, God sought out the three magi and revealed Jesus' person and his Mission to them through the star, scriptures and other people. To the Magi and to all others God took the initiative and by His grace revealed Jesus as eternal God and man.
These three men offered three gifts to the infant Jesus - gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is a gift fit for a king, and it signifies that Jesus is King. By offering gold they accepted Jesus as king of their lives. Frankincense is a kind of incense that was burned in the temple in Jerusalem by the priests. It signifies that Jesus is the High Priest. By offering frankincense they accepted Jesus as the priest who had access to God and allowed him to mediate between God and them. Myrrh is a spice used in those days to prepare the body for burial. It signifies that Jesus will bring us closer to God through his death. By offering myrrh they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord over sin and death.
The three men following the star arrived in Jerusalem and met Herod, the symbol of worldly power at the time. Herod helped them gather information about the newly born king of the Jews and asked them to send a message when they had found the child so that he could also go and honor him. But having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, after they had paid homage to Jesus, they returned to their country by another way and thus foiled Herod's plan of killing the child.
All along the magi chose to follow the star, believe in the prophecies and accept Jesus as their King, Priest and Savior.

What is the message for us?

God continues to seek us, all believers and non-believers, Christians and non-Christians and people of all races and nations. He comes looking for us regardless of who we are and where we live, and He has made available to everyone the same means that He had made available to the Magi. The star was a guide for the Magi. Today our church stands in place of the star to guide us to the Lord Jesus. Through the sacraments and good works of the church, God seeks to reveal His Son to us personally, so that with faith we may come to know, believe and accept that Jesus is our King, Priest and Lord and Savior. Our church, meaning not the structure or hierarchy, but the community of Catholic Christians throughout the world leads us to discover Jesus and offer Him worship and praise. Since the Bible is the basis for all our beliefs like the Magi we must also refer to the scriptures for more understanding and the deepening of our faith. We can also seek the help of priests and scriptural scholars for interpretation and meaning.

Trusting in and following the star, our church, let us go forward to discover our Lord Jesus and accord him true reverence, devotion, worship and praise and in turn be blessed with divine revelations to know what is good and evil and, have the courage to follow his commandments. Our God is always faithful for He has promised to bless Abraham and his descendants forever. It is up to us to choose or reject His offers of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Light.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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