First Reading

A reading from the Book of 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 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. 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 holy 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

One of my first duties as a port chaplain in Hong Kong is to visit ships. When I say I visit ships people ask, "Do you go to celebrate Holy Mass for sailors? Do you go to pray with them? Do you preach to them? Do you go to see only Christians?" and so on. I neither say "yes" nor "no". Because I visit all sailors regardless of their rank, gender, nationality, culture and belief. Even if the whole crew are Christians/Catholics, request for liturgical services are rare even during joyful and special occasions like Christmas and Easter. Most often only when a crew member dies on board and if the deceased and at least some crew are Christians/Catholics, they want a priest to conduct a memorial service and bless the vessel.

One such opportunity came on Thursday 2nd January when I was invited to celebrate a memorial mass on a ship for a Greek orthodox Christian captain who had died of a heart attack on Christmas day. The ship is manned by a mixed multicultural crew - ten Greek Orthodox Christians, nine Filipino Catholics, four Sri Lankan Catholics, and a lone Syrian Muslim. Before mass, the new captain told me that the deceased was his friend and he and all the crew members had been extremely upset and were in need of heavenly assistance so that they could continue sailing peacefully. He also said that the Muslim sailor had expressed his desire to join the worship and pray with them and wanted my approval for it. I was of course very delighted to hear that he wanted to join in. In fact it is a great privilege to proclaim Jesus Christ and His message of hope, peace, joy, love, and light to sailors of different beliefs for which our Lord has come. I welcomed the sailor to join us. He participated in the Mass and recited all the prayers with the utmost devotion and reverence like everybody else.

When it was time for the congregation to come forward to receive the Holy Eucharist, the Muslim sailor also came. I was quite surprised that he wanted to receive Jesus Christ too. I was confused and a bit hesitant to give communion to him for he had to show not only reverence but also belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ to receive it. Under normal circumstances, Holy Communion is for people of faith. We believe that we are fed and nurtured and changed by this sacrament of His Holy presence. However, remembering the words of Jesus, "This bread is my body. This wine is my blood. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life," I gave him communion. Because like everyone else on the ship, he was also overwhelmed with grief and sadness and was in need of the peace of Christ. After mass I proceeded to sprinkle some parts of the ship with holy water for cleansing, protection, wellbeing and peace. And the Muslim sailor also welcomed me to bless his cabin and gratefully bowed his head and requested my prayers for his family. I believe he felt truly refreshed and strengthened during and after receiving Jesus Christ. However, to experience the peace of Christ he had to fulfil certain requirements. (1) He had to put aside his own beliefs, convictions, and prejudices. (2) He had to be humble and appreciate the gift of the peace of Christ. (3) He had to take the first step of asking whether it was possible. (4) He had to participate whole heartedly in the offering of God's love. I had to remind him of course that he would have to receive baptism in order for him to receive Jesus Christ in the future and to find true and ever lasting peace.

This story is a good example for the Feast of Epiphany which we celebrate today. Epiphany is one of the oldest Christian feasts. It has been celebrated since the end of the second century. It is the moment when God revealed Jesus to the three magi who are also referred to as the three wise men or kings from Persia. In other words, God revealed Himself to the whole world through His Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah, to prove that He has come not just for the Jews who had been expecting Him, but also for Gentiles or foreigners who had neither knowledge of Him nor were expecting Him. God has come for everyone and His good news is therefore meant for all people. All are called to share in His promise of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Light. This is part of God's plan. The magi understood and trusted what is said in the scriptures about the star, Micah (5), and followed it to find Jesus. They put aside their beliefs and expectations. They enquired about the child from others. They were rich and wise and yet when they found Him they bowed and worshipped Him and bestowed upon Him gifts - frankincense symbolizing the divinity of Jesus, myrrh representing the humanity of Jesus or Jesus' suffering and death, and gold symbolizing the kingship of Christ and His selfless love and service to humankind.

What is the message for us? Friends, sometimes we feel that God is so far away from us. Sometimes we talk as if God is lost or He is not found anywhere. No. Our God is not really hiding somewhere. He, in His infinite goodness and great love for us, has descended among us and lives with us in Word and Spirit. He is always with us. He accompanies with us in our every word, thought, act and move. He appears and speaks to all of us personally in different ways, so that through faith we know and believe Jesus to be the mighty God, the Savior of the world. He calls us by name and wants to give the gifts of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Light to us. He keeps knocking on our door and waits for us to open it. Oftentimes we are the ones who keep Him away. We perhaps are content with hiding from our God. We neither seek Him nor recognize Him. On our part we should perhaps start or continue to search for Him. Yes. He is just waiting to be found. How can we find Him you might ask?

We must use the scriptures and sacraments to find and experience Him. We must make a long journey or make many sacrifices in order to receive His graces. We must put aside our own prejudices, personal convictions, beliefs, pride and arrogance and look for Him. We must actively participate in the offering of the sacrifice, and peace of Jesus Christ. And as it is said in the gospel of Matthew (6:4) our Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward us.

Today let the prayer of Saint Augustine become our own, "God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you."

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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