EPIPHANY
Is
60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3 Mt 2:1-12
My
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Once,
a little girl and her mother were looking at the Nativity scene. The mother was
explaining that the Wise Men were presenting their gifts of gold, frankincense
and myrrh to the newborn King. The little girl looked in great adoration at the
babe in the manger, then turning to her mother, thoughtfully asked, "Why
didn’t they bring Him a bed?".jpg)
Let
us now imagine ourselves in the presence of baby Jesus, and Mary and Joseph. We
are surprised to see men of eastern appearance come. They see baby Jesus and
fall on their knees. They offer him homage and give him presents of gold,
frankincense and myrrh, gold because Jesus is king, frankincense since Jesus is
divine and myrrh prefiguring his Passion. They tell us about the star and about
Herod who knew nothing about Jesus’ birth. After their stay they set out on
their return journey eastwards but not via Jerusalem since they want to avoid
Herod. After their departure we spend time with baby Jesus.
We
do not have gold, frankincense and myrrh to give to baby Jesus, but we can surely
give him our love. Let our love be his manger.
There
are many lessons to be learnt from the feast of Epiphany. For me the first
lesson is “God is for everyone, for both rich and poor, good and bad, wise and
fool etc...! Epiphany is ‘manifestation of God’. At Bethlehem during his birth Jesus
manifested himself to the poor shepherds and to the poor family that offered
him a place to be born. Today Jesus manifests himself to the three kings, the rich
and elite. This simply means that the Messiah is for all. For Him all are equal
and same. He is not just for one particular caste, not for one meticulous group
alone, not for one scrupulous race alone, not for one linguistic group, not for
only poor and not for only elite alone. The feast of Epiphany affirms that God
is for everyone and no one has the right to reserve God, His gospel and the
Sacraments to only some particular caste or meticulous group and avoid the
other. 
Secondly,
even while Jesus was only a little baby he experienced both acceptance from the
wise men and rejection from Herod. The wise men and Herod had two opposing
attitudes, searching for God and being closed to God. We see that the wise men
were blessed in their search for the Saviour by finding Jesus. We also need to search
for Jesus and should like to come ever closer to him. Let us ask Jesus to help
us to draw ever closer to him and if we are closed to him like Herod, ask him
to help us to open so that we can find him. Let us ask Jesus to help us in
drawing closer to him.
Not
only the wise men and Herod had different attitudes to Jesus, they also had
different attitudes to life. The wise men were generous; Herod was selfish
wanting to hold on to his throne. The magi gave him gifts; but Herod killed all
boys under two years of age. The wise men were willing to put energy and
goodness into life, Herod wanted to get all he could from life. The magi who
sacrificed to put into life were happy, Herod who took all he could from life
was unhappy. Let us now pray to Baby Jesus, to help us to foster a healthy
attitude towards life, giving and caring, instead of grasping, and being
selfish and possessive. Let us pray now asking Jesus to help us develop ever
more wholesome attitudes towards life.
The
magi were lucky. They were given the guidance of a star. In the darkness of
this world we have all been given help on our journey to God; the beauty of
nature, the Word of God in Sacred Scripture, Spirit-filled witnessing and
preaching, the faith of others and our own faith. For a moment let us thank God
for giving us stars to lead us to him.
When
the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, it seems they no longer had the guidance of
the star, otherwise they would not have had to ask Herod for advice. Sometimes
we too feel as if we’re in the dark, like the magi. Sometimes what or whom we
relied on, is not there anymore. Sometimes we see only darkness around us. But
we must know and believe deeply that our Saviour is there, and that eternal
life awaits us even if sometimes in this world there is no star for us. In our
moments of darkness without a star, let us pray to Jesus to help us not to give
up but to keep searching, hoping and praying because that would be the best way
forward. Let us pray now for strength to remain steadfast when there is no
guiding star.
The
three wise men went in search of a child king and found him. And when they
found him, they treasured him so much that they wouldn’t let anything take him
from them. Those three wise men went back to their homes and families, but you
can be sure they took Christ with them in their hearts. You can be sure their
lives were greatly changed. They had an aim, a greater aim and they achieved
it.
People,
who live only for the here and now, who have nothing high to aim for, no dream
to follow, no rainbow to chase, cut themselves short in life. But it is the
same with those who think no further than their life span here on earth.
There’s a minister who asked a high school student what his plans were for his
life. This is how the conversation went:
“Well,”
said the boy, “I plan to go on to college and become a lawyer.” “Then what?”
continued the minister. “Then I hope to join a law firm and make a lot of
money. Of course I want to marry and have children, own a beautiful house with
a swimming pool, and belong to a country club.” “Then what?” asked the
minister. “Then I’ll retire, play golf, travel, and visit my grandchildren.”
“And?”
persisted the minister. “And what?” asked the boy who was getting annoyed and
irritated by the questions. “And what are your plans after that?” the minister
asked. “Nothing! That’s it! I guess I’ll die!” replied the boy. “Then you’re
cutting yourself short,” the minister told him.
Anyone
who has no plans at all, no star which he is pursuing is not getting much out
of life. That’s obvious. But not so obvious is that which eluded this high
school boy with all his plans for the future - that same thing that eludes many
people. If your plans only include what you hope to do while you are living on
this earth, if your plans only go as far as your death, then you are cutting
yourself short. How about your life after death? What are your plans for that
one? Do you have any? Or is your attention directed towards your few short
years on this planet?
I
assume that you are here in church today because you do give some thought to
your life hereafter. I hope my assumption is correct. But if I’m wrong and you
are here merely to make your life on earth a better one, you are being short-sighted.
For your life on earth is but a speck in time in comparison to your life in eternity.
You, nor I, nor anyone, should ever pursue plans and dreams that are not looked
at from the viewpoint of our eternal life. Just as an astronaut planning a
future life on Mars or some other planet would direct all his decisions and
energies towards preparing for that life, so too should we who plan an eternity
in heaven direct all our decisions and energies towards preparing for life with
God. If we don’t, we are the crazy ones, not the guy on the camel following a
star to his saviour.
I hope you have a dream. I hope you have many of them. But I pray that the main one is to spend eternity in heaven. And that your other dreams are pursued with that in mind — so that no matter what you do in this life, it will prepare you for the unending one to come. No matter what you do, I hope it helps to pack your bags with all you need for your life hereafter. The high school boy had plans that reached only into his retirement years - nothing for after that. He had no idea what he would do at the end of his retirement. Do you?
Our
three wise kings let nothing stand in their way, not even the evil Herod. They
were looking for the only way to heaven. And when they found Him, they gave him
their everything. They returned home to live good lives in preparation for the
one to come. May you share in their wisdom, and make Jesus Christ the guiding
star of your life!
AMEN.
Fr. A. Christopher, HGN
Wonderful Sermon.
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