Homily for Epiphany

Homily for Epiphany
3 January 2009
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, University of Kansas
Year for Priests

At the coming of Christ, myriads of angels announced his birth to the shepherds in the fields. As was told of this Christ child, he is to be a king whose kingdom will last forever. Even as a helpless baby, bound in swaddling clothes, with no weapons with which to fight, born in poverty and on the move, the appearance of the angels shows that this baby commands armies greater than those of Caesar Augustus. The kingdom of this baby reaches farther, and lasts longer, than any earthly kingdom imaginable. It stretches so far that even the stars obey the command of this small child. Thus three astronomers, perhaps three of the smartest men in the whole world, who understood well the movement of the heavens, bow down before the wisdom of this child. They know that all their knowledge is but sand compared to the knowledge and power possessed by this newborn king, whom even the stars obey. Today is the Feast of Epiphany, the manifestation of who Jesus really is. Today we celebrate that Jesus is not merely the Messiah of the Jews. He is the light of all nations. Today we celebrate that Christ is the light strong enough to scatter darkness from every corner of the world, from every place torn by sin, poverty, violence, disease, ignorance and doubt. In the magi, the powers of the world come to Jesus, to have their knowledge purified and deepened by His light. For they know that no darkness can ever overcome the light that obeys this child. Not the darkness of sin, not the darkness of ignorance and doubt, not the darkness of violence or poverty or disease. The light of the star shows that Jesus is pure light, and the darkness shall never overcome Him. He will be great, and his kingdom will last forever.

On Epiphany, we celebrate the fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus came to be light not only to some of the world’s people, but came to be light for all nations. There is constant pressure to marginalize the light of Jesus, and what His coming means for the destiny of man. Beset as His followers are by every form of sinfulness, there are many who will not accept the light of Christ until you prove to them that they cannot live without it. There are some who will accept the light of Christ only as a last resort, after everything else has failed. Still more pressure comes from those who want to use reason to purify faith, but who will never allow faith to purify reason. Jesus came to bring to light the love of God in all its fullness and splendor, and to shed light wherever there was doubt that man’s ultimate vocation is to love even when it is not reasonable to do so. This universal vocation to love one another as God first loves us is the light that gives ultimate meaning to the destiny of man. Jesus’s light is the light of a God who will never stop trying to reveal man to himself, and to bring out from the darkness man’s ultimate vocation to love. That three magi come to see Christ even while many who knew about the promised Messiah remained in darkness, encourages us in the Church to never stop being a Church that evangelizes. Epiphany reveals the mission of the Church to be a light to the nations, and with Jesus to reconcile everything to the Father, always setting the light of Jesus Christ on a mountain for all to see, so that many people may see in Him their true destiny and true vocation. We must never tire nor fear of showing the light of Christ to the world. That being said, we must do so with prudence, and like the Magi who did not return to Herod, we must also guard this light of Christ from all those who want nothing except to put it out.

Finally, on Epiphany those of us who are devout followers of Jesus must not forget to continue our personal pilgrimage to see Christ. Epiphany is very much about making a commitment to give the light of Christ a chance to heal the darkness of the world. Yet it is just as importantly a reminder to us to be like the Magi, who considered all that the world values to be as rubbish compared to the richness of being able to see Christ. Not content with worldly knowledge nor worldly riches, the magi were attentive to the deepest desires of their hearts, to see the promised Messiah. The magi challenge all of us to stop living on the surface, fitting Jesus into our lives when it is comfortable for us, but to lay our treasures before Christ, trusting in the wisdom and power of this newborn King. The magi challenge us all to go deeper, and not to neglect the deepest desire of our hearts, a desire that goes deeper than the thousands of erotic desires that come in and out of our lives. The magi ask us the question, of whether we have been attentive to our desire to see God, and whether we have forsaken everything to so as to hasten the day when we are ready to see him face to face!