Homily
Solemnity of the Epiphany
4 January 2025
St. Ann Catholic Church Prairie Village, KS
AMDG
Who is pursuing my heart?
It's what I desperately and deeply want for Christmas. It's also what I'm most afraid of, that someone is pursuing my heart. Remember that at Christmas, we reflected together on the most primal human need and desire of every newborn baby. Will you hold me? It's what Jesus asks of us for Christmas. It's what I most deeply want as well.
How about for Epiphany? What does Jesus want, and what do I want? As I age, I no longer need as much physical touch; still, I want to be pursued, recognized and cherished by someone. I want what Jesus receives from the wise men.
Is anyone pursuing my heart? This question lies at the heart of all reality. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why is there me instead of not me? Why does there seem to be so much mind, truth and meaning embedded in creation, and a person, a love story, at the heart of it all?
You guessed it - all of reality exists so that someone who is radically in love with you can pursue your heart. It's the most glorious, and scariest thing imaginable.
On Epiphany I get to choose whether to greet this reality with joy, or fear.
The strange magicians from nowhere couldn't have known that the God of Israel was pursuing their hearts. Yet thank God they were seekers, not skeptics. These foreign scientists were interested in the why of everything. So God was able to bait their hearts by teasing their minds. You're familiar with this God, I pray. In order to slip by my fear and elite defenses, He puts on disguises, playing tricks as it were, so that He is not trapped by our skepticism. He teases these astrologers from timbuktu with a star, betting Epiphany on their curiosity, and winning big!
The magi set out on a courageous expedition that every person is made for, to pursue with passion the real meaning of all things! The Magi stand in stark contrast to Herod, who was supposed to be the most powerful man in the region. Instead, He is incredibly scared, paralyzed and terrorized by any revelation beyond his control, privacy and choice. Herod represents all of us skeptics, who hide behind our controls, rather than setting out in faith to live on new edges of truth. This fear of Herod, to refuse to engage or worship anything that would draw in beyond myself into the heart of things, is why there is so much boredom and depression among us. It's why none of our kids go to Church.
Thankfully, there is plenty of room at Epiphany for hope. God seduced the wise men into the truth that He was pursuing their heart. He can do the same for me and my loved ones. The magi make the conversion from skepticism to seeking, then from seeking to worship. They make the incredible conversion of letting the truth beheld by their eyes descend deeply into their hearts. They gave Christ what He wants for Epiphany - pursuit, recognition and worship. In giving this, I let my heart be pursued, recognized and cherished by the Lord.
This was true at the first Epiphany, but will it be true at the next?
Who is pursuing my heart?
+mj
