Homily for the Solemnity of Epiphany of the Lord based on the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12 - January 5, 2020
First of all, the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord is NOT the Feast of the Three Kings. They were not even kings; they were wise men.
Epiphany means manifestation. What the Church celebrates today is God’s revelation of Himself to the whole world, not only to the “Chosen People” but also to the Gentiles, us… a revelation that changes our hearts. Our Gospel reading tells the story of a group of men searching for Christ. You see - their story is our story. Their search is our search.
All people – believers and non-believers are searching – And - What are we seeking? What is at the heart of our longing? We all want happiness – We all want a sense of personal fulfillment. And - we all would like to believe that there is a real meaning in life. We search for truth.
And for us Christians, we search for or we long for – Christ - because we believe that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life who can satisfy our deepest longing. We believe that Christ is the key to fullness of life, to meaning of life, to sense of fulfillment, to true happiness. Christ is the Light of the world, the Wisdom of God, the beginning of New Life and so we search for Him.
But the problem is – we really quite do not know how and where to look for Christ…or maybe we even do not know what we are looking for. Would we recognize Jesus when we meet or see Him?
As I have shared a few weeks ago, one author wrote why the people of Jesus’ time missed Him or did not recognize Him as the Messiah because:
They were looking for A Lion, He came as a Lamb.
They were looking for a Warrior, He came as a Peace maker.
They were looking for a King, He came as a Servant.
They were looking for someone to liberate them from Rome, He submitted to the Roman cross.
They were looking for someone to meet their temporal needs. He came to meet their eternal needs….
And so – there He was - standing right in front of them – they did not recognize Him – they even crucified Him… they killed him… and people continue to kill God in our age.
We hear people say that they have already found the Lord… that they have found the truth – and yet - they are uncharitable and intolerant or impatient of those who have not had an experience similar to their experience or who do not share their particular prayer or spiritual life… which shows they are not behaving like true Christians. So, we can say that they have not really found the Lord, but they probably have only a vague notion of the Lord.
You see - the only people Jesus was so critical of and had a problem with - were those people who thought they were better, holier than others.
If we are intolerant of others, then others will not experience God’s presence in us.
Most of the people who say that they have personal relationship with Christ – have in fact had an experience of God's presence - in their experience of God’s love for them personally… But – we can say also that they have experienced only one or few of the many ways that God is present – and their mistake lies in the assumption that their experience of God's presence is the sum totality of God’s presence and reality. They think that that is it.
God is present in an infinite variety of ways in our lives and in our world. If we focus only on one way that God is present, such as personal experience – with warm and fuzzy feelings and high emotions - we might miss many other ways God is present.
A retreat experience, the birth of a child, the love of a friendship or love in marriage, even in a traumatic situation you have survived, living as a single parent, dealing with physical challenges and sickness - all of these are additional ways we can find the Lord. We can find Jesus even through those people who are very different from us… even through those we do not even like – and even in situations or places we would rather not go.
No one can claim that - he has God figured out – that he has discovered all of Christ and everything that Jesus can mean in his life. No matter how strong we may be in our faith, there must always be some area of our lives where we are still searching for Christ.
During the days of His public ministry, Jesus could be found in all sorts of places – sometimes in the temple, sometimes in the synagogue, sometimes at parties and banquets. But the place where Jesus could most often be found was with people who needed him. Some of them were sick, some were hungry, some were sad, some were lost or so deep in sin.
Jesus said: “I came not to be served but to serve…” and so Jesus had a deep commitment to be with people who needed him. That is where he most often could be found.
That – still - might be the most logical place for us to search for him today.
Let me tell you a true story about a church – located in one of the poorest sections of Los Angeles. On one Sunday of Advent, the pastor preached a sermon about the strange way we celebrate Christmas. We call it the birthday of Jesus, but we exchange gifts among ourselves. So, he suggested that it would be far more appropriate if they would give something to Jesus on his birthday.
But he conceded that this would be difficult to do, since no one knew Jesus’ address. He ended his sermon by telling the people that he had learned where Jesus lives. And if they would come back the following week, he would give them the Lord’s address so they could present their gifts to him.
The next Sunday, the church was packed, and the pastor stood in the pulpit with a stack of more than one thousand cards. Each contained the name and address of a needy family. Some of them needed food; some needed clothes, some needed shelter. All of them needed something. One by one he distributed the cards to the people. And then he said: “Now - you know - where Jesus lives. This year you can give a birthday present to him.”
My brothers and sisters - Like the Magi, all of us are searching for Christ.
Where can we find Christ? The most logical place to look is among the people who need Christ most.
