THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
2 JANUARY 2022
The
Prophet Isaiah speaks to his people who have just returned from forty years of
exile in Babylon. Despite their joy at
returning home, they found Jerusalem in ruins.
Darkness had descended on the destroyed city and demolished temple. Isaiah reminds his people that God had not
abandoned his Covenant promises, even though they had not been faithful. Isaiah promises that God will manifest his
light in Jerusalem. God will restore his
temple and city to allow all the nations to see his glory. As in the days when the Queen of Sheba
brought lavish gifts to King Solomon, caravans of camels will come to Jerusalem
from Sheba bearing the precious gifts of gold and frankincense, proclaiming the
praises of the Lord.
Saint
Matthew sees this prophecy fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. The glory of the Lord shines forth in God
taking on human flesh. Led by a star,
the mysterious magi from the east see an ordinary child in Bethlehem through
human eyes. However, by faith, they see
much more. They fall down and worship
God in human flesh and offer him gifts of gold for his kingship, frankincense
for his divinity, and myrrh for his humanity.
This child will save the world by entering into the fate of all
humans: death, to be destroyed by the
resurrection.
Saint
Matthew wrote his Gospel to Christians who had grown up in their Jewish
heritage. For that reason, his story of
the magi makes an important point. From
the beginning, God intended the gifts of God’s presence and light to go beyond
its Jewish roots to all of the earth. We
are beneficiaries of those gifts. We
encounter Jesus Christ in the same way that the magi encountered him. When we come to the Eucharist, we see ordinary
bread and wine through human eyes.
However, by faith, we see much more.
We recognize the risen Lord truly present in the Eucharist. We too can bring him gifts. We may not bring him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. We bring the
gifts of our hearts in praise and thanksgiving.
Nourished
by the Lord’s real presence in the Eucharist, we can give at least three gifts
of our hearts to our world. First, we
can be both light bearers and light reflectors.
Our world is wallowing these days in the darkness of hatred and
mistrust, much to our own making. We can
dare to be people of light, allowing the light of Christ to shine through our
actions.
Second, we
can give the light of acceptance. It is
easy to confuse “acceptance” with “condone.”
Of course, there are all kinds of behaviors in our lives and in the
lives of others that we do not condone.
Instead of writing off those people whose actions we do not condone, we
can work on those behaviors in our own lives which need to be changed. We can work to accept others. We begin the
difficult process of bringing the light of Christ to the darkness around us.
Finally, we
can give the gift of joy. Throughout
this holy season of Christmas, we have been praising God with joyful
carols. We can be people of joy when
this season ends next Sunday. Instead of
dwelling in the darkness of negativity and despair, we can learn to live in the
affirming reality of grace.
Many people
worry about how we will emerge from these two dark years of division and
acrimony both in the Church and in our nation.
Satan has been having a field day with all the negative events of these
last two years. The Solemnity of
Epiphany gives the answer. We can emerge
from this season as people who embrace the shining light of the Incarnate Word
dwelling in our midst. Then we can reflect
that light to everyone, absolutely everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment