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Homily on the Epiphany of the Lord (Jan 4) (Mt 2: 1-12) L/15
Introduction: The Greek word Epiphany (επιφάνεια), means appearance or
manifestation. First, the angels revealed Jesus to the shepherds. In the Western
Church, the Feast of the Epiphany celebrates Jesus’ first appearance to the
Gentiles, represented by the Magi, while in the Eastern Church, the feast is the
commemoration of the baptism of Christ where the Father and the Holy Spirit
gave combined testimony to Jesus’ identity as Son of God. Later, in the
synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus revealed himself as the promised Messiah, and at
Cana he revealed his Divinity by transforming water into wine. These multiple
revelations are all suggested by the Feast of the Epiphany.
Scripture lessons:
Today’s Gospel teaches us how Christ enriches those who
bring him their hearts. The adoration of the Magi fulfills the oracle of Isaiah (first
reading), prophesying that the nations of the world will travel to the Holy City
following a brilliant light and will bring gold and incense to contribute to the
worship of God. Today’s Responsorial psalm includes a verse about kings
coming from foreign lands to pay homage to a just king in Israel. Paul's letter to
the Church of Ephesus (today’s second reading), expresses God’s secret plan in
clear terms: "the Gentiles are…copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the
Gospel." Today’s Gospel reminds us that if God permitted the Magi – foreigners
and pagans – to recognize and give Jesus proper respect as the King of Jews, we
should know that there is nothing in our sinful lives that would keep God from
bringing us to Jesus. There were three groups of people who reacted to the
Epiphany of Christ’s birth. The first group headed by King Herod tried to
eliminate him, the second group, priests and scribes, ignored him and the third
group, represented by the shepherds and the Magi, came to adore him.
Life Messages: (1) Let us make sure that we belong to the third group. a)
By worshiping Jesus at Mass with the gold of our love, the myrrh of our humility
and the frankincense of our adoration. b) By giving a new direction to our lives.
Just as the Magi chose another route to return to their homes, let us choose a
better way of life, abstaining from proud and impure thoughts, evil habits and
selfish behavior. c) By becoming stars leading others to Jesus, as the star led the
Magi to Jesus. Let us remove the darkness of the evil around us by radiating
Jesus’ love through selfless service, unconditional forgiveness and compassionate
care. (2) Like the Magi, let us offer Jesus our gifts on this feast of Epiphany. (a)
Our gift of friendship with God in the form of wholehearted love and devotion.
(b) Our gift of friendship with others by leading them to Jesus by our exemplary
lives of Christian charity in action (c) Our gift of reconciliation with God by
daily asking His pardon and forgiveness for our sins and giving unconditional
forgiveness to our offenders.
(d) Our gift of peace by seeking God’s peace in
our own lives through prayer, the Sacramental life and daily meditation on the
Word of God.
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Feast of Epiphany (Jan 4): Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2- 3a, 5-6; Mt. 2:1-12
Anecdote # 1: A woman among the Magi? Rev. Benedict Thomas Viviano(
https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/17405/viviano_writes_about_a_woman
_magi) a renowned Gospel of Matthew professor, Dominican friar and priest,
has a new biblical theory that may change nativity scenes across the globe: there
was one (or more) among the Wise Men. His original theory was published in
2011 in Studies of Matthew by Leuven University Press. It’s “perfectly plausible”
that Matthew would have understood the magi as some sort of Eastern sages, he
said. “On the other hand, the masculine plural magoi does not close the question
of gender. “The main reason to think of the presence of one or more women
among the magi is the background story of the queen of Sheba, with her quest
for Israelite royal wisdom, her reverent awe, and her three gifts fit for a king,”
Viviano suggested. His second reason to suspect the presence of the feminine is
the Israelite tradition of personifying wisdom as a woman, he said (Proverbs
8:22-30; 9:1-6; Book of Sirach, 24). Viviano’s third argument for his female magi
cause is that Matthew’s Gospel later characterizes Jesus as embodying wisdom,
which Jewish literature considers female and even terms Lady Wisdom. The
passages he refers to are Matthew, Chapter 11:19 and 25-30. What difference it
would have made if there was a woman among the magi? A women’s magazine
says: They would have come before the birth of Jesus, brought provisions for the
child and his mother and the woman would have served as a midwife!
# 2: Artaban the fourth Wise Man: In 1895, Henry van Dyke wrote the "Story of
the Other Wise Man," a fourth wise man called Artaban. Our hero is not
mentioned in the Gospel because he missed the caravan. He got to Bethlehem too
late to see the baby Jesus. But Artaban did make it in time to save one of the Holy
Innocents by bribing a soldier. For 33 years Artaban searched for Jesus. He did
not find him. But all the while the Fourth wise man fed the hungry, helped the
poor. Then one day in Jerusalem Artaban saw the "King of the Jews" being
crucified. He started to offer a pearl as ransom. But then he saw a girl being sold
into slavery to pay family debts. Artaban gave his pearl to buy freedom for the
girl. Suddenly the earth quaked as Jesus died on the cross and a stone struck
Artaban. Dying, he heard a voice saying: "When you helped the least of my
children, you helped me. Meet me in heaven!" Artaban, the fourth Wise Man,
had been making God present in his community for years by helping others. God
asks each of us on the feast of Epiphany to be a fourth Wise Man by becoming
God’s epiphanies, making His love present in the world around us by our acts of
love and kindness.
#3: “Because you never know what’s going to happen next.” Little Amy was
looking through the family album and found a picture of a man sitting behind a
cow. All that was visible was the man’s legs and feet. When her photographer
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uncle who owned a photo studio came to visit her mother Amy told him, “This is
the only picture of my grandfather that we have. So please remove the cow so
that I may see what he looked like." It is the same curiosity which led the Magi to
follow the star of Bethlehem. A survey was made among school children asking
the question why they enjoyed reading Harry Potter novels and watching Harry
Potter movies. The most common answer was, “Because you never know what’s
going to happen next.” The same element of suspense marked the journey of the
Magi, who never knew what road the Spirit was going to take them down next.
Today’s readings invite us to have the curiosity of Amy and the school students
so that we may discover the "epiphany" of our God in everyone and every event,
everywhere.
Introduction: The Greek word Epiphany (επιφάνεια), which means appearance
or manifestation or showing forth, is used to describe Jesus’ first appearance to
the Gentiles. "Epiphany" refers to God’s Self-revelation as well as to the
revelation of Jesus as His Son. Epiphany is an older celebration than the feast of
Christmas, having originated in the East in the late second century. In Italy and
Spain, the gifts traditionally associated with the Christmas season are exchanged
today, on the feast of the Epiphany. Among Italians, it is believed that the gifts
are brought by the old woman, Befana (from Epiphany), whereas Spanish custom
attributes the gifts to the Kings or Magi. The feast commemorates the coming of
the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the Western
Church. In the Eastern Church, the feast also commemorates the baptism of
Christ. The angels revealed Jesus to the shepherds, and the star revealed him to
the Magi, who had already received hints of Him from Jewish scriptures. Later,
God the Father revealed Jesus' identity to Israel at his baptism in the Jordan. In
the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus revealed himself as the promised Messiah.
These multiple revelations are all suggested by the Feast of the Epiphany.
Today’s Old Testament reading, Isaiah 60:1-6, is chosen partly because it
mentions non-Jews bringing gifts in homage to the God of Israel. The passage
also celebrates the Divine Light emanating from Jerusalem and foresees all the
nations acknowledging and enjoying that Light and walking by it. Today’s Psalm
(72) declares that all the kings of the earth will pay homage to and serve the God
of Israel and His Messiah. Thus, these two readings express hope for a time
when “the people of God” will embrace all nations. As a privileged recipient of
divine “epiphany”, Saint Paul reveals God’s “secret plan” that the Gentiles also
have a part with the Jews in divine blessings. Hence in the second reading, St.
Paul affirms that Jesus extended membership in his Church, making it available
to all peoples. Thus, the Jews and the Gentiles have become “coheirs, members of
the same Body and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.”
Hence, there are no second class members. Today’s Gospel teaches us how
Christ enriches those who bring Him their hearts. Since the Magi came with joy
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in their hearts to visit the Christ Child, God allowed them to see wondrous
things. At the same time, today’s Gospel hints at different reactions to the news
of Jesus’ birth, foreshadowing his passion and death, as well as the risen Jesus’
mandate to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19).
Exegesis: The Magi and the star: The Magi were not Kings, but a caste of
Persian priests who served Kings using their skills in interpreting dreams and
watching movements of stars. The sixth century Italian tradition that there were
three Magi, Casper, Balthazar, and Melchior, is based on the fact that three gifts
are mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Magi
may actually have been Persian priests or Babylonian astronomers or Nabataean
spice-traders. Eventually, however, they were pictured as representatives of
different peoples and races. The Orthodox Church holds that the Magi consisted
of twelve Kings, corresponding in number to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Commentary on the Torah by Jewish rabbis suggested that a star appeared in
the sky at the births of Abraham, Isaac and Moses. Likewise, in the Book of
Numbers, the prophet Balaam speaks of "a star that shall come out of Jacob."
Stars were believed to be signs from God, announcing important events. Thus,
the brightness of the Light to which kings were drawn was made visible in the
star they followed.
The gifts: Gold, frankincense and myrrh may be thought of as prophesying
Jesus’ future. Gold was a gift for Kings; frankincense (an ancient air purifier
and perfume), was offered to God in Temple worship (Ex. 30:37); and myrrh (an
oriental remedy for intestinal worms in infants), was used by the High Priest as
an anointing oil (Ex. 30:23), and to prepare bodies for burial. These gifts were not
only expensive but portable. Perhaps Joseph sold the gifts to finance the Holy
Family’s trip to Egypt. The gifts might have been God’s way of providing for
the journey that lay ahead.
The triple reactions: The Epiphany can be looked on as a symbol for our
pilgrimage through life to Christ. The feast invites us to see ourselves as images
of the Magi, a people on a journey to Christ. Today’s Gospel also tells us the
story of the Magi’s encounter with the evil King Herod. This encounter
symbolizes three reactions to Jesus’ birth: hatred, indifference, and adoration. a)
A group of people headed by Herod planned to destroy Jesus. b) Another
group, composed of priests and scribes, ignored Jesus. c) The members of a
third group -- shepherds and the magi -- adored Jesus and offered themselves to
Him.
A) The destructive group: King Herod considered Jesus a potential threat to his
kingship. Herod the Great was a cruel and selfish king who murdered his
mother-in-law, wife, two brothers-in-law and three children on suspicion that
they had plotted against him. Later, the scribes and Pharisees plotted to kill
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Jesus because he had criticized them and tried to reform some of their practices.
Today, many oppose Christ and his Church because of their selfish motives, evil
ways and unjust lives. Children still have Herods to fear. In the United States
alone, one and a half million innocent, unborn children are aborted annually.
B) The group that ignored Christ: The scribes, the Pharisees and the Jewish
priests knew that there were nearly 500 prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures
concerning the promised Messiah. They were able to tell Herod the exact time
and place of Jesus’ birth. They were in the habit of concluding their reading
from the prophets on the Sabbath day by saying, “We shall now pray for the
speedy arrival of the Messiah.” Unfortunately, they were more interested in
their own selfish gains than in discovering the truth. Hence, they refused to go
and see the child Jesus -- even though Bethlehem was quite close to Jerusalem.
Today, many Christians remind us of this group. They practice their
religion from selfish motives, such as to gain political power, prestige and
recognition by society. They ignore Jesus' teachings in their private lives.
C) The group that adored Jesus and offered Him gifts: This group was
composed of the shepherds and the Magi. The shepherds offered the only gifts
they had: love, tears of joy, and probably woolen clothes and milk from their
sheep. The Magi offered gold, in recognition of Jesus as the King of the Jews;
frankincense, in acknowledgment that He was God, and myrrh as a symbol of
His human nature.
Life Messages: (1) Let us make sure that we belong to the third group. a) Let
us worship Jesus at Mass, every day if we can, with the gold of our love, the
myrrh of our humility and the frankincense of our adoration. Let us offer God
our very selves, promising Him that we will use His blessings to do good for our
fellow men. b) Let us plot a better path for our lives. Just as the Magi chose
another route to return to their homes, let us choose a better way of life,
abstaining from proud and impure thoughts, evil habits and selfish behavior. c)
Let us become the Star, leading others to Jesus, as the star led the Magi to Him.
We can remove or lessen the darkness of the evil around us by being, if not like
stars, at least like candles, radiating Jesus’ love by selfless service, unconditional
forgiveness and compassionate care.
(2) Like the Magi, let us offer Jesus our gifts on this feast of Epiphany. (a) The
first gift might be friendship with God. After all, the whole point of Christmas is
that God’s Son became one of us to redeem us and call us friends. God wants our
friendship in the form of wholehearted love and devotion. (b) A second
gift might be friendship with others. This kind of friendship can be costly. The
price it exacts is vulnerability and openness to others. The good news, however,
is that, in offering friendship to others, we will receive back many blessings. (c)
A third gift might be the gift of reconciliation.
This gift repairs damaged
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relationships. It requires honesty, humility, understanding, forgiveness and
patience. (d) The fourth gift of this season is the gift of peace: seeking God’s
peace in our own lives through prayer, the Sacramental life and daily meditation
on the Word of God. It is out of humble gratitude that we give Him from the
heart our gifts of worship, prayer, singing, possessions, and time.
As we give our insignificant, little gifts to God, the good news is that God accepts
them! Like the Magi offering their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, we
offer what we have, from the heart, in response to what that Child has given to
us - Himself.
Let us conclude with a 19th century English carol, Christina Rosetti’s A Christmas
Carol, which begins, “In the bleak midwinter.” The carol sums up, in its last
stanza, the nature of "giving to the Christ Child.”
What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I could give a Lamb.
If I were a wise man, I could do my part.
What I can I give Him? Give Him my heart!”
JOKE OF THE WEEK: 1) "I want the big cow!": It was an excited little girl
who told me this story. The first two wise men got down from their camels and
offered their precious gifts to the Baby. He declined them. When the Baby Jesus
declined the gift of the third of the also, the exasperated wise man asked, "Then
what do you want?" The Child Jesus answered quickly and with a warm smile,
"Your big cow!"
2) Three Wise Women: While they were talking about the story of the three wise
men, a woman asked her parish priest this question, "Do you know why God
gave the star to the wise men?" When he professed his ignorance, she told him:
"God knows men are too proud to ask directions. If there had been three wise
women instead of three wise men, they would have asked for directions, arrived
on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and given
some practical gifts!”
3) Epiphany of a pilot: A helicopter was flying around above Seattle yesterday
when an electrical malfunction disabled all the aircraft's electronic navigation
and communications equipment. Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not
determine the helicopter's position and course to steer to the airport. The pilot
saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it
in the helicopter's window. The pilot's sign said "Where am I?" in large letters.
People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign,
and held it in a building window. Their sign said "You are in a helicopter." The
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pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to Sea-Tac
airport, and landed safely.
After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the "You are in a
helicopter" sign helped determine their position. The pilot responded, "I knew
that had to be the Microsoft building because, similar to their help-lines, they
gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."
18 Additional anecdotes: 1) The wise men: There is a beautiful old tradition
about the star in the East. The story says that when the star had finished its task
of directing the wise men to the baby, it fell from the sky and dropped down into
the city well of Bethlehem. According to some legend, that star is there to this
day, and can sometimes still be seen by those whose hearts are pure and clean.
It's a pretty story. It kind of makes you feel warm inside. There are other legends
about this story of the wise men from the east. For instance, how many wise men
were there? In the old days in the east, they believed that there were 12 men who
made the journey, but now most everyone agrees there were three. One old
legend even tells us the names of the three. Melchior was the oldest of the group,
with a full beard. He gave the baby the gift of gold. Balthazar also had a beard,
but was not as old as Melchior. He presented the gift of myrrh. The youngest of
the three was Casper, who had no beard yet, but did present the gift of
frankincense to the baby. Yet another legend goes on to tell us that, after seeing
the baby, the three continued traveling as far as Spain, telling the world the good
news about what they had seen. These stories bring the wise men a little more to
life, and add some color to the meaning of Christmas. They can also get in the
way. The problem with legends is that sometimes they add color to stories that
don't need any additional color. In fact, sometimes legends are so colorful, they
are unbelievable, and can end up making the entire story unbelievable as well -kind of like that star falling in the well. It makes you warm inside. It also makes
you wonder. I am not out to ban legends, but I do think it might be worthwhile
to hear the story one more time, the way it was told the first time....
2) Epiphany of adventurers: When pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made
their historic flight in 1986 with their spindly Voyager aircraft, the whole world
followed it with excitement. For nine days a sky-watch was kept, tracking their
first non-stop global flight without refueling. Achievers and risk-takers like Dick
Rutan and Jeana Yeager have always fascinated us. Marco Polo journeying to
India and China, Christopher Columbus coming to America, Admiral Byrd
going to the South Pole, our Astronauts flying to the moon: such adventurers
have always aroused our admiration and our skepticism. It was no different at
the time of the Magi in today’s Gospel story. To the cynical observer, the Magi
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must have seemed foolish to go following a star. These astrologers had to be a
little crazy leaving the security of their homeland to venture forth into a strange
country ruled by a madman like Herod. Nevertheless, to the person with the
eyes of faith, the Magi had discovered an immense secret. They found not only
the secret of the star, but the secret of the whole universe –the secret of God’s
incredible love for his people. For the child they found was no ordinary child but
the very Son of God become man (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).
3) My Star: Consider a true story of a young man named Tony. He travelled
all over the world, appearing widely on stage and on television as a drummer
in a world-famous music group. Then one day Tony felt called to the
priesthood. When he resigned from the music group to enter a seminary,
some people thought him to be a fool. The story could end here. And if it did,
some would consider it to be a sad story. It would be the story of a young
man who let a dream slip through his fingers. But the story doesn’t end here.
Tony’s now a priest in the diocese of Dallas. And he’s tremendously happy.
Jesus will someday say to him what he said to Artaban: “You’ve been helping
me all your life, Tony. What you did for your Parishioners, you did for me.”
(Mark Link in Sunday Homilies).
4) An epiphany in the airport. We spot what looks like a mom, a dad, and three
teenage daughters. The girls and their mom are each holding a bouquet of roses.
We are wondering what the story is. Whom are they expecting? The dad keeps
looking at his watch. The mom keeps turning her head to make sure she hears
each airport announcement. Finally the door opens. First come the "rushers"-men and women in suits with briefcases and bags over their shoulders, rushing
towards phones, bathrooms, and their cars or rent-a-cars. We're still wondering
and watching to learn whom this family we've been studying is there to meet.
Then out come a young Marine, his wife, and their obviously brand-new baby.
The three girls run to the couple and the baby. Then Mom. Dad. Hugs. Kisses.
Embraces. "OOPS! The flowers!" But the baby is the center of attention. Each
member of the family gets closer and closer to the mother and each opens the
bundle in pink to have a first peek at this new life on the planet. We're seeing it
from a distance. It's better than the evening news. Then we notice several other
smiling people also watching the same scene. There are many other hugging
scenes, people meeting people, but this is the big one. We're smiling too. A tear
of joy. What wonderful moment we are photographing into our memory. We're
thinking, "Family! Children! Grandchildren!" This is what life is all about.” We're
experiencing an epiphany. Life is filled with them. Praise God!
5) O. Henry’s story of real love through sacrificial sharing: “Gift of the Magi”: (A
summarized version): It was Christmas Eve, during the days of the depression
of the 1930's. Della and James, a newly married couple, were very poor. They
loved each other dearly, but money was hard come by. In fact, as Christmas
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approached, they were unhappy because they had no money to buy presents
for each other. They had two possessions that they valued deeply: James had
a gold watch which had belonged to his father, and Della had long and beautiful
brown hair. Della knew that James’ watch had no matching chain--only a wornout leather strap. A matching chain would be an ideal gift for her husband, but
she lacked the money to buy it.
As she stood before the mirror, her eyes fell on her long tresses. She was very
proud of her beautiful hair, but she knew what she had to do. She faltered a
moment, but nothing could stand in the way of love. She hastened to the “hairdealers,” sold her hair for twenty dollars, and went round shop after shop,
hunting for the ideal gift. At last she found it: a matching chain for her
husband’s watch. She was very happy and proud of the gift. She knew he
would love it, the fruit of her sacrifice.
James came in, beaming with love, proud of the gift he had bought for Della. He
knew she would be very happy with the gift. But when he saw her, his face fell.
She knew he was angry at what she had done. She tried to console him by
saying that her hair would grow fast, and soon it would be as beautiful as before.
That is when he gave her his gift. It was an expensive set of combs, with gemstudded rims. She had always wanted them for her hair! She was very happy,
but with a tinge of sadness. She knew it would be some time before she could
use the precious gift.
Then, with tears in her eyes, she presented him with the gift she had bought. As
he looked at the beautiful chain, he said with a sigh: “I guess our gifts will have
to wait for some time. The combs were very expensive; I had to sell my watch to
buy the combs!” These were the perfect gifts: gifts of sacrificial love. Both James
and Della were very happy for, like the Magi, they had discovered LOVE
through self-sacrifice. (Given in my Christmas homily notes).
6) The true epiphany: A rabbi put the following question to his disciples, "How
can we determine the hour of dawn, when the night ends and the day begins?"
One student replied, "When from a distance you can distinguish between a sheep
and a dog." "No," said the rabbi. Another student quickly offered, "When you can
tell a fig tree from a grapevine." "No," repeated the rabbi. "Then tell us, please,"
asked the students. Replied the rabbi, "Darkness ends and day begins when you
can look into the faces of all other human beings and you have enough light in
you to recognize them as your brothers and sisters."
7) Run away to return: John Thomas Randolph offers this modern story of
running and returning to illustrate our Lord's circumstances. Here is the
difference between cowardice and heroism. The coward runs away and stays
away. The hero runs away but he always returns at the appropriate time. I have a
biography of General Douglas MacArthur that was written by Bob Considine.
The picture on the front cover shows the general standing like a boulder, looking
off into the distance, with that famous corncob pipe in his mouth. You can almost
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hear him telling the people of the Philippines, "I came through and I shall
return." Ordered to make a strategic withdrawal, his promise to return became
the rallying cry for a whole country. MacArthur had to "run away" for a while,
but he would "return" and it was the returning that mattered most. Jesus ran
away into Egypt, but he returned! All of our running away, as Christians, should
be with the ultimate goal of returning. Why do we run away? When I look at my
own experience, I find that I usually run away for one of three reasons: I am
frightened ; I am fatigued; or I am frustrated. Isn't that why you run away too?
8) "I hope it will identify me with the Gospel that I preach." In October, 1989, a
new star was added to the 1900 stars on the famed sidewalk on Hollywood
Boulevard. The new star was placed near the stars of Julie Andrews and Wayne
Newton. The new star, as curious as it seems, was evangelist Billy Graham, who
has preached the Gospel to more than 100 million people around the world.
Forty years ago he refused to have his name on a star, but he reconsidered it in
1989. He said, "I hope it will identify me with the Gospel that I preach." At the
unveiling he added, "We should put our eyes on the star, which is the Lord."
9) Epiphany of a protecting God: The British express train raced through the
night, its powerful headlight piercing the darkness. Queen Victoria was a
passenger on the train. Suddenly the engineer saw a startling sight. Revealed
in the beam of the engine’s light was a strange figure in a black cloak
standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The engineer
grabbed for the brake and brought the train to a grinding halt. He and his
fellow trainmen clambered down to see what had stopped them. But they
could find no trace of the strange figure. On a hunch the engineer walked a
few yards further up the tracks. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog
in horror. A bridge had been washed out in the middle and ahead of them it
had toppled into a swollen stream. If the engineer had not heeded the ghostly
figure, his train would have plummeted down into the stream. While the
bridge and tracks were being repaired, the crew made a more intensive
search for the strange flagman. But not until they got to London did they
solve the mystery At the base of the engine’s head lamp the engineer
discovered a huge dead moth. He looked at it a moment, then on impulse wet
its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp. Climbing back in to his cab,
he switched on the light and saw again the “flagman” he had seen in the
beam, seconds before the train was due to reach the washed-out bridge. In
the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure, waving its arms. When Queen
Victoria was told of the strange happening she said, “I’m sure it was no
accident. It was God’s way of protecting us.” No, the figure the engineer saw
in the headlight’s beam was not an angel…and yet God, quite possibly
through the ministry of His unseen angels, had placed the moth on the
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headlight lens exactly when and where it was needed. (Billy Graham from
‘Unto the Hills’)
10) “The Star:” In Arthur C. Clarke’s short story “The Star”, we read about a
Jesuit astrophysicist who makes a space trip with other scientists to a distant
galaxy called the Phoenix Nebula. There they chance upon a solitary planet
still orbiting the remnant of a central sun, which had exploded thousands of
years ago. The explorers land their spacecraft on this planet and examine the
scorched surface caused by that cosmic detonation. They discover a melteddown monolithic marker at the entrance of a great vault in which they find
the carefully stored treasures and records of an advanced civilization. On
their return trip to earth in our own galaxy, the Jesuit astrophysicist
calculates the exact time when the light from this cosmic explosion in the
Phoenix Nebula reached earth. It was the date of Christ’s birth when the light
from that fire was seen as a bright new star appearing in the East. But now
that he had solved an ancient mystery, he had a greater mystery to grapple
with. How could a loving God allow a whole planet of intelligent being to be
given a galactic conflagration, so that the symbol of their passing might shi ne
above Bethlehem at his Son’s birth? This science-fiction story about the star of
Bethlehem has its source in today’s Gospel. Mathew’s narration of the Magi
uses the star as its central symbol. From its rising in the East to its coming to
a standstill over Bethlehem, the star leads and guides the astrologers. (Albert
Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).
11) The night the stars fell: One summer night in a seaside cottage, a small boy
felt himself lifted from bed. Dazed with sleep, he heard his mother murmur
about the lateness of the hour, heard his father laugh. Then he was borne in his
father’s arms, with the swiftness of a dream, down the porch steps, out onto the
beach. Overhead the sky blazed with stars. “Watch!” his father said. And
incredibly, as he spoke, one of the stars moved. In a streak of golden fire, it
flashed across the astonished heavens. And before the wonder of this could fade,
another star leaped from its place, and then another, plunging toward the
restless sea. “What is it?” the child whispered. “Shooting stars,” his father said.
“They come every year on certain nights in August. I thought you’d like to see
the show.” That was all: just an unexpected glimpse of something haunting and
mysterious and beautiful. But, back in bed, the child stared for a long time into
the dark, rapt with the knowledge that all around the quiet house the night was
full of the silent music of the falling stars. Decades have passed, but I remember
that night still, because I was the fortunate seven-year-old whose father believed
that a new experience was more important for a small boy than an unbroken
night’s sleep. No doubt in my childhood I had the usual quota of playthings, but
these are forgotten now. What I remember is the night the stars fell …(Arthur
Gordon from A Touch of Wonder).
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12) A new Magi story: In this story the three wise men, Gaspar, Balthassar and
Melchior, were thee different ages. Gaspar was a young man, Balthassar a
middle-aged man and Melchior an elderly man. They found a cave where the
Holy One was and entered, one at a time, to do him homage. Melchior, the old
man, entered first. He found an old man like himself in the cave. They shared
stories and spoke of memory and gratitude. Middle-aged Balthassar entered
next. He found a man his own age there. They spoke passionately about
leadership and responsibility. Young Gaspar was the last to enter. He found a
young prophet waiting for him. They spoke about reform and promise.
Afterward when the three kings spoke to each other about their encounter with
the Christ, they were shocked at each other’s stories. So they got their gifts of
gold, frankincense and myrrh together and all three went into the cave. They
found a Baby there, the infant Jesus only twelve days old. There is a deep
message here. Jesus reveals himself to all people, at all stages of their lives,
whether they are Jew or Gentile. (Fr. Pellegrino).
13)
The whispering angel: The seventeenth century painter Guido
Reni has left us a magnificent painting of Matthew. An angel is whispering to
him various events in the life of Jesus. The attentive Evangelist is frantically
writing down all that he is told. The tale will become his Gospel. A portion of
those whispers is today's story of the Epiphany. It is only Matthew who tells us
this tale filled with wonder. Why the other Evangelists ignored this magical
story, we will never know - at least this side of the grave. (Fr. Gilhooly).
14) The Star of Bethlehem: Gordon Wilson's daughter was killed by a bomb in
Enniskillen on Remembrance Day 1987. Instead of calling for revenge, he
forgave her killers and began a campaign for peace and reconciliation. He
said: "I am a very ordinary sort of man. I have few personal ambitions and no
political aspirations. I just want to live and let live. Life has been kind to me
in the main, and I have tried to live by the Good Book. I do not profess to be a
good man, but I aim to be. I would like to leave the world a better place than
I found it, but I have no exaggerated ideas of my ability to do so. I have
hitched my wagon to a star, a star of hope, the star of Bethlehem. (Flor
McCarthy in New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho)
15) The New Age: Every year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,
there is displayed, beneath the great Christmas tree, a beautiful eighteenth
century Neapolitan nativity scene. In many ways it is a very familiar scene. The
usual characters are all there: shepherds roused from sleep by the voices of
angels; the exotic wise men from the East seeking, as Auden once put it, "how to
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be human now"; Joseph; Mary; the babe -- all are there, each figure an artistic
marvel of wood, clay, and paint. There is, however, something surprising about
this scene, something unexpected here, easily missed by the causal observer.
What is strange here is that the stable, and the shepherds, and the cradle are set,
not in the expected small town of Bethlehem, but among the ruins of mighty
Roman columns. The fragile manger is surrounded by broken and decaying
columns. The artists knew the meaning of this event: The Gospel, the birth of
God's new age, was also the death of the old world. Herods know in their souls
what we perhaps have passed over too lightly: God's presence in the world
means finally the end of their own power. They seek not to preserve the birth of
God's new age, but to crush it. For Herod, the Gospel is news too bad to be
endured, for Mary, Joseph, and all the other characters it is news too good to
miss. Adapted from Thomas G. Long, “Something Is About To Happen” (Fr.
Kayala).
16) Epiphany gift: Tolstoy once told the story about an old cobbler, Martin, who
dreamt that Christ was going to visit him. All day he waited and watched but
nothing extraordinary seemed to be happening. While he waited he gave
hospitality to one person who was cold, to another who needed reconciliation, to
another who needed clothing. At the end of the day, he was disappointed that
Christ had not come. That night he had another dream, and all those to whom he
gave hospitality returned and a voice said, “Martin, do you not know me? I am
Jesus. What you did to the least of these you did to me. (Fr. Kayala)
17) Returning Social security check: They tell of a man in a small town in South
Dakota who tried to give some money back to the Social Security
Administration, but could not. At age 65 the man retired from his work as a farm
laborer and moved into town. His retirement house was extremely modest,
sparsely furnished, and simply kept. Most could not manage on his meagre
minimum security check. At the end of the first month of collecting on Social
security, this humble man went to the bank with five dollars in cash and told the
teller he wanted to return some money because the government had given him
more than he needed. With that request he “blew everybody in the bank away.”
They explained to him that he couldn’t do that, that the government could give
out social security funds, but that there was no program set-up for taking any of
it back! There was no category for people who wanted to give any of their social
security back to the government. Application: To receive something graciously
from another is as much a gift as giving. (Gerard Fuller in Stories for all Seasons)
(Fr. Kayala).
18) Epiphany under water: There was once a holy monk who lived in Egypt. One
day a young man came to visit him. The young man asked: "Oh, holy man, I
want to know how to find God." The monk was muscular and burly. He said:
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"Do you really want to find God?" The young man answered: "Oh, but I do." So
the monk took the young man down to the river. Suddenly, the monk grabbed
the young man by the neck and held his head under water. At first the young
man thought the monk was giving him a special baptism. But when after one
minute the monk didn’t let go, the young man began struggling. Still the monk
wouldn’t release him. Second by second, the young man fought harder and
harder. After three minutes, the monk pulled the young man out of the water
and said: "When you desire God as much as you desired air, you will have the
epiphany of God