The Epiphany of our Lord
Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
God has sent us His Son, Jesus Christ. The Son is given for all of us, not just for a chosen group—for all of us. So, we chant in the Christmas Season: Christ is born for us! At the time of Epiphany: Christ has appeared to us. Christ is for all even as Christ is also for me personally. The challenge is to see God in the many ways in which God appears and to reflect God in all that I do.
The first reading today is from the Prophet Isaiah. This Prophet tells us: “Upon you the Lord shines, and over you appear his glory. Nations shall walk by your light…” These words are written about Israel but apply to every nation and group of people because the Lord loves us all. Even this great Prophet Isaiah could not convince everyone that God would act and that God would be present. The challenge for us is personal belief and also belief as a Church and a community. If we believe, that our lives begin to reflect that light of His glory and gives witness to the loving presence of our God.
The second reading is from the Letter to the Ephesians. Saint Paul, a devout Jew, tells us how he became aware that God’s love was for even the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people. God’s love is for everyone. The challenge for us today is to recognize that God’s love is for all peoples, and especially for those peoples and nations and persons who seem most impossible to accept. God wants us all and God is working in all, even when we cannot see it. Once we begin to accept that God is present in all, we will find that speaking of the Lord is not so difficult after all. Instead, we might find that we naturally speak of God to others and that our own love and faithfulness could draw others to God and to our Lord Jesus.
The Gospel today is the story of the Magi from the East, the story of the Three Kings of the Orient, the story of the star drawing and guiding wise men to the Lord. We don’t have a lot of details about how this happened, but our Gospels tell us that God Himself chooses to reveal Himself to all peoples and that God Himself uses various ways to do that. Yes, our witness is important, but so also are the unexplained ways in which God makes Himself know.
For many, the challenge is to believe that God is calling all of us to the Catholic Church. We live in a time when many think that all religion is the same. Yet revelation keeps telling us that not everything is the same, that there are roads that lead to destruction, that there are ways that do not lead to light (Abbot Philip)
What is implied is that in each of us is a drawing to God, an attraction to the Lord, which will eventually bring us to Him. If we are to see Him, our hearts must be open to Him. If we are to live in Him, our hearts must be able to embrace Him.
God is revealing Himself to you and to me right now. Let us open our eyes to His light and open our hearts to His love.
Peace and all good!
Fr. Valery Burusu
Parochial Administrator