THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD – January 8, 2012
The Book of the Prophet Isaiah 60:1-6
Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
The Gospel according to Matthew 2:1-12
Epiphany. The word means manifestation, showing forth, or demonstration. An epiphany makes something once hidden evident. On this feast we celebrate the clear and certain proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah and Lord, the Son of God. It is all in the signs contained in the readings. Ah, but we have to be able to read signs in order to get the message. And we have to persevere in hope believing that one day, the day of the Lord for which we long will come to pass.
In the first reading, Isaiah, as often is the case, proclaims a message of hope to a people nearing despair. Darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples. Israel seems to be in a hopeless situation. Jerusalem and the Temple are in ruins. The people are in the Diaspora, living in slavery, enveloped in the thick clouds of the Babylonian captivity. Yet Isaiah proclaims that it will not always be like this. The people must remember the promise. They are walking in darkness now. One day the sun will shine on them with a radiance that will be so alluring that even the Gentiles from far away places will stream to them even as they return to Jerusalem from enslavement. The poetry is lush. The names of the far-away places are exotic. If we put contemporary names on those places from which people will stream to Israel we will understand that Isaiah is talking about the people of Iran and Iraq, Spain, Egypt, and Ethiopia. They are the ones coming to bask in the favor of Israel’s God. The come because the glory of the Lord shines upon the people of Israel.
The Epiphany we celebrate today results from our recognizing the glory shining forth from Jesus whose birth and naming we have celebrated. The signs abound. Do we drink in what they are saying?
Sometimes there is a tendency in people to rejoice in good news and then to restrict it and translate it into something that applies only to them. There are not a few of those, were they to hear the contemporary names of the ones coming bearing the gifts of gold, frankincense, and the riches of the sea, who would be angered by that message because we are at war with some of them.
Ironic, isn’t it, that these times in which we are living could be described aptly in Isaiah’s imagery. Many feel like a people walking in darkness. Those thick clouds of economic difficulties, of unemployment and poverty, of desperation felt by many homeless people added to the tensions and heartbreaks of war, and those thick clouds seem to threaten to threaten to envelop us. When will that glory of the Lord begin to shine on us? Is it really meant to shine as well on those who have caused so much misery? Will it shine on those who have betrayed us, even on those we refer to as our exes? How all embracing is this love of God that comes to us through Jesus, God’s beloved Son?
It was hard for some of the first Jewish Christians to hear that even Gentiles would share in the inheritance through their coming to believe in Jesus. Remember that the Jews believed they were God’s uniquely chosen beloved people. The Messiah, sent by God, and by them believed to be Jesus, would set Israel free, drive away foreign rule, i.e., the Romans, and establish a period of unending prosperity and peace. Surely the Gentiles, some of whom were their oppressors, would not be sharers in the peace and prosperity.
That is exactly what Paul declares in today’s second reading from his Letter to the Ephesians. The result of the mystery made known to me by revelation now has been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. The Ephesians had to hear the message and so do we. Difficult as it might be to swallow, and here you can think of those you number among your enemies, those you think to be least lovable, all those are embraced by the Light. They are called to be members of the same body, to be copartners in the promise, and are coheirs. They will inherit the Kingdom the same as the Ephesians. They had to accept that our Gentile ancestors, and therefore we among them, would be among that number. We have to accept that those we would exclude are among that number, too. Do you believe and accept that? It might not be easy. It might take a gift of the Spirit and an outpouring of grace in order to believe and accept that Jesus is Lord of all and that God’s love that comes through Jesus is universal.
In these times that must be the message the Gospel and the Church proclaims. That will stand in stark contrast to what seem to be the attitudes and judgments common today. Lines of demarcation are continually being drawn and judgments made that exclude and divide the human family. Just because a Black man is President of the United States does not mean that racism isn’t alive and well in our land. Sexism is thriving. The unemployment statistics show that a much higher percentage of Blacks than Whites are out of work, and more women than men.
Evangelical fundamentalists can be quick to enumerate those to be condemned to the everlasting fires. Some proclaim the Catholic Church to be the whore of Babylon. There are fundamentalist Catholics who proclaim that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation. Hell awaits homosexuals and so does it for those politicians and others who support freedom of choice legislation, regardless of their reasons for doing so. We could go on with more examples of attitudes perceived to limit and curtain the embrace of God’s love made manifest in the revelation of Jesus as Lord. Some have yet to hear Jesus say: Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will refresh you. The operative word is all.
We mustn’t miss the point of the reading of today’s Good news from Matthew’s Infancy Narrative. We are back in Bethlehem in the days following Jesus’ birth. Magi we number to be three because of the list of the gifts they bring, come from the East, that is, from Gentile lands, seeking the newborn king of the Jews. They had seen the sign, a star, and interpreted its meaning from their reading of sacred texts. They came to those who should have been most filled with joy at this sign of fulfillment of God’s promise. In stead their inquiry fills Herod with resentment. He is quite happy to be king and not at all inclined to step aside for a successor. The chief priests and the scribes know the prophecy regarding where the Messiah, i.e., the Christ was to be born. They can tell Herod that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. Now Herod knows where to send the Magi with the instruction to return to him with the information so that he, too, can go and pay his respects. His real purpose is to learn where to focus the slaughter that will eliminate the newborn threat to his throne. The point is that those to whom it was first given reject the fulfillment of the promise. That wasn’t something that happened once and for all. The challenge remains for us today to determine who will reign in our hearts.
We can give a sinister interpretation to the declining number of Catholics attending Sunday mass. All those leaving are devious. It is said that former Catholics make up the second largest denomination in the United States – second only to Catholics as the largest denomination. The same statistic may apply in other countries as well. Certainly there is no simple solution to the complex problem these statistics indicate. The bishops may meet and deliberate in order to find a new direction and so stem the flow. Parishes might meet and deliberate as well. Both groups need to ask the same question. Are they living the message? Is the hierarch imaging the Servant Shepherd? Is the promised light shining forth from where the parish gathers inviting all who walk in darkness to come and rejoice in what is revealed in their midst? Is the Catholic Church imitating Christ by effectively proclaiming that all are welcome here?
When we gather to celebrate Eucharist, we gather to enter into the Mystery of God’s acting in the here and now. We gather as one body the Body of Christ, to renew his dying and rising and so to be transformed, to be forgiven, to be healed, and to be sent. But as we gather we are also to invite all to gather with us around the table. All – in imitation of Jesus’ practice of table fellowship. If that message is our, the charity we live going forth from the celebration will become that light that draws others. Do people feel welcomed as they come among us or is their dominant feeling that of being judged? Do we uphold the dignity of all people? Are we motivated to work for justice and peace? When people think of your parish do they see Jesus embracing and lifting up all those who labor and are heavily burdened?
We celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord today. That is, we celebrate the manifestation of Jesus as Lord, the one who brings God’s love to us, that love that is meant for all people. Clouds may threaten, but if we live the message, the light will be seen and the sign understood.
Sincerely,
Didymus
