January 8, 2017
THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
The Greatest Gift
Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt 2:1-12
 
First Reading: Isaiah offers a word of encouragement to those in exile now returning to their home in Jerusalem as well as all people in any sort of exile, or darkness, or confusion. Today, we celebrate Christ the Light certainly, but moreover, we consider the Light that shines upon an entire world of darkness, bringing order and clarity for God's people everywhere.
Second Reading: St. Paul explains that the authority to preach comes only from grace given by God. Anyone, including the Magi in today's Gospel, who arrives at an awareness of God, can only do so because God himself conveys the grace to see, to
believe, and then to preach.
Gospel Reading: One of the foundational stories of Christmas, the journey of the Magi to the God of history shows that Christ's kingship will be unlike any other. This is made obvious in the contradiction between the King of Kings, Jesus, and the king of Judea, Herod.
Homily
So who were they, anyway? Matthew doesn't tell us. Presumably, there were three because they brought three gifts. We also don't know exactly what they were. Where they Magi or kings or astrologers? We don't even know from where they came. All it says is from the East. We hear the story of the Magi every year, and it ends up somewhere between ancient history and divine inspiration, played out over centuries of Nativity scenes from Italy to Ireland to India to Nigeria to Mexico. What we do know is that it's true because it was inspired by God and set into Scripture and Tradition for you and me. Beyond the charming Christmas card scene with the kings, the Holy Family, the shepherds, the sheep and donkey, and the angels gloriously adoring the Word made flesh, today we look deep into the Nativity for a sense of meaning from our perspective, which might at first seem quite a stretch.
To understand just how important Epiphany is for us, we must imagine what it was like for them, because the way it was for them is probably not dissimilar for you and me. These Magi, what was it like for them? What did they expect to see? They must have been confused and feeling a bit out of place, bringing gifts fit for a palace not a cave. They must have had an extensive caravan with food, sundries and soldiers. When they arrive, they realize that their gifts and their entourage are not entirely appropriate, gazing down upon a baby in a manger, a feeding trough for animals of all things. He was poor. His parents were refugees. And the local king, the sort of person for whom they thought they were looking, wasn't very happy either. He wanted to kill the baby. They must have been confused.
The shepherds were no different, even though they were the opposite of the Magi. Shepherding was not an appealing profession, something like day laborers today. Here they are, probably feeling foolish themselves, the first to hear from the angels that the Creator of all that is has chosen to become one of us. This Messiah didn't fit their expectations, either. So what did they do? They did the only thing they could do. They gave him the very best of what they had in the midst
of their confusion. They probably helped with the fire to warm the baby and with the animals so Joseph and Mary could have some peace
in the chaos of the night. The Magi gave the very best that they had to offer, too, the gold, frankincense and myrrh, which brings the story to you and me standing in front of the Nativity scene this morning.
We give him what we have, in the reality of our confusion and feeling a bit out of place in front of a play scene. Today, we give him ourselves, our joys and our concerns, our strengths and our foibles. We're like the Magi, the shepherds and Mary and Joseph — not completely sure what's going to happen in our lives and not sure what to do standing here in front of God. In the end, we simply give him the best of what we have, which I think is exactly what he wants. Some years back, Pope Benedict XVI explained that the Epiphany shows to us God who is on pilgrimage — a pilgrimage to man. There is not only the pilgrimage of man toward God; God himself has set out toward us. He sets out to meet us where we are and as we are, which ends up being the best Christmas gift of all.