EPIPHANY JANUARY 4, 2009

EPIPHANY 2009

Matthew is the only evangelist to tell us about the Magi coming to visit the new born Jesus. He wrote his gospel in Hebrew, and therefore written mainly for Jewish readers, as Matthew wanted to show that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah which we see in the Old Testament. In his account of the visit of the Magi, Matthew shows that Jesus is the Anointed of God, the Saviour sent by God for all people, and not just for the Jews. At Christmas, when Jesus was born, we heard in the Gospel reading that Jesus was revealed first to Jewish shepherds who were watching over their flocks at night. Now in today’s Gospel reading we heard that Jesus was made known to the Gentile Wise Men or Magi who come and offer Him worship and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh..

Certainly, in the culture of the time, a gift of gold was offered only to royalty, to a king or to a princess. The Magi’s gift of gold, therefore, spoke of the fact that Jesus was born. king of the Jews, King of all kings. In their wisdom the Magi were aware of the role this Child was to play as an adult. “Are you a king?” Pilate asked Jesus at His trial, and Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world.........” The Magi also presented Jesus with their gift of frankincense, a perfumed incense still very much in use in our Churches today at funerals or at exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament or in Solemn Masses. Incense has traditionally always been offered to God as part of sacred liturgy. By offering their gift of frankincense, the three Magi were affirming their belief that the Child Jesus was divine, that He was, in fact, Son of God. Their final gift was myrrh, a most unusual gift to give someone on their birthday, because myrrh is a precious ointment used to prepare the body of a dead person for burial. However, by this gift the Magi were anticipating the death of Jesus, while at the same time honouring his birth. They were saying, in effect, that this Child was born in order to die on the Cross for our salvation. So to summarize, by the three gifts of the Magi, Matthew is telling his readers that Jesus was born as a King, as the Son of God, and yet in His human nature he was also destined to die.

As we reflect on our celebration of Jesus’ birth over these past few days, we express our thanks here today for all God has given us through His Son, Jesus, and we should renew our desire to give Him in return our love, our allegiance. That is the one thing that Jesus wants of us and which only we can give Him.. God invites us today to share our lives with Jesus, and to give our hearts to Jesus. When we surrender our lives to God with the desire to do only His will in our lives, then we may well experience our own personal epiphany, receiving a word or message from God in our hearts that will help us live as we ought to live..

In the Gospel for this Feast of the Epiphany it is clear that God spoke to the hearts of the Magi who came to visit His Son. God revealed His Son to them as they followed the star that led them to Jesus. The three Magi responded positively to God’s call. They did not stay where they were, but boldly set out for a distant land on a mission that was unclear to them. They followed the star they had seen in the night sky until it led them to Mary, Joseph and the Child Jesus. They were willing to give up the comforts of their homes to discover what God was doing on earth, and they were not disappointed. They were richly rewarded for their efforts, and we also will be richly rewarded as we give our hearts to Jesus and are willing to put ourselves out for Him. There are times when God may call us to leave our comfort zones, to give up the security we have in the familiar, and to venture out on new and different paths. Many people make resolutions at the start of a new year, and perhaps, there are things we need to change or do differently to improve our lives. We can be sure that, when we listen to the Word of God, He will always lead us to a better place, always show us how to be better persons than we now are.

Nature has a beautiful way of illustrating growth. Take the example of the Chinese bamboo tree. A small seed is planted in the soil, watered and fertilized, but for the first four years there is no visible sign of growth. Nothing at all. Then, during the fifth year after planting, the Chinese bamboo grows a staggering ninety feet in just six weeks. Did the tree actually take five years to begin growing? No. Although growth was not visible above the ground for the first four years, the root system experienced tremendous development during that time, making it possible for the tree to realize its potential and become the beautiful tree that nature intends it to be. Similarly, when we give God permission to work in our lives, we may not see great spiritual growth immediately, but only over time will we see growth and much spiritual fruit produced in our lives..

On this first Sunday of the New Year we are here to worship Jesus with the Magi of old, and we ask the Lord to strengthen us spiritually Like the Magi, let us also be gift-bearing persons, bringing today not gold, incense and myrrh, but giving to Jesus the full love of our hearts. With God’s help we will follow Jesus more closely this year by our compassion for others, by our desire to help others, by our forgiveness of others, and by our genuine concern and love for others. As we worship the Lord Jesus on this Feast of the Epiphany today, may our hearts burn with the fire of God’s Love, dispelling any darkness within us..

This thought is expressed in the following few lines of verse written by an unknown author:

No deep darkness in the world

Can overcome the Light.

A single candle flame will burn

Against the darkest night.

Let all the world of darkness come

Resentments, envies, fears,

Then light a single flame of love.,

The darkness disappears.