Homily on the Feast of Epiphany, 8 Jan 2023
Merry Christmas and happy feast day to all of you! Today is the fifteenth day of Christmas. We celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of our Lord; the day when the magi or wise men arrived in Bethlehem all the way from the East to pay homage to the new born King.
Why is it so important to celebrate these wise men’s visit every year? It is because 2000 years ago the birth of the divine Savior took place very quietly and unassumingly inside the most unlikely place of a manger in a little town called Bethlehem with only a few shepherds coming over to pay homage. But the surprise visit of wise men coming from the East signifies the Lord’s manifestation to the whole world. This explains why this feast is called “Epiphany.” It comes from the Greek word “epiphainein” which means “to reveal or to manifest” or its noun form “epiphaneia” which means “revelation.”
It is important for us to reflect on how the Magi ever came to know the birth of Jesus. Did they read it on the newspapers? Or was it reported on CNN or BBC news? Was it on Google or on Facebook newsfeed? Well, of course these things did not yet exist at that time. So how did they come to know? Was it through a “Marites”? No, it was through “Stella” a Latin word which means a “star”. They came to know it through a bright star that appeared on the sky.
Since the Magi were wise men, they could read the language of the stars and of the beautiful creation surrounding them. So I suppose, one night while they were looking up at the luminous star-studded sky, they saw a big star shining so brightly. Probably in their whole lifetime they have never seen any star as amazingly bright as that star of Bethlehem. And so they must have asked the question: “What could this mean? Could it be a sign of something wonderfully great?” The good news is that their diligent search for meaning enabled them to find the right answer to their question. The appearance of a bright star signified the birth of a great and powerful King, the promised Savior of the world.
And so they left the comfort of their dwelling and embarked on a long and treacherous journey towards the place pointed out by the star. And who knows they must have met each other along the way and after realizing they were going towards the same destination they decided to journey together until they arrived in Bethlehem where the great King was born. And so what was first hidden from their naked eyes, they finally beheld when they arrived at the manger – the baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary, his Mother. Thus was the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.”
What is this event telling us? Every night we see hundreds and even thousands of stars varying in brightness and intensity. But only a few of us really stop momentarily in order to gaze at them and appreciate them. Similarly every morning we wake up and see the beautiful sunrise or we hear the chirping of the birds; we get clean water flowing from our faucet or stored in a drum inside the bathroom. Everyday we behold the face of our parents and other family members. They wake up early to pray, to do some house cleaning or cooking at the kitchen. Everyday you behold the face of your lovely spouse and kids, and see the warm breakfast prepared on the table. Can all these be revealing some important messages to us?
If only we had the wisdom to STOP, to SILENCE ourselves, and to STRENGTHEN our SENSE-SIGNALS, then we might be able to get God’s important messages to us personally every single day of our life, especially when our life’s journey is become tiring, turbulent, problematic or simply boring.
Brothers, and sisters, I’m sure you have met so many good people during this Christmas season; you have celebrated beautiful liturgies in church; you have listened to inspiring homilies explaining God’s Word. Don’t you realize that you have actually met Jesus, the Savior, once born in Bethlehem? For this we are all gathered together in order to pay Him homage. And like the wise men, we are here to bring out something new from within us and offer it the newborn King. It may not necessarily be gold, frankincense or myrrh. It could be simply a better ME or a better US in the family. The call and challenge is for us to be renewed inwardly, and to do something new, or maybe to do the same old stuff we used to do but in a totally new and in a much better way, perhaps with greater love, with more patience and forbearance, definitely with more kindness to others this year 2023.
A few years ago I heard a fellow priest give a homily on Epiphany Day and he suggested that in the New Year we strive to wipe out three A’s in our life: (1) Anger, (2) Arrogance and (3) Addiction (in whatever form, like alcohol, drugs, computer games, texting, etc.). I agree that we should wipe out these three A’s entirely by minimizing them gradually day after day, week after week, month after month, until these unpleasant behavioural patterns are put under total control.
On my part I would recommend that we strive to increase three S’s in our life this New Year 2023, as we continue to follow that amazingly bright STAR who is no other than Jesus. The first S is SILENCE: increase your capacity for silence. Once in a while strive to keep SILENT, put off the music or the gargets and spend time to pray; and during the day instead of reacting impulsively to other’s mistakes or offenses, choose first to keep SILENT and discern where the good Spirit is leading you. Try to focus on the positive rather than the negative.
This leads to the second S which is SENSITIVITY to the Spirit: increase your sensitivity to the Spirit everyday. Remaining silent gives you the great opportunity to be SENSITIVE to the Spirit speaking softly within you. Use esp. the SENSE of HEARING to listen attentively to God’s Word, rather than to the deafening voices of the evil one, tempting you to do wrong. You need to know what God might be calling you to be or to do? Ask yourself everyday what it is that you can do best in a given situation, or how you can be your best self for others even in the worst scenario? Once you know what to be or what to do, then you have to take immediate action.
The third S is SELFLESS SERVICE: increase your drive and eagerness to serve without counting the cost or without wanting to be recognized or without expecting anything in return. For those of you who are still students, selfless service could mean SERIOUS STUDY, because serious and diligent study is your best act of service now to your family, to our Church and to our society.
Over all these I invite everyone this year to put more focus on one more big “S” that sustains our bodily life here on earth; that “S” is your SOUL. While we pay attention to the needs of the body and strive to trim down our accumulated fats for healthier living, we have to pay even more attention to the needs of the SOUL and strive to abstain from the material things we do not really need. In this way we can avoid getting sick in the soul, and at the same time we can grow more and more in our SPIRITUAL life, and come closer and closer to reaching our ultimate goal which is SANCTITY. This is indeed God’s goal for each and every one of us – holiness of life.
Finally, it is also important for us to consider the gesture that the wise men did upon entering the manger. They prostrated themselves before the Baby Jesus and offered him their gifts. Hence I encourage all of you to be faithful in attending SUNDAY Mass face-to-face. Many of you recently were able to complete the nine days of Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi. Congratulations! Now I challenge you to complete also the fifty-two Sunday Masses of the whole year with deep devotion, no longer online but face-to-face.
Like the wise men let us leave the comfort of our homes and come together in church to pay homage to our great King and Savior who was born to save us, sanctify us and accompany us in our journey towards the “promised land”. And like the Magi who offered gold, frankincense and myrrh, let us offer Him the best gift – ourselves, our virtues and good deeds, our effort to become a better version of ourselves day by day for the glory of God and the good of others. Let it be symbolized by our full, conscious and active participation in the Mass, as well as our monetary contribution every time we come to church. And as we offer our best selves and services in church may we also have the heart to share our blessings with those who are poorer, weaker and needier.
We pray that this Eucharist may enlighten and empower us to follow the same path that the wise men have taken, and like them may we offer to the new born King our gifts, the best version of ourselves this year 2023. We may not be the brightest stars in heaven but we can be shining lanterns on earth lighting up someone else’s path leading to where Christ is born. GiGsss!
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