{"id":2008,"date":"2017-01-08T06:55:02","date_gmt":"2017-01-08T11:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2008"},"modified":"2017-01-08T06:55:02","modified_gmt":"2017-01-08T11:55:02","slug":"epiphany-homily-the-gift-of-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/epiphany-homily-the-gift-of-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Epiphany – Homily – The Gift of Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Epiphany of the Lord<\/a>
\nIsaiah 60;1-6
\nPsalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
\nEphesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
\nMatthew 5:1-12
\nJanuary 8, 2017<\/p>\n

Today we hear what we consider as the last piece of the Christmas story.\u00a0 Here come the magi.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know much about them about them except that they come some distance from the East, were guided by a star, and they brought three gifts for Jesus.\u00a0 The fact that they came from the East would indicate they are Gentiles.<\/p>\n

As Gentiles, they would have believed in a different god than the Israelites.\u00a0 Herod was appointed as a king over the Jews by the Roman Emperor but his response to the news of Jesus\u2019 birth is not one of faith.\u00a0 \u201cHe was greatly troubled,<\/em>\u201d by the news.\u00a0 He saw it as a threat to his power.\u00a0 He rejected Jesus so he could have the life he wanted.<\/p>\n

This contrast to the response of the Magi who, as Gentiles, could have been indifferent to the birth of Jesus but they are the ones who travel afar and bring gifts to Jesus.\u00a0 It is the Gentile Magi who recognize the gift of Jesus to the world.<\/p>\n

At Christmas there is a lot of gift-giving.\u00a0 How many gifts did you receive?\u00a0 What was your favorite gift?\u00a0 Did you receive some gifts that you didn\u2019t want?\u00a0 Did anyone \u201creject\u201d a gift you gave them?<\/p>\n

How about the gift of Jesus?\u00a0 I think sometimes this can be the forgotten gift even for us who come to church.\u00a0 We can become so used to celebrating Christmas that we take the gift of Jesus for granted.<\/p>\n

The gift is offered to \u201cevery nation<\/em>\u201d including the Gentiles as coheirs and copartners in the promise of Jesus.<\/p>\n

What does the gift of Jesus offer us?<\/p>\n

We live in a world where there can be a lot of darkness<\/em>, terrorism, war, violence, poverty, homelessness, illness, and broken relationships.\u00a0 On Friday, there was another shooting, not necessarily an act of terrorism but mental illness.<\/p>\n

In the midst of the darkness, Jesus brings us light.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that He takes away all our problems.\u00a0 Sometimes He does but more often He offers us a way through the sufferings we face.\u00a0 In doing so Jesus brings us light<\/em> in the darkness.<\/p>\n

Do we accept the gift of Jesus?\u00a0 Some don\u2019t because Jesus doesn\u2019t give them what they want.\u00a0 They want all their problems instantly gone.\u00a0 They don\u2019t want to have any problems.\u00a0 They might want wealth, power, or prestige.\u00a0 They want to have it their way.<\/p>\n

If we are to accept the gift of Jesus, we need to accept that our way may not be the best way, that Jesus has a better way.<\/p>\n

Our coming here says we want to have Jesus in our lives.\u00a0 I\u2019m reading a book called Forming Intentional Disciples<\/em>.\u00a0 The author, Sherry A. Weddell (all quotes from page 54, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Huntington, IN. 2012) speaks of \u201cthree concurrent journeys\u201d that we need to embrace to be \u201cintentional disciples.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to start with the two that should be most familiar to us.\u00a0 #2 is \u201cthe ecclesial journey into the Church through reception of the sacraments of initiation.\u201d\u00a0 This should be familiar to us as Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.<\/p>\n

#3 is the active practice of our faith in coming to Mass and joining in the life of our parish.<\/p>\n

Now, I want to go back to what she lists as #1, \u201cthe personal interior journey of a lived relationship with Christ resulting in intentional discipleship.\u201d\u00a0 (See my website article \u2013 \u201cWhat Does it Mean to Have a Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ?\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Having a relationship with Jesus isn\u2019t something we often talk about as Catholics.\u00a0 We might that\u2019s for the Protestants.<\/p>\n

Actually, in this time of electronic communication, we might need to start with asking ourselves what it means to have a relationship with anyone.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have the kind of relationship I am talking about by texting, email, or social media.<\/p>\n

We need to ask ourselves questions like who is Jesus to us personally.\u00a0 What does knowing Jesus mean for us?\u00a0 Is He a friend, brother, or a distant being?<\/p>\n

Where do we find Jesus?\u00a0 In church?\u00a0 At home?\u00a0 In others?<\/p>\n

Do we spend time with Jesus?\u00a0 Do we listen to Jesus?\u00a0 Are we honest with Jesus?<\/p>\n

When we open ourselves to Jesus, He gives us light.\u00a0 When we follow his light, we experience what Isaiah talked about when he wrote \u201cThen you shall be radiant at what see, your heart shall throb and overflow.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 When we begin to embrace Jesus, we in turn show his light to the world, a world that very much needs it.<\/p>\n

Where are you in your relationship with Jesus?\u00a0 What does seeing the light of Jesus mean to you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Epiphany of the Lord Isaiah 60;1-6 Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 Matthew 5:1-12 January 8, 2017 Today we hear what we consider as the last piece of the Christmas story.\u00a0 Here come the magi.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know much about them about them except that they come some distance from the East, …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Epiphany – Homily – The Gift of Jesus’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[62,9,82],"tags":[233,234,235],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-wo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2009,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008\/revisions\/2009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}