{"id":3078,"date":"2020-01-05T11:55:59","date_gmt":"2020-01-05T16:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=3078"},"modified":"2020-01-05T11:55:59","modified_gmt":"2020-01-05T16:55:59","slug":"the-epiphany-of-the-lord-homily-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/the-epiphany-of-the-lord-homily-4\/","title":{"rendered":"The Epiphany of the Lord – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Epiphany of the Lord<\/a>
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 (11)
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12
January 5, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Christmas\nwe heard that the shepherds were the first to hear the \u201cgood news of great joy<\/em>\u201d that \u201ca\nsavior has been born\u2026who is Christ and Lord.<\/em>\u201d  However, the shepherds were not the only ones\nto visit Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we\nhear of the visit of the magi.  We often\ncall them the three wise men or the three kings, \u201cthree\u201d because there are\nthree gifts and \u201ckings\u201d because they fulfill what today\u2019s psalm prophesizes.  Psalm 72 also prophesizes that \u201cevery\n<\/em><\/strong>nation on earth will adore<\/em>\u201d\nthe Lord, \u201call<\/em><\/strong> kings shall\npay him homage.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important\npoint to realize is that the magi are not Jews. \nThey are Gentiles yet they are drawn to see Jesus.  Their seeing Jesus tells us that the Gentiles\nare now to be \u201ccoheirs\u2026copartners\u201d <\/em>in\nJesus. \n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Astrologers\nof those days believed that when a new king was born, a star arose to signify\nthe birth.  Thus, one might suppose that\nthe magi are simply curious or paying \u201cstandard\u201d homage to a new king.  I believe what they do goes beyond that.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their interest\nis certainly more than King Herod\u2019s.  \nHerod was a Jew so he should have been excited at the news but instead \u201che was greatly troubled<\/em>\u201d because he saw\nJesus as a threat to his power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herod\nconsults the \u201cchief priests and the\nscribes\u201d<\/em> about \u201cwhere the Christ was\nto be born<\/em>.\u201d  He then shares the\ninformation with the magi and sends them on their way, claiming that he wants to\ngive Jesus homage.  This is a lie as he\nintends to kill Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herod was\ntroubled but as the magi resumed their journey, \u201cthey were overjoyed<\/em> at seeing\nthe star<\/em>\u201d again.  When they arrived\nat the house, \u201cThey prostrated themselves\nand did him homage.<\/em>\u201d  They knew him\nto be a king so their homage might seem ordinary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think there\nwas something more here.  They were\nguided by the light to see Jesus.  Their\nhomage reminds me of what Isaiah said in the first reading, \u201cThen you shall be radiant at what you see,\nyour heart shall throb and overflow.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulfilling\nPsalm 72, they offered gifts.  Fulfilling\nwhat Isaiah says in our first reading, the gifts included gold and\nfrankincense.  One might suppose that\nthese gifts were simply ordinary gifts for royalty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gold does\nindeed signify kingship.  It was rare and\nof great value, thus often not possessed by the average person.  Even today, gold symbolizes \u201cvalue\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frankincense\nis similar to what we use as incense. \nHowever, it is not simply smoke rising up.  The gift of frankincense symbolizes Jesus\u2019\ndivinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myrrh is an\noil.  For Jesus, we might think of his\nanointing.  The word \u201cChrist\u201d means\n\u201canointed one.\u201d  Kings were anointed but,\nin Jesus\u2019 case, we might also think of how bodies were anointed at death.  As such, the gift of myrrh would prefigure\nJesus\u2019 Crucifixion for our sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magi gave\nthe first Christmas gifts to Jesus.  This\nis fitting as it is his birthday.  Today,\nmany people exchange gifts with other people for Christmas.  The gifts given to one another are meant to\nsymbolize our love and care for one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about\ngifts between us and Jesus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember\none Christmas when I was probably nine or ten years old.  We were at one of my aunt\u2019s house for\nChristmas.  After all the gifts were\nhanded out, I noticed a card in an envelope on the tree with Jesus\u2019 name on\nit.  I asked what it was there for.  My aunt said they always made sure they gave a\ngift to Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitting.  After all, it is his birthday.  Shouldn\u2019t Jesus get a gift?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We exchange\ngifts with other people.  Shouldn\u2019t we do\nthe same with Jesus?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might\nwonder how we exchange gifts with Jesus. \nFirst, how does Jesus give us gifts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus gives\nus the gift of his very life for us. \nWhat more could we ask for?  But\nthere is more!  Jesus keeps on giving!  He gives us grace to follow him.  This week I will begin a new series of\npresentations on how the Sacraments are channels of God\u2019s grace.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what can\nwe give Jesus in return?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can a\nhuman being possibly give GOD<\/em><\/strong> as a gift?  Talk about a person who is impossible to shop\nfor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we live\nin darkness, Jesus gives us the gift of light to walk by.  When we become radiant in Jesus\u2019 light, He\nwants us to share that light with those around us.  This is a gift pleasing to the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another gift\nwe can give Jesus is our homage.  We show\nour gratitude for what God has given us through our praise.  We can do this in private prayer.  We can do this by speaking to others of how\nGod has blessed us with gifts of grace. \nSome see Mass only in terms of what they get out of it but Mass has at\nits core giving praise to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spoke a\nmoment ago about \u201cgratitude.\u201d  We receive\nvarious gifts from other people.  Are we\nalways \u201cthankful\u201d for what we have been given? \nWe can show our gratitude, our \u201cappreciation\u201d for the gift by using it\nwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus gives\nyou light.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus gives\nyou grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus gives\nus forgiveness through his Crucifixion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus gives you\nlove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you\nreceive his light, grace, forgiveness, and love with gratitude, choosing to\nfollow his ways?  Or are you upset that\nyou didn\u2019t get what you want<\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God gives you\ninfinite love.  All He wants in return is\nfor you to love him back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Epiphany of the LordIsaiah 60:1-6Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 (11)Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6Matthew 2:1-12January 5, 2020 At Christmas we heard that the shepherds were the first to hear the \u201cgood news of great joy\u201d that \u201ca savior has been born\u2026who is Christ and Lord.\u201d  However, the shepherds were not the only ones to visit Jesus. …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘The Epiphany of the Lord – Homily’ »<\/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":[62,82],"tags":[233,673],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-NE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3078"}],"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=3078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3079,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3078\/revisions\/3079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}