Today’s question requires a physical response. I’d like each of you, right now, to point towards the East. Yes, that’s right. Well, there seems to be some difference of opinion. Since our sanctuary is circular, it is difficult to be sure which direction is East. However, since the astrologers we heard about in today’s gospel came out of the East, I thought it might be a good idea to see how many of you might recognize the direction from which they came.
Actually, due East is directly behind me. To verify this fact I used my pocket compass. If you don’t believe me, you can come up here after mass and check it out yourself. You might be wondering why I asked you to point to the east, in the first place? In part, it’s to get you involved in today’s reading and the feast we celebrate today, the Epiphany.
In the pre-Vatican II liturgical year, Epiphany was celebrated on January 6th, the Twelfth Day after Christmas. But now we celebrate this feast day on the First Sunday after New Year’s Day. So, since this is “liturgically” the Twelfth Day of Christmas – even if it’s actually January 8th, two days later – I suppose I could have brought in twelve lords a leaping, but I thought the altar area might get a little crowded.
In some European cultures, Epiphany is celebrated as the major holiday, instead of having it on December 25th. It’s the day when the Christ-child was made known to the outside world, to the non-Jews, the gentiles, who came from Arabia to pay him homage as the new King of the Jews. And that’s what Epiphany means; to make manifest, to make something visible.
And what does all of this have to do with us, here at the beginning of the year we call 1989? Well, the focus of today’s reflection is this: how do I make Jesus the Christ visible to others? A corollary of this question is another one: how do I react when I hear a new message? Where do we start these reflections on reactions to a new message and making Christ visible in this world?
Perhaps we should begin with thinking about King Herod and how he reacted to the question the astrologers put to him. First of all, no one is sure just how many astrologers showed up some two-thousand years ago in Jerusalem. The Greek word for these men is “magi”; it’s plural, so there must have been more than one. Some early traditions had the number twelve; but later traditions settled on three, one for each of the three gifts mentioned in the gospel: gold, frankincense and myrrh. But these details really don’t matter; at least not to Matthew who tells us the story.
What did matter to Matthew? It was simply this: at some point after the birth of the child who was to be the Messiah, strangers, foreigners, showed up in the capital city of the Jews looking for this child who was to be the Messiah, the leader who would save the Hebrews, who would usher in the new age of Yahweh. These were not Jewish scholars; they were unbelievers. Yet they came to do homage to this child. When they arrived in Jerusalem, what better person to ask about this new-born king than the present ruler, the current king of the Jews. After all, wasn’t he charged with the responsibility of leading these people until the Messiah came? Wasn’t the king awaiting the arrival of the Messiah just as eagerly as the rest of the people were; all those who had been calling out for deliverance for so many years?
Evidently King Herod was not waiting for the Messiah. In the first place, even though he was the recognized leader of the Jewish community, he had no idea where the Messiah was to have been born. He had to call together all of the chief priests and the learned scribes to ask them what they thought. And after checking all of their resource books, they finally came up with an answer. The Messiah was to come from this little village about five miles south of Jerusalem. Even then, King Herod was not pleased.
When he heard the news from these foreigners that the Messiah may have been born and that they had come to pay this new-born child homage as if he were royalty, King Herod devised a plan to learn more about the child so that he could kill him. How do we know this? We don’t learn it from today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel. But if we continue, we come to the account of how, when the astrologers did not report back to Herod, he sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all male children two years of age or under.
Herod’s reaction to the good news of the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of his people, was that, fearing the loss of his own power, he had to destroy this new-born king. The question is: do we react the same way? When presented with a change in my life, do I see it as a new-found opportunity or as a new threat?
Last week, Deacon Les talked about the new year and about change. For the next few minutes, I’d like to address this issue, as well. The question is: what change is being asked of me? For one thing, I am being asked to become a “new Jerusalem”. Just what does that mean?
For the past weeks during much of the Christmas season, we’ve heard readings from the prophet Isaiah about Jerusalem. Even today’s first reading begins: “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.”
Why have we been hearing so much about Jerusalem, about a city in the Middle East which has been torn by strife and conflict for so many centuries and is still in the newspapers today for the same reason. Do we read this passage from Isaiah and believe this city in Israel is, indeed, to rise up? Some would believe this. However, for Christians, over the centuries, the reference to Jerusalem is not to a specific city but rather, to the “people of God.”
The early christians saw themselves as the “new Jerusalem”, the “new kingdom,” a people who would someday replace the earth-bound city of Jerusalem. When those early Christians prayed the Psalms and read the words of Isaiah, what they were really saying was: “Rise up in splendor, you Christians! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.”
This is our own challenge today in 1989. We are those same Christians. We are the “new Jerusalem.” The message we need to hear is this: “Rise up in splendor, you members of Christ the Good Shepherd! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” And when you hear that message, do you see it as a threat or an opportunity.
Just what does it mean to know that “our light has come”? I believe it means we are to take that light and to shine it forth to others. We are called to make that light visible to others. We are called to make Christ visible to others. We are each called to be Epiphanies.
How are we to do this? By living out our lives as Christians. By hearing the new message and allowing it to change our lives. Change is not easy. Whether it is at a community or a personal level. Consider how in a few short days we will have a change in our national government. Each time a new president is inaugurated, even when his political party is the same, there is a time for change. Some see this in terms of new opportunities, others as new threats.
Other nations have similar concerns; it ‘s not unique to the United States. In the U.S.S.R. some soviets view Mr. Gorbachev’s “glasnost” as a new opportunity; others within the existing power structure see it as a new threat. At the same time, when I was thinking about this homily, the image came to me of Gorbachev’s recent visit to the United States. Here was a modern stranger visiting a foreign country with a message that some in the U.S. would see as a new opportunity and others would see as a new threat.
Although political changes give us a clear picture of change in terms of threat or opportunity, our own personal lives have changes which give us similar attitudes. Each of us can view this new year in terms of opportunities or threats. And within this year, we each have specific changes ahead of us.
For some a new job. For others a move to a new home. There can be new acquaintances and new friends or enemies. For some, there are unforseen crises: problems of health, perhaps the death of loved ones. Some situations call for new determination: areas of alcoholism, substance abuse: drugs, or tobacco, or even food. Others are called to consider such tragic matters as child abuse. For some there is the need to think about changing a relationship which is detrimental to our well-being. Each change is difficult. Each change has built-in fears and doubts. Yet each change can be a new opportunity. What kind of an opportunity?
An opportunity to make Christ more visible to others! When we are called upon to make a change, this attitude needs to become our guiding light. How, by my decision, by my action, how do I make Christ more visible to others? My focus must be on him, upon Jesus the Christ, in order for the change to be seen as an opportunity and not a threat.
At the beginning of this reflection, I asked each of you to point towards the East. Not everyone got it right. However, if you are ever in a church and asked that question again, you are almost certain to be correct if you point in the direction behind the altar. From the earliest days of Christianity, churches have been built so that the people face towards the East. In that way, the rising sun can always be seen through the stained-glass windows above the altar and the people can be reminded of the light of the risen Christ.
What our Christian buildings accomplish, we also should do. If we face the light of the Christ, if we allow his light to shine upon us as we make our choices and live out our lives, it is then that we can be an Epiphany to others.
Epiphany; January 8, 1989
Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3, 5-6; Mt 2:1-12