Homily
Fr O’Grady
Feast of Epiphany 2016
As we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany the icon of this day is the star in the heavens
Stars are a beautiful symbol of God’s magnificence and the beauty of creation.
Stars guided the sailors at sea for centuries and still are guidepost for satellites.
Stars are a sign of romance and for some although mistaken are used as a way to foretell one’s future in horoscopes
I love the funny story of the man who was telling a friend that an astrologer said to him the “Your wife’s second husband will be rich, brilliant and handsome. The friend then asked his, “didn’t this bother you to hear this type of prediction”? “Yes, it did upset me.. I didn’t know my wife had been married before”.
For some people they can make the stars tell what they want to hear.
But what DOES THE Star of Bethlehem tells us today?
During WWII a young bride from New Jersey followed her soldier husband to an army camp in California desert. Her husband advised her that living conditions would not be great. When couple arrived at camp the only housing was near an old Indian village with decrepit houses and unbearable heat. The wind blew always and sand everywhere. On days when her husband had to be away for more maneuvers, the loneliness became unbearable. She wrote to her mother and said she wanted to leave and come home. She received a reply and it the mother quoted a saying that was from a placque on her wall and it went like this:
TWO MEN LOOKED OUT FROM PRISON BARS,
ONE SAW MUD, THE OTHER STARS.
The daughter read this and made a decision.. I’ll look for stars. In other words she tried to find meaning and beauty in her situation which was the desert. She studied the plants, cacti and desert life and in time wrote a book and in years became an expert on desert plant life and environment.
What had changed in this the woman’s life? Not the weather. Not the Indians. Not the desert. What changed her was changing her attitude by looking at the stars and not the mud or her fears and loneliness.
So often in life people are in the prisons of their own hurts, grief, attitudes, fears.
Life today can keep us so preoccupied with technology, business, demands of everyday that we are often trapped with the schedules and tiredness of life.
This feast of Epiphany teaches us to look up at the STARS OF FAITH, THE STARS OF HOPE And the STARS OF CHRISTMAS
And like the 3 kings to make the Magi’s journey of faith also our own journey as we begin the New Year of 2016.
-SO WHAT DOES OUR JOURNEY OF FAITH LOOK LIKE?
We make that journey of faith whenever we step out of thewell worn paths of everyday routine.
-We make that journey of faith when we follow the urges of our hearts to do more and love more and forgive more.
-We make that journey of faith when we allow the Spirit of God to take over and we make that journey of faith when we close off the noise of the world and privately communicate privately with God.
-we MAKE THAT JOURNEY OF FAITH WHEN WE BECOME MORE COMMITTED TO THE Church, to Jesus and to being an active player in his work.
BUT LIKE THE THREE KINGS THAT JOURNEY HAS ITS MOMENTS AND CHALLENGES.
like the Magi, this faith journey can be a lonely one esp when no one else in your family such as your grown children follow you in Church or believe what you believe. Some of you might have left your family members still reading the newspaper or watching TV or still longing in the bed on a Sunday morning.
Maybe some of you might be taking your journey of faith almost alone at school or at work when classmates orco workersmay think you are strange for your faith and beliefs and not following the crowd.
The journey of faith can cost you something. Like the Magi giving gifts of Gold, Incense and Myrrh and if committed as Christians we give self in service to others either time, charity, donations and service but do so happily.
But all that said the journey of faith can be the most rewarding of all journeys because you will have found true peace and fulfillment and good conscience in doing God’s will and doing God’s work in our world.
When we invest in the style of Christ, we are investing in the most important cause the world will ever know..that journey of faith leads to eternal life.
The journey to Bethlehem leads beyond Bethlehem. It leads to Heaven. The star of the Magi will eventually come to rest over the New Jerusalem. The journey which we take by faith, through the brush and over the rocks and ruts of earth will lead us to a place we will call home.
SO THIS NEW YEAR MAKE THIS JOURNEY WITH CONFIDENCE AND JOY.