Bishop Bradley’s Sunday Reflections
The Epiphany of the Lord/Mass for various Diocesan Volunteers
January 6, 2013 11:30 a.m. St. Augustine Cathedral
For many people, today will be the day, if it hasn’t already happened, when all the Christmas decorations are taken down.
For most of the world, Christmas is over---it’s time to get back to normal schedules, as tomorrow most of our schools resume their winter semester after a nice, long break.
But, here in our “Church Life,” that’s not the case. We’re still celebrating Christmas. In fact, with today’s Feast of Epiphany (which this year actually falls on January 6th, the date which is traditionally celebrated as Epiphany and the 12th Day of Christmas), we expand the Christmas event from the birth of the Messiah, an event that at the time only Jewish believers recognized as hugely significant, to the birth of the Savior of the World---an event that changes everything for everyone!
On this very special Feast of Epiphany, we hear the call in each of our Readings to rejoice.
We heard the Prophet Isaiah in our First Reading shouting: “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your Light has come; the glory of the Lord shines upon you!”
Our voices joined together in our Psalm Response with that glorious message: “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you!”
In our Second Reading from the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul talks about “the mystery….now…revealed: that the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same Body, and co-partners (with the Jews) in the promise in Christ Jesus….”
And of course, the universality of Epiphany or the manifestation of God’s Presence in the world, is symbolized in the appearance of the “Magi from the East” which we just heard about in this morning’s Gospel.
So, yes, we continue to celebrate Christmas today, celebrating the understanding that Jesus didn’t come into the world for only a select group of people, but for all people. And we will continue to celebrate the Christmas season until next Sunday when we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
You may have noticed that we had something a bit unusual as part of our Liturgy of the Word this morning----right after the Gospel was proclaimed there was a special proclamation made about the important Liturgical Dates that will be coming during this year.
If you listened closely, you will have noticed that all the dates focus on the great Feast of Easter, which this year comes on March 31st---less than three months from today; which means that Ash Wednesday and Lent begins in just about six weeks.
Christmas is so important because Jesus was born into our world---God became One with us---God entered into our human experience and, while remaining divine, took on our human nature.
Epiphany is so important because we celebrate the fact that Jesus was born to be the Savior for the entire world.
But, Christmas and Epiphany pale in significance in relation to Easter because Jesus was born SO THAT HE could reconcile and save the world through His suffering, death and Resurrection!-----THAT’s EASTER!
It’s all a part of the genius and the mercy of God’s amazing plan of salvation. Before Jesus could save the world from sin; before He could free us from the power of evil; before He could show us how to live loving lives by the way He lived His life of love; before Jesus could accomplish the ultimate purpose behind God’s Plan of salvation, we needed Christmas, and we needed Epiphany, the manifestation of God’s Presence to all the nations!
And so today, we should really enjoy this part of the Christmas Message as we reflect on the coming of those strangers from the Far East.
We heard St. Matthew describe them as Magi; tradition tells us there were three, but there could have been more, or less; tradition also sometimes calls them kings, or astrologers, or wise men who “bearing gifts, (we) traverse afar, (over) field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder Star!”
And after all that traveling and searching and following, the star led them in their search for a “new King,” to the palace of the current king, Herod, in the royal city of Jerusalem.
St. Matthew tells us that the Magi were filled with excitement; Herod, however, was “greatly troubled and all Jerusalem with him.
The star led those who were seeking the new-born King for good reasons to encounter the One who would represent those who would reject the same child for evil reasons.
In that meeting, we find the basic choice that every person in the history of the world has been given: to choose to follow Jesus to salvation, OR to choose to reject Jesus and His ways which leads to Destruction.
This Feast of Epiphany isn’t some nice, romantic add-on to the Christmas Story. No, Epiphany represents an extremely important choice, for, or against God’s amazing plan of salvation for the world.
As we heard in the Gospel, after this encounter, the Magi continued to follow the star, which led them to a house in Bethlehem. Matthew tells us that when they entered the house, “they saw the Child with Mary His Mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”
That is such an important piece of information for us to ponder and reflect on.
“They prostrated themselves” when they saw the Child with His Mother!
Prostration is one of those actions that, I suspect none of us does too often. Prostration means that we literally fall on our face---which we completely submit our bodies to the One for whom we are prostrating. It’s one of the most graphic and dramatic acts of faith that we can make.
When a man is about to be ordained as a Deacon, a Priest or a Bishop, as part of the Ordination Rite he prostrateshimself as a sign of absolute submission to God’s Will.
Perhaps the closest thing that we get to prostrating on a regular basis when it comes to our posture here at Mass is when we genuflect when we come into or leave the Church because we are recognizing the real presence of Christ in the Tabernacle, or when we kneel throughout the Eucharistic Prayer because we are preparing ourselves for the sacramental coming of Christ in His Body and Blood through what takes place at the consecration.
Prostration or kneeling are acts of submission and profound respect, acknowledging that we are in the Presence of God.
That’s what the Magi did when they saw the Child with His Mother---they prostrated themselves, and then they gave him Gifts. Not just something extra or left over from their journey, but their most precious gifts possible: one gave the Child gold---a symbol of the Child’s kingship; one gave the Child Frankincense---a symbol of the Child’s divinity; and one gave the Child myrrh---a symbol of the Child’s humanity, and his mortality.
Dear Friends, what about us? What do we choose to give the Child as we find ourselves six days into this New Year? Even as we perhaps are taking down our Christmas decorations and putting everything away for another year, we need to remember that we’re beginning another chapter in our own pilgrimage of faith. What can we learn from these Wise Men---these seekers of the Truth?
We may not have gold, frankincense or myrrh to offer the Child Jesus, but we can give Him our Heart! W e may not fall on our face in actual prostration, but we can once again recommit ourselves to live lives of strong Faith and submission to God’s Will in our daily lives.
As we face this New Year, who knows what the year will hold? No doubt as 2013 proceeds, we will all find some challenges to face, some difficulties to endure, some sorrows to bear, and hopefully many joys and successes and wonderful accomplishments as well. Will we face what comes into our lives as the Magi did----with Hope and Excitement, following joyfully where the Star of God’s Providence leads us? Or will we face them as Herod did---by being fearful, angry, retaliatory or turning away from God when things don’t go our way?
We may put the Christmas tree and other decorations away, but what Christmas means can never be put away----Christmas makes all the difference in the world, and it remains the greatest Good News in this history of humanity.
Gaze once again upon this manger scene, or any manger scene, and allow yourself to be even more amazed at how deeply and unconditionally God loves you!
And as we allow ourselves to be amazed, let us make the conscious choice, as the Magi did, and as all people of faith do---to choose to live our lives according to God’s ways, and not to be distracted or seduced by the ways of our world which continues to reject God and God’s ways.
When we choose to follow Jesus in our lives, we actually are an Epiphany----because we choose to “make manifest” the Presence of God in our world through our own lives as disciples of Christ and people of faith.
God bless you, now and always!