A homily for The Epiphany of the Lord, January 5, 2025
Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12
I can still hear Mom’s voice when I find something I was looking for in the most obvious place:
“If it had teeth, it would have bitten you.”
Yeah: It was on the table in plain sight. That’s why I didn’t see it.
I’ve stared at things in plain sight without seeing them countless times because I take a lot of things for granted. I know I’m not alone in this.
We take so, so many of the things — and the people — in our lives for granted. And that’s not always a bad thing; sometimes, there’s comfort in just … being. In just having. Being part of a flock or a herd or a crowd. Having a home or a favorite seat or special spot.
That’s the good “for granted.” The beauty of having people and things we can count on. Safety. Familiarity. Comfort, like hot dogs and mac and cheese.
But our good “for granted” sometimes leads us to believe that everybody possesses everything we do, whether material comforts and necessities or caring people in their lives. And when we stop to realize they don’t, Christ challenges us to open our eyes and look. Not simply see, but look. Notice. Analyze. Evaluate.
And forge an action plan.
Tradition holds that the night was chilly in Bethlehem when Jesus took his first breath. The manger was no Waldorf-Astoria suite. And the gifts of the Magi, at first glance, made absolutely no sense. Why would the baby of poor villagers need frankincense and myrrh? What about blankets or furs or wood for the fire?
I guess they didn’t see the items on Mary’s registry.
Gold … that’s something else; everybody should win that lottery.
But those scholars from the East, those seers, they saw Truth wrapped in swaddling clothes. From the moment they spied the star, they knew the Truth of the Word Made Flesh, that Emmanuel was dwelling among humankind. And they were inspired.
Their action plan involved loading up the camels and following the star, wherever it led, however far it led.
How far are we willing to go to see Truth and act on it?
When the Only Begotten Son of God manifested himself on Earth and became known to us as Jesus of Nazareth, his life transformed this world and the next.
Through his Passion, Death and Resurrection at the tender young age of 33, Jesus smashed the bonds of death and opened the gates of Heaven for the children of Adam and Eve. Jesus atoned for the first people’s misuse of free will through their disobedience of God’s law.
Jesus gave God’s children on Earth a home in God’s heavenly kingdom.
That’s the finish line of the race Jesus ran.
But let’s not forget the steps he took and the pace he set in the three years before he returned to be with his — and our — Father. Let’s remember the way Jesus lived his life and embrace his Way as our own. Let’s run the race of our lives led by Christ and his Light.
Jesus, the wandering rabbi, healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the hungry. He declared that all human beings have dignity because everyone, created in the image and likeness of God, have the right to call God “Abba.” “Father.” His royal crown was woven out of razor-sharp thorns. His throne was a Roman executioner’s cross.
His proclamations of charity, kindness and respect uplifted the forgotten and downtrodden.
We can do no less.
As his physical hands on Earth, we are called by Christ to look, to seek and to find our sisters and brothers in need of whatever gifts we have to share. Time. Talent. Treasure.
Yes, we need to look and listen to see and hear the least among us and to determine how we can show kindness and charity. To forge our action plans based in the Truth of Christ and the truth of the present situation.
Because all too often, people with needs — large or small, but needs nonetheless — are right there in plain sight.
