Feast of the Epiphany - Homily 2

Homily 2 - 2010

Luke and Matthew have quite different agendas in their delightful reconstructions of Jesus’ infancy.

Luke chose to highlight a God present in a feed-box cradle, born to a homeless couple, who was good news to a group of shepherds (a job that put them at the bottom of the social scale), mothered by a woman who rejoiced that God pulled down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

Matthew’s agenda was quite different – not contradictory, perhaps, even, complementary, as we can see from today’s Gospel. The Gospel presented us with a group of men, Magi, a professional group in their country – astrologers. There are three things about them that interest me; and which, I think, are surprisingly relevant to us today.

The first thing: They somehow saw that the birth of Jesus had more than a nationalistic resonance – not just a Jewish thing. It was significant for them, too. God is the God interested in all peoples, all nations. Remember that wonderful photo of planet earth, taken from space by the first astronauts. It helped us get the sense that our world is a global village. But this is better than that. If God is God for all peoples, we are more than a global village - we are a global family, with family connections and responsibilities to everyone in our world.

The second thing about these men from the East that interests me is what it was that got them moving. They were alert to their natural world, the world of their own professional expertise, the world of the night skies and the stars. They heard the call of God mediated through the natural events they observed – and they responded. They didn’t bother whether the rest of the world got moving; they didn’t bother even that the ones who should have been concerned weren’t concerned – the chief priests and their advisors. They responded.

The third thing that interests me is that, when they found the object of their search – God born into the fabric of our world – they shared what wealth they had, their gold, frankincense and myrrh – not all that useful, perhaps, to Mary and Joseph, but meaningful to them – the expression of their income.

Friday was New Year’s Day, and, as has been the custom for the last 43 years, a wise man shared his convictions with the world.  Pope Benedict gave his annual statement for the World Day of Peace. He titled it: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation. This wise man has a profound sense of our world as a global village, even as global family under God.

[Like Luke, as well as Matthew, he is very aware that God is particularly concerned with those on the edge, those who are at the bottom of the pile, the victims of the self-interest of the wealthier and the more powerful.]

Back to the wise men of Matthew’s Gospel. Like them, Pope Benedict is profoundly alert to our natural world; and he hears the call of God mediated through what is happening in our natural world. He asks: Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity of vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes…? Can we disregard the growing phenomenon of “environmental refugees”, people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat to forsake it – and often their possessions as well – in order to face the dangers and uncertainties of forced displacement?

Like the wise men, he invites us to share the world’s wealth, to move beyond self-interest, and to be open to share what we have, even though it costs. He repeats this refrain a few times: Our present crises … call for a lifestyle marked by sobriety and solidarity, with new rules and forms of engagement… And again: Technologically advanced societies must be prepared to encourage more sober lifestyles, while reducing their energy consumption and improving its efficiency… And again: There is a need .. to move beyond a purely consumerist mentality..

I’ll wind up with a final quotation from Benedict: I would advocate the adoption of a model of development based on the centrality of the human person, on the promotion and sharing of the common good, on responsibility, on a realisation of our need for a changed life-style, and on prudence, the virtue which tells us what needs to be done today in view of what might happen tomorrow.

Matthew might be surprised at how relevant his story has remained.

We move now into Eucharist. The reconciling God comes among us once more – God’s energy of love drawing us into ever deeper solidarity – with everyone. In the Eucharistic Prayer we shall pray: Grant that we, who are nourished by Christ’s body and blood, may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ.