Sorry I am little behind in getting this email homily to you but it was a busy weekend for me. If you get a chance I suggest you listen to this homily as the message is partly in the presentation!

I hope you have a great week.

God Bless

According to ancient tradition handed on by believers over the centuries the three wise men were from three different generations: Caspar was thought to be a very young man, Balthazar was a middle-age man and Melchior was a senior citizen.[1]

The story is told how they reached the end of their journey in Bethlehem and finding the place where Jesus, Mary and Joseph were, each one entered individually, starting with the eldest to the youngest. Upon entering the room, Melchior, the eldest, sees only one elderly man seated and he quickly felt at ease. He sits down and has a wonderful conversation about fond memories and gratitude for a life well lived. Balthazar goes in next and meets a middle-aged teacher. His conversation with the teacher is about responsibility, leadership and sharing stories of his life. Then young Casper enters the room and meets a young prophet. He shares stories of hope and promise for the future

After all three had their turn, the three gathered up their gifts and went back in together. There they encountered the baby Jesus with his proud parents. Only later did they realize what had happened. Jesus speaks to us at what stage in life we are currently in our lives. The old hear the call to integrity and wisdom. The middle-aged hear the call to service and responsibility. The young hear the call to identity and friendship. In other words, Christ comes and meets us where we are at. And that is a wonderful gift for us; that we realize that God in Christ comes to us wherever we are in life. Whether we are old, middle-aged or young. That is the gift we celebrate today with the feast of Epiphany, the manifestation of the light of the world.

You notice that we hear in today's gospel, these Magi looked at this star and they followed that star. So too, Christ comes to us and called to follow that guiding star. For us, the light is no longer a star that is external from us, but instead is now the light of faith burning within our hearts. The light of Christ is the Holy Spirit within us. Just as the Magi are called to look and follow, we, too, are called to look and follow where the light of Christ, guides us. And no matter where we are at, the Lord meets us where we are. Not where we are supposed to be. Not where we ought to be. Not where we would like to be or could be, but where we really are in our life; whether old or young; whether we are from immigrants in this land, or native; whether we are from one culture or another; whether we are active in our faith or inactive in our faith, Christ will meet us on the journey of our lives.

Yet we must open up our hearts. We must find a way to leave some room and to listen to where God is leading us. We must look at the light and follow the light like the Magi. That requires of us openness. That requires of us a willingness to listen to where God is leading me today, in this particular place and in this particular space in my life.

As we begin a new year, 2008, this will be a different year from last year. We are hopefully a little wiser than we were in 2007. And hopefully, in 2009, we will be a little wiser than we are today. The Lord promises to meet us where we are today, and calls us to something new to the light that drives us and guides us on our way, but we must be willing to listen.

It might be something as simple as a recommitment to loving our families, our spouse and our children. Or it might be something more challenging to take care of our elderly parents or to take care of somebody else in our family or in our neighborhood. It could be something more radical, to now reach out to somebody disenfranchised. Maybe that someone is in our own families or maybe well outside our family, in our neighborhood or beyond. We might be called to something very different. This is a new day, a new year, a new dawn.

There is another important note about the Magi. When they left the place where they met Jesus, the place where they experienced the Christ, they returned a different way, they went another way home. This is the evangelist's way of saying they had a conversion upon experiencing Christ and that they went back a different way; that is to say they had changed who they were.

So too it is with you and me when we come to experience Christ personally. We become different; we cannot go back the same way. That is what we celebrate every single Sunday when we come to this table. We come to this table and we promise to experience Christ. This is not just any other day. This is not just another day. This is our Sunday. This is a day when we promise to experience Christ anew and to be changed by that experience, be changed by seeing each other in community, be changed by experiencing and receiving Christ in the bread and the wine and we must allow ourselves to change and to go forth from here a different people. We must be prepared to change like the Magi, and that requires of us listening and looking for the light of Christ within us, who is guiding us to something different this day.

So as we leave here today, may we be very sure that we are called to change. We are called to something new. This is our day; this is our Sunday in which we become different people. This is the day we become renewed by Christ at this table. This is the day we become a light to the world. We need to leave by a different route than we came. So as we go home, make sure we go back a different way.

[1] Adapted from story told by Patricia Datchuck Sanchez, "Celebration: An Ecumenical Worship Resource," (Kansas City, Missouri: National Catholic Reporter Company, Inc., January 2, 2004)

The Epiphany of the Lord

Reading 1
Is 60:1- 6

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.

Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13

R (cf. 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
R Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Reading II
Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6

Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Gospel
Mt 2:1-12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
"Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage."
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel."
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
"Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage."
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.

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