Fr. Rick Spicer

For Christmas, my sister-in-law gave me a copy of Doonesbury at 40. This cartoon strip, started by Gary Trudeau when he was a student at Yale, has reflected the political and social milestones of Joanie, Mike, Duke, BD and Zonker and their children over the past 4 decades. In a recent interview, Trudeau said that the unique visual style and voice of Doonesbury began in a drawing class he took, expecting an easy A. “I was pretty happy with the drawings I was doing in class, and yet they were sort of the visual equivalent of Muzak…they were sort of charcoal stylings and they were very facile.

“And one day the professor came over and looked at my drawing, and he ripped it off my drawing board and proceeded to tear it into pieces in front of the rest of the class. And he looked at me and said, ‘Yes, I know you can draw. What I’d really like to know is whether you can see.'”

Any fan of Doonesbury would agree that Gary Trudeau learned his lesson that day; he went on to really see what is going on to the people and things around him. That is the challenge which John the Baptist leaves us with in today’s gospel. Can we see what he means when he tells us to behold the Lamb of God?

Twice in today’s gospel, John the Baptist makes the point that for much of his life, he did not know who Jesus really was. That’s a surprising admission when we consider that he and Jesus were cousins born only six months apart.

Most of us, like John the Baptist, have known Jesus since childhood. We have seen pictures of Jesus, we learned about him from our parents and in religion classes. We listened to his stories told in scripture and explained in homilies. For many of us, Jesus remains a kind person whose birth we celebrate at Christmas and whose resurrection we celebrate at Easter. But do we see him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?

One of my seminary professors, Fr. Kilian McDonnell observed, “No man will celebrate the mystery of Christ in joy if he does not first recognize in sorrow that he is a sinner who needs a savior.”

Few of us have been blest with a vision like the one John the Baptist saw after he baptized his cousin in the Jordan River. However, we have dealt with the blinders that impede us from fully seeing God, namely the reality of sin in our lives. Looking at recent headlines, such as the massacre that occurred in Tucson last Saturday, we cannot deny that sin is very much a part of our human nature but do we see sin as the primary reason why Jesus is in our midst?

Can we see that God is calling us to be holy people in the midst of such violence? Can we see that God wants his salvation to reach to the ends of the earth? Can we see that whatever anger and hostility we cling to undermines the mission of the Lamb of God? We become holy when we see that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy, which is why before receiving communion, we implore, “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.”

When we say that, we are remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross, empowering us to forgive others just as he forgives us. We see that his sacrifice makes God’s love real on earth and we see that joining Jesus in sacrificial love is the only way we can be his followers and do what we can to take away the sin of the world.

Just as Gary Trudeau’s teacher challenged him to see, John the Baptist is challenging us to see the Lamb of God in our midst, to see and hear the compassion of God in our lives, to uncover and lift up God’s grace that goes largely unnoticed in the simplest acts of forgiveness and justice. We often find ourselves rushing through the day too busy to see the love of God illuminating even our darkest nights.

Last week in Tucson, President Obama used the moment to invite us to see that reality in the midst of tragedy. He said, “I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us. That’s what I believe, in part because that’s what a child like Christina Taylor Green believed. I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us, we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.”

However imperfect we are, we have to keep our hearts and eyes open so that we will see who Jesus has been all along. We can see him as our Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, inviting us by our example to make a difference in the lives of those around us, helping to create the country we want our children to inherit.

There is nothing greater that any of us can do in our lives than point Christ out to others. May we see this new year with new eyes, enabling us to transform the Jordans we cross into flowing rivers of God’s reconciliation and justice.

A century ago, a young woman named Agnes was born in Eastern Europe. On the feast of Epiphany in 1929 at age 18, she arrived by train in the capital city of Bengal in British India. This bright young nun spent the next 20 years teaching geography in a boarding school.

In 1949, she felt a powerful call from God to spend her life serving the dying and the poorest of the poor. She asked the local bishop for permission to set up a religious order devoted to this ministry. At first, he scoffed at the idea but eventually he agreed to her request.

Until her death in 1997, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta treated over 50,000 dying people. Her order, the Missionaries of Charity, now work in more than 60 countries around the world. Fifty years after stepping off the train in Calcutta, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. No wonder the world came to a standstill when she died. She was a true saint for our times, a living example of what this feast is all about: revealing God’s love to all peoples.

Filled with much folklore, the true meaning of Epiphany may not be so apparent. We envision three wise men following a star across a barren desert, bringing gifts for the new born king of the Jews. Actually, we know little about this event. Matthew does not tell us the names of the wise men, how many there were, or even where they came from, but that doesn’t matter. What does is that God revealed his son, Jesus, to them so that peoples of all nations could experience God’s divine love.

For this reason, the story of the Magi was more significant than Christmas to non-Jewish Christians in the early Church. Until the birth of Jesus, God had revealed himself and his love only through signs and prophets to the people of Israel. At Christmas, God was revealed in the person of Jesus to the Jews and with the visit of the Magi, God was now revealed to all peoples.

For Mother Teresa, the revelation of Epiphany was simple yet challenging. She once said, “Everyone is created by God and deserving of love. It does not matter if the person is male or female, Moslem or Christian or Jew. It does not matter the person’s race or nationality. All that matters is that the person is created by God and deserves love.”

Isaiah paints a magnificent image of the Jews returning to Jerusalem after their captivity in Babylon with all the nations joining in the pilgrimage. He envisions that the entire world will witness the glory of God but for this to happen, each person must cooperate in spreading that light to others. “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you…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.” In other words, by our example, others will find God.

Throughout history, God’s revelation was a gradual process. The Jews were chosen to keep alive the belief in the one true God and the hope for the promised Messiah. When the time came, God also manifested himself to the Gentiles beginning with the Magi so that they could also share in the promise of redemption. As Paul points out, the news is out, all peoples are members of the same body; everyone has been chosen to receive the good news of God’s unconditional love.

This is an important message for us to hear today, when there is such racial, ethnic and religious intolerance, here and abroad. Simply put, all peoples are invited to rejoice in the glory of the Lord; the signs of God’s presence are revealed to all.

Perhaps, you probably know people who are deeply sensitive in a given area, for example, issues of social justice or the use of inclusive language or services to the poor. And yet these same people can at times be blithely insensitive in other ways, sharing ethnic jokes, for example, or stereotyping people on the basis of their ethnic origins.

The vision of Epiphany as phrased by Mother Teresa is simple, yet utterly profound. Everyone, from the newest baby of the year to the inmates on death row at Walla Walla is created by God and deserving of love. And how is God’s love manifested? Through you and me for we are expected to reveal God’s love to our neighbors. We are God’s hands and voices for making that love manifest in the lives of others. To quote Mother Teresa, “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do; but how much love we put into that action.”

Like the magi, we need to be open to God’s direction in our lives. Through prayer, we become open to the ways that God may be directing our lives. Like the magi, may we never hesitate to seek help along the way, especially when in doubt. By living out this Epiphany vision, we turn into “stars” to guide others to Christ.

The original gifts of Epiphany were, as you recall, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In biblical times, they were very precious and valuable. Only one gift matters and that gift is love. Today, we join the magi in worshipping Christ, our new born king. There is no better way for us to adore him than to follow the example of Blessed Mother Teresa by offering everyone love without distinction, without qualification, and without hesitation.

The feast of the Holy Family, which we celebrate this morning, provides an opportune moment for us to reflect on the role of family in our lives. For most of us, no other group of people shaped who we are more than the family in which we grew up.

Some of us came from traditional family settings, a home with a father, mother, and siblings. Others came from single parent homes. I know couples who are raising their grandchildren. In some households, the roles are now reversed. Adult children find themselves caring for an aging and infirmed parent, heeding the message of Sirach.

What we have in common is that even if we are now living alone, we have our roots in a family setting. Blood ties alone do not create a family. In my ministry, I have encountered too many examples of relatives who refuse to communicate with one another for any number of reasons. On the other hand, I have seen some people, although unrelated, who have bonded together very much like a family.

What makes any group of people a family? That word comes from the Latin word, famulus, which means servant. Nearly any kid would agree with that definition, considering all the household chores they have to do! Serving one another is what keeps a family together. In the family, each person serves the needs of others, ideally placing their needs, interests, desires, and delights aside for the sake of others, treating them as Paul suggest we do in his letter that we just heard. Think of his advice as a new set of commandments, couched in positive language to practice the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, patience and gentleness.

Speaking of service, fifty years ago, JFK raised the conscience of this nation when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Likewise, Sirach and Paul are urging us to approach our family with a similar question, namely, “What can I do for my family?”

This feast, coming near the start of a new year, provides an opportune moment for families to discern their bill of health by taking a look at what social scientists call the “unintentional consequences” of our choices.

When was the last time you told your spouse, parent, child or sibling, “I love you?” Failing to express love can spell trouble in due time. Many marriages have failed because the love that once brought couples together grew silent. Many adolescents, feeling rejected, either run away from home or have taken their lives because no one ever said those three significant words until it was too late. Some people have turned to addiction because the love they seek is missing from their lives.

Some parents may feel that providing for their children is more important than being their companions, so they put in more time at work, earning the income to buy what they presume the family needs or wants. For some reason, they think their children prefer presents to their personal presence.

While we may not be able to control the economic forces that influence some of our daily decisions, we can decide what really matters in our lives. We can decide that God and people are more important than things.

We can decide that families are more important than our careers. We can decide that our children will be raised, not by their peers or the entertainment industry, but by us. We can decide that we have values worth handing onto our children and they would be better people for having them. We can decide that spending time with our children is a winning situation for everyone involved.

Granted, parenting is not an easy task.  Scott Peck, in his book, The Road Less Traveled, observed that this challenging responsibility is undertaken by most people without any formal training. Parents generally parent their children in the manner in which they were parented.

We don’t know much about what life was like for the holy family, but I suspect they were much more down to earth than we realize. We may tend to idealize the holy family yet as the gospel narrates, they had their share of challenges. They experienced the anxieties and sorrows of family life. They serve for us as a model of how every family can be holy and real. By real, I mean simply that every member can be respecting, encouraging, affirming, and loving. That would be a fitting way to put Paul’s advice into practice with those who matter most to us.

Lady Bird Johnson offered this advice, “Each day do a little more than you think you can.” Imagine how different life would be in the home if we adopted her wisdom. Each day, love a little more than you think you can.  Each day, forgive a little more than you think you can. Each day, reach out to someone who is hurting a little more than you think you can. If we made this our new year’s resolution, it would be one of the best gifts we could give to our family in the coming year.

We come from near and far to gather this night/day for a special reason.  We come to encounter the baby Jesus.  People first came to encounter him 2000 years ago. First, shepherds, then wise men, then the apostles and many disciples ever since.

You came here tonight without having to knock on any doors.  Yet if you were to go to someone else’s home, you would usually knock on that person’s door, wouldn’t you?

One day, a priest went to visit a parishioner. No one answered, but he could hear the radio playing and even some footsteps so he knew someone had to be home. He knocked louder. No one came. Finally, he pounded on the door, but still got no response. So he took out a business card, wrote a Bible verse on it and stuck it in the door.

Ten minutes after he left, a lady – who had been in the house all the time – opened the door. When she did, the card fell down. She saw the priest’s name and the Bible verse: Revelation 3:20. Curious, she got out her Bible and read the verse. It said: “Behold, I am standing at the door, knocking…if anyone opens the door, I will come in and we will have a meal together.”

On Sunday morning, the priest noticed his business card was in the collection basket. When he picked it up, he saw that his verse was crossed out and replaced by another Bible verse: Genesis 3:10. The priest went to his office and got out his Bible. The verse said, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

Whenever anyone knocks at your door, everything depends on whether you open that door. Sometimes it would not make much difference if you open the door, especially to a parish priest, but have you ever thought that someone much more important is knocking at your door and mine?

That someone is Jesus who is going to great lengths to be invited into our world. Before the universe began, before the stars, the sun, and the earth were even created, God had a plan to become one with us. At the right moment, his son, Jesus, as we heard in the gospel story, was born in Bethlehem to a Jewish maiden named Mary.

From the moment he was born, you could say that Jesus knocked on doors to enter the lives of many people since his birth in Bethlehem. They opened the doors of their hearts and let him in and that is what we are encouraged to do ourselves. There is no reason to be afraid and hide from him.

My cousin had a painting that showed Jesus knocking on someone’s door.  What caught my eye was that there was no knob on the door!  Obviously, there was no way that Jesus could open the door.  The only way Jesus could enter would be if someone in the house opened the door for him. Likewise, Jesus can enter our hearts only if we open the doors to our hearts to let him enter, so imagine Jesus standing here and knocking at the door of your heart.  I pray that you welcome him into your heart not only on the day we celebrate his birth, but every day as well.

Think of the times when you open the door to your home and let someone in. Do you desire that person’s company or can you hardly wait for that person to leave?  When the visitor at the door is someone we love, we are excited to welcome that person into our lives. Not only that, we are inclined to tell others about what a delightful time we had with our visitor. Don’t you usually tell others about the visits of your relatives and friends?  And when you do, do you feel as though you are speaking from the heart?

That is how our new archbishop feels about Jesus. Every bishop has what is called a coat of arms. Archbishop Peter Sartain has a motto on his which reads, “Of you my heart has spoken.” That line is taken from psalm 27:8.  His heart always speaks of God.

Does our heart always speak of God? I hope so. Your very presence here at this liturgy speaks volumes that your heart speaks of God here and now. I urge you to allow your heart to speak of God every day just as our new archbishop does. Invite Jesus into your heart even after the Christmas tree is taken down and the decorations are put away. Even when Christmas becomes a distant memory, I hope you allow your heart to speak of God by being generous to those in need, being patient with your family and friends, being loving even to those whom you do not like, forgiving those who have hurt you, and being kind to everyone you meet, just as Jesus is kind and loving to you.

May you have a blessed Christmas not just today but for weeks to come.

Some people like to think they are in complete control of their lives. They plan their trips down to the last detail, while others venture along open to the unexpected. Those of us who live on Whidbey know that we are at the mercy of the ferry system. Luke tells us up front that Jesus simply intended to pass through Jericho, the lowest city in the world, until he spotted Zacchaeus in a tree. “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”

Ever faithful to his mission “to seek and to save what was lost,” Jesus figuratively ventured out on a limb himself for no Jew in his right mind would have done what he stopped to do, that is, socialize with a public sinner, which is how Zacchaeus’ neighbors viewed him. As intent as Jesus may have been to quickly pass through town, he was more intent on saving anyone who desired to be saved.

Keep in mind that Zacchaeus was the epitome of the despised person. A chief tax collector, this wealthy Jew was living off the sweat of the town folks, supporting the Romans with the monies he collected, so in their sight, he was the ultimate sinner, yet of all the residents in Jericho, he was the only one whom Jesus called by name.

What a surprise that must have been to those who witnessed this encounter and to Zacchaeus as well.  Then and there Jesus should have criticized the man, not dine with him! This left the residents of Jericho muttering, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner!”  For Zacchaeus, the notion that Jesus wanted to stay with him must have spoke volumes of God’s love for him.

I imagine Zacchaeus climbed out on a limb never expecting to be noticed. But he was and that left him a changed person. Instead of passing by, Jesus called him by name, something rarely noted in any of the gospels. In their heart to heart encounter, this short man could see that by noticing him, Jesus also loves him.

If we have ever been tempted to say, “No one in the world cares about me,” then possibly we cannot see how much God loves us. Despite the overwhelming size of the universe, God very much loves you, however much a sinner you may be in the sight of others or judge yourself to be. As the passage from Wisdom points out, God is in touch with all of creation. Jesus noticed this short man who may have thought he was out of sight sitting up in a tree but Jesus notices any who seek him.

That is the first point I feel Luke is trying to get across to us in this passage. However they may feel about themselves, Jesus calls all sinners to salvation. Those who seek Jesus, venturing out on the limbs of their lives, are saved.  Zacchaeus made the choice literally and figuratively to climb out on a limb of a sycamore tree. Likewise, we are encouraged to do the same.

Seeing Jesus isn’t enough to be saved.  Many residents in Jericho saw him as he passed by but, unlike Zacchaeus, did they seek to see who Jesus was? Seeking him resulted in an encounter that prompted Zacchaeus to change his ways. “Half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I shall repay it four times over.”  In turn, Jesus assured him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.”

That brings me to the second point in this gospel passage. Like Zacchaeus, any sinner seeking Jesus will be moved to a change of heart and follow his example.  Recognizing that God notices and loves him, Zacchaeus was prompted to be generous like God, promising to give half of what he owned to the poor and make restitution to those whom he has wronged.

Salvation begins with recognizing what God has already done for us. He created us out of love to spend eternity with him in heaven. In turn, we can demonstrate our trust in God by offering some of what we have back to God as a sign of gratitude for all that God has done for us. We call that stewardship.

Morris West, a renowned Catholic novelist from Australia, once said, “If a man is centered upon himself, the smallest risk is too great for him, because both success and failure can destroy him. If he is centered upon God, then no risk is too great, because success is already guaranteed.

When we adopt stewardship as our way of life, we follow the example of Zacchaeus. Like him, we venture out on a limb to center our lives on God. If we believe that God indeed cares about us, we are prompted, as was Zacchaeus, to give God the first fruits of our labors rather than our spare change, that is, what is left over after paying all the bills.

I admit that climbing out on a limb to give God the first fruits of our labors may seem like a scary proposition to many people. At one time, I too struggled with making ends meet; I decided to practice stewardship by writing the first check of the month to the parish. When I began to dedicate the first part of my income to God, I began trusting that in the vastness of the universe, God indeed cared about me. Others in the parish have had the same experience.

In the coming week, I ask that you prayerfully consider how you have responded to God’s generosity in the past year. What are you sharing in gratitude for all that God has done for you? Be assured that when you make stewardship a way of life, God will not be leaving you out on a limb.