2021

When Jesus saw two of John’s disciples following him, he stopped and asked, “What are you looking for?” What would your answer be if Jesus said that to you?

Instead of answering his question, they asked Jesus, “Where are you staying?” He said, “Come, and you will see.” So they did. Whatever transpired that afternoon prompted Andrew to tell his brother, Peter, “We have found the Messiah.”

Can we say the same? What are we looking for in Jesus Christ? Is your perception of the Messiah what Jesus truly is? Jesus is constantly trying to get our attention just as he endeavored to get Samuel’s attention.

At first, Samuel wasn’t familiar with the Lord, because the Lord had not yet revealed anything to him. Centuries later, we are fortunate; the Lord has revealed much to us through the teachings of our Catholic faith toward building his kingdom, but when he calls us, are we willing to respond just as Samuel did? “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Listening is no easy task. We may hear what is being said, but are we listening? Sometimes we are distracted in the midst of hearing what is being said. Perhaps we heard something we objected to or took offense to so instead of continuing to listen, we protest inwardly and miss the rest of what the speaker is saying and likely misunderstood the intent of the message being conveyed.

It took God three tries to break through to Samuel and help him realize that it wasn’t the high priest Eli who was calling him. Fortunately, Eli realized what was happening and mentored Samuel, telling him, “Go to sleep and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak Lord for your servant is listening.’”

Eli introduced Samuel to the art of discernment, which is best done when the activity involves more than one’s own thinking. When God endeavors to speak to you through prayer, meditation, scripture reflection, or a homily, be willing to say, “Speak, Lord for your servant is listening.” You may hear God’s message in a way that otherwise would not have occurred to you. Or be less apt to prejudge what God is trying to convey.

Today’s psalm presents a challenge to us. “I come to do your will.” That isn’t an easy promise to make, yet if we are honest about seeing ourselves as a servant, like Samuel, we ought to do God’s will. Yet, as I said, that isn’t easy especially when we discover that God’s will might run contrary to ours. Repeatedly in his ministry Jesus endeavored to tell his followers the will of his Father for the sake of building the kingdom of God. Examples include the commandment to love God, which we demonstrate when we love others by carrying out the corporal works of mercy.

As we venture into ordinary time, John tells us, “Behold the Lamb of God!” He aims to show us that following Jesus is a very worthwhile endeavor, but first we need to ponder the question that Jesus asked, “What are you looking for?”

Are you looking for guidance to live a better life? If so, ponder what that means to you in light of what God is expecting of us, especially if we hope to hear the divine compliment, “With you I am well pleased.”

Are you looking for guidance to build the kingdom of God? Are you looking for guidance to draw closer to God? That is my endeavor whenever I preach the word of God. Some argue that politics and political issues shouldn’t be discussed in a homily.  To the contrary, if need be, I mention political issues to serve as a wakeup call to remind us that politics serves only to build earthly kingdoms but rarely God’s kingdom, which is our mission to build.

In preparing a homily, I rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance. Do you in turn rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance in listening to God’s word?

I have served this parish as your pastor for over 17 years. Never in that time has any homily generated the mixed reaction I experienced last Sunday. Amid the applause, others walked out, too upset to stay and partake of the Eucharist. I received affirmation from many parishioners, some priests and even a bishop, but some folks were angry, so much so that they have chosen to leave the parish. A priest in Chicago had the same experience in his parish.  He observed, “When you lance a boil, its messy, its painful, its smelly but it gets the poison out. We need to let some poison out of the system for the process of healing.”

Healing our wounded country, challenging us to do what we can to build God’s kingdom in this trying time by continuing the works of Christmas was and is my motive. I regret that some of what I said proved to be upsetting for some. By the way, I have never belonged to either political party, for I have issues with both of them. The flak I received from a handful of angry parishioners was painful and demeaning, and they accused me of doing that to them. I regret that what they heard was not what I said or ever intended. So, what are you looking for? Do you wish to build God’s kingdom?

President John Kennedy offered this insight. “Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” I concur and I hope you do as well. Let us seek to build God’s kingdom to heal our wounds.

The decorations that graced our church since Christmas Eve are now gone; stored in the loft until next December but hopefully the message of Christmas is still fresh in our minds. I closed my homily on Christmas with a reflection entitled, The Work of Christmas written by Howard Thurman, an African American poet, who summarized our Christmas challenge well in this way:

As I said then, Christmas is waiting to be born in you, in me, in all humanity but, first we have yet to fully understand the challenge of Christmas. If we did, every terrorist would be out of a job for as the angels proclaimed so long ago, there would be peace on earth on whom God’s favor rest.

Last Wednesday we witnessed an act of domestic terrorism that had never happened before. Angry Americans, reluctant to accept the verdict of the electorate that Joseph Biden had been elected president by a margin of more than 7 million votes over the sitting president, stormed through the halls of the Capitol in Washington, DC. How terrified members of Congress and others must have been during those tense moments. Mr. Thurman’s message, The Work of Christmas,must not be lost or dismissed or ignored. The challenge placed before the incoming administration, the new Congress, indeed every resident of this country is to rebuild our nation and a good starting point would be an epiphany.

An epiphany? Wasn’t that feast celebrated last Sunday? Yes, but that was actually the second of three epiphanies. The first occurred on Christmas when the eyes of the shepherds were opened to witness the majesty of their newborn Messiah. The second occurred when the eyes of the magi were opened to discover that God’s message of salvation was meant for all peoples, not just the Jews.  At his baptism, Jesus has his own epiphany when he learns, “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” Today we celebrate that third epiphany.

We believe by virtue of our own baptism, that we are God’s children, called to follow Jesus’ example. When we stand before God at our judgment, will we hear those same words? “With you I am well pleased.” Are our eyes open to what God is asking of us as we venture into ordinary time?

The National Catholic Reporter in its latest editorial rightly observes that many are to blame for this unprecedented insurrection including “everyday Catholics—some 50% of them—who voted for Trump this year, after four years of incompetence, racist dog whistles, and assaults on democratic norms.

If our Church is to live up to the teachings of its founder, Jesus Christ, and be his witness to our culture, it cannot condone what happened last week at our nation’s Capitol. A pro-life movement that embraces white nationalism and is unwilling to say that black lives matter is not a true pro-life movement.

In less than two weeks, our nation’s second Catholic president, a decent man, will take over and begin the long and arduous process of rebuilding our democracy. Catholics need to get on board to help, not hinder, that process.

We can all begin by asking ourselves, “Whatever became of sin?” Unfortunately many people won’t admit to their personal sins but what is more troubling is that many also deny the reality of social sin, namely sins committed by society.  Examples include disregard for the poor, systemic racism, and neglect for the environment. As individuals, we don’t see ourselves as being responsible for them yet we are when we vote for those who enact them into practice.

By choosing to be baptized, Jesus chose to become one of us for the sake of conversion, to draw us away from sin and closer to God. By his example, he challenges us to reject sin, a promise we made at our baptism, and safeguard the dignity of all human life from conception to natural death.

We must acknowledge that sinful situations and policies are real. We enable them when we resist efforts to confront them. Facing them is something we must do if we want to bring about peace and tranquility. We can speak out against social sins. It’s not only our right; it’s our duty, which is why I do so at the risk of annoying some of you.

We must pray to God for guidance in dealing with these situations that challenge the very core of our Catholic convictions. As members of Christ’s body, if we don’t do something to bring about the work of Christmas, who will? This is the call of today’s gospel, a call we must ponder prayerfully in this new year. To bring peace among brothers and sisters, we must respond with love in concrete ways.

The magi uttered the first words spoken in Matthew’s gospel. “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” For centuries scholars debated if this star was a literary symbol or an actual astronomical phenomenon.

On the sunset of the last winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, just days before Christmas, Saturn and Jupiter came together. The conjunction of these two planets is a very rare occurrence in the night sky. Those who were blessed with having a clear night sky, which wasn’t the case for us here on Whidbey, viewed a majestic sight that could rightly be called the Christmas star.

Perhaps this is what the magi, known also as the wise men, saw, prompting them to leave their homeland and venture westward to find the newborn king of the Jews. We don’t know much about them. Quite likely, they were advisors to the king of Babylon, so they were aware of the Jewish search for the Messiah since their exile there.

We assume there were only three magi since only three gifts were given to the child when they found him. Matthew doesn’t tell us their names but early church tradition soon named them: Melchior, who was black; Balthazar, who was Asian, and Gaspar, who was European. This was Matthew’s endeavor to signify the universal character of God’s saving grace intended for all peoples, not just the Jews. This is an important message for us today, when there is much racial, ethnic and religious intolerance in so many places. While God’s will for universal salvation seems obvious, really integrating it into our hearts is challenging for some of us.

The magi’s journey is called an epiphany for good reason. An epiphany is an appearance of something, often a divine being. When we have an epiphany, we are having a sudden insight into a deeper meaning of something. For the magi, encountering Jesus was no ordinary finding. A great epiphany for us would be to know the glory of God’s love reflected in everyone we meet.

Upon finding Jesus, the magi prostrated themselves and did him homage. Their journey and act of worship upon finding the child Jesus are examples of how we can venture into this new year and find Christ daily in our lives. The journey of the magi should prompt us to reflect on how readily or reluctant we are to search for the Christ in our daily lives.

Our diligence in searching for anything is directly related to its value. Lose a penny and we don’t fret. I find pennies on the ground when walking around town. Misplace your only car key and you are likely to tear the house apart and mount a novena to St. Anthony until you find it. Lose a child, and you never stop searching. This Sunday’s gospel is about searching, and the search is for someone who is beyond measure or compare, namely Jesus Christ. How much value do you place on seeking to know Jesus better?

Today’s culture is plagued by people seeking a higher meaning to things in the wrong places. Consulting horoscopes or fortune tellers, for example, are acts of divination and the Church urges us to reject them. If we believe God is the creator of heaven and earth and he came in person to save us, we don’t need gimmicks to understand his will for our lives.

God has already given us the answers we need in sacred scripture. We need to take time to reflect on his message. Just as the Magi searched diligently to find the Christ child, we too must search diligently to better understand him. God has blessed us with his Church and its teachings and sacred scripture to help us better understand his will.

This next week while many people are making New Year’s resolutions, consider making a spiritual resolution to be more intentional about your prayer life, especially if you are not coming to Mass during this pandemic time. The more time you spend with our Lord, the more you will become aware of his presence in your life. Coming to better know him will fill your days with many “epiphanies” of his love.

The magi’s story is our story: those who search diligently for Christ will find him if they follow the signs given by God. Ultimately, our search to find Christ is only satisfied when we remain open to the God who labors diligently to reveal his divine son to us. Sometimes we grow discouraged in our search for God. We may feel that God isn’t answering our prayers when actually it could be that we don’t like what God is trying to tell us.

Today’s solemnity of the Epiphany centers on the journey that every one of us travels, the journey that is ultimately a search for God: finding God in our life’s meaning, finding God in belonging to family and community; finding God in the satisfaction of doing good.  As the magi experienced, God sets “stars” ahead of us —The understanding and support of family and friends, the forgiveness we extend and receive, the meaning we come in know in giving and serving those in need, are all “epiphanies” of God’s presence in our lives.  In the new year before us, may our hearts and spirits behold these many epiphanies in which we re-discover the love of “Emmanuel” — God in our midst.