Homily Notes Epiphany of the Lord

Feast of the Epiphany

To Find Jesus, We Must Want To

When we were children we probably wondered about the gifts that the magi brought to the Christ Child. We memorized the names of the gifts. The words rolled off our lips; gold, frankincense, myrrh.

But if we were asked, as children, what myrrh was we probably would not have had an answer. If we were to be quizzed on what frankincense was we might be able to come up with the fact that it sounded like the stuff, we burn at Mass on big feast days, but beyond that we would not know much about the gift. We would surmise that the gifts the magi brought were valuable since one of them was gold, but we would not have much to base that on. We would have to be intellectually curious to try to find out what these gifts were. Today, we could inquire on the internet, but probably few of us would.

If we were to do the research we would find that frankincense was indeed burned to make smoke. Usually, it was done at worship, but it could also be done at other times. When I was a child my Mom would buy incense sticks at times to burn in our home to take care of unwanted smells like when she made fish on Friday. The quality of incense was better if herbs were added. The herbs were brought in from China and India in Biblical times. And that is what made the incense expensive. Myrrh were chemicals used for embalming the dead. Again, those herbs for preserving bodies could be brought in from the East. We might say that these gifts were kind of weird, but they were symbolically appropriate. The gold would have been a present fit for a king. The incense represented a gift for a priest who used it in worship. The myrrh, of course, called to mind the death Jesus was going to endure for all of humanity. Jesus was the king, priest, the sacrificial lamb. All of this is interesting, but we must be curious to find all this out.

The thing we notice in the Gospel story today, is that there are two types of people in the story. One set of people were the Jewish elite who should have known where the Christ child was to be found. All of them knew the scriptures, but they did not seem to want to go and find him. King Herod’s advisors came up with the answers, when asked, about the prophesies of Jesus’ birth, but they were not enthused enough to investigate. Jesus was supposed to be a great ruler who would bring peace, prosperity, freedom, but to them he was only a threat to their privileged status so they did go to worship him.

The other set of people in the gospel were the magi. The visitors from the east wanted desperately to meet Jesus. Also, they went out of their way to find out what the rising of the star mean. The magi were intellectually curious. Also, they were spiritually driven. Do we still have people in the world today like those we find in this Gospel? What would these people look like? What would be story of their spiritual lives.

Perhaps like this. Let’s fanaticize that we have three men living in Moline Illinois. The first man’s name is Casper. Casper has been Catholic his whole life. He was educated from a young age about his religion. His family exposed him to scripture, religion classes, he received his sacraments. At face value, he was given a good foundation. As is often the case, Casper went off to study after high school. He stopped practicing his religion. Now he is works at his career. He expends all kinds of energy trying to advance himself so he can be a success in the eyes of the world. A lot of days he feels like his life is not his own. His life lacks meaning. He learned about his faith early on, but he looks on religion as being childish. Even though he knows where to find out more about his faith he views belonging to a church as bothersome. He is quick to point out the hypocrisy of the church and he says, “Who needs it?”

The second man is named Melchior. Melchior never grew up in a church. He sees others pray. He watches people go to church. Melchior is successful as well. But he too feels like something is missing. But he seeks an answer. He studies all kinds of different religions. He visits churches and he is drawn to Jesus Christ. Will he make the plunge into Christianity? Who knows. Melchior is happy when he is exploring faith. He finds it gives him hope. He also finds it easier to be patient. He notices that all the material things in the world are not as important at finding directions in life.

The last man we could discuss is named Balthasar. Balthasar is also a Catholic Christian. He has grown up in the faith. He has practiced his religion his whole life. He does not know why he goes to church a lot of Sundays. He prays on his own. Anyone looking at him would say he is a good Catholic. But he wants more depth. He hears about spiritual programs at church. Sometimes he goes. He still finds more questions all the time. His life is full of ups and downs. He is searching for the meaning of it all. He asks, “Will I ever find all the answers to life’s questions?” Balthasar suspects he never will, but he moves ahead. He is pilgrim following a star to a mysterious destination. Somehow, he is all right with that, because he feels the presence of God even as he searches.

Which person are we? On the Feast of Epiphany, we are reminded that we all are to be people who are always seeking. We are meant to be restless. We are to be the one who pursue mystery. The Magi found the one they sought. We can to. If we just make it a priority to look for him.

This is a rough draft, grammar may not be perfect!