In 1950 the dogma of the Assumption of Mary became a part of the Catholic tradition. For hundreds of years prior to 1950, August 15^th was celebrated as the Assumption of Mary. The Church stated that Mary, “having completed the course of her earthly life, (Mary) was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” The theology behind this is as St. Paul taught, sin leads to death. And since Mary is believed to be without sin then her body could not die.

When Coly and I visited Ephesus, Turkey many years ago, we took a tour of the place tradition has it where Mary was brought to Ephesus by the Apostle John after the Resurrection of Christ and lived out her days there. It is a small, T-shaped stone building consisting of a bedroom (on the right) and a kitchen (on the left). The interior is kept simple and austere, fitted only with an altar, images of Mary and candles. There is a spring that runs under the house and is believed to have healing properties, and many miracles have been reported. Inside the house are crutches and canes said to be left behind by those who were healed by the sacred spring.

This small house is unique in another sense as well. It is sacred to both Christians and Muslims, since Muslims believe in the virgin birth and honor Mary as the mother of the prophet Jesus. So yearly, on August 15^th, Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim clergy conduct a service together at the shrine, a rare occasion for this kind of ecumenical celebration to happen anywhere, especially in today’s climate of inter-religious mistrust.

The simplicity of the home in a way points out that the extraordinary is often clothed in the ordinary. Here we have a basic 1^st century stone home, and yet two of the greatest religious traditions can gather and worship together. In many ways, this too resembles Mary’s life of an ordinary young woman who became extraordinary by simply saying “yes” to God.

As you know, we have very little written in the canonical New Testament scriptures about the life of Mary. But given she was a Jewish young women when she said “yes” to becoming the mother of Jesus, her life was not at all that unique compared to any other young maiden or eventual mother. Most of her life was spent among the dishes, oil and flour, trips to the well and to village vendors. There were clothes to be made and washed and mended; hardly what we would call extraordinary duties for the mother of Jesus. As in the simple home we visited in Ephesus, holiness comes from being truly human, doing the necessary things to survive, nothing too extraordinary. She did these basic ordinary things we still do today, and yet she was extraordinary.

So what is this basic ingredient for becoming extraordinary like Mary? She does have the title “Mother of God” which rests in the fact her son was God. Truly extraordinary beyond any level! But she also carried Jesus, not just in her womb, but also in her heart and through her entire life. She accepted a role with total trust, where she could not have even begun to imagine what would become of her life and the life of her son. What mattered to Mary is what she proclaimed to Elizabeth, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”

Or lives are mostly ordinary ones. The last I checked, none of us here are President of the USA or a Nobel Prize winner. We move about day-by-day doing what is needed to get by and planning for the future. We cook, wash clothes, clean house, garden, etc nothing too extraordinary. But this is only on the surface. As with Mary, I hope we all have an inner extraordinary presence guided by the Spirit. If we carry the Jesus in our hearts and attempt the best we can to live a life where God is compass of our decisions and dealings with others, that makes us extraordinary. The shell of our bodies, like the home of Mary’s, might just be ordinary as can be. But the lives we tend to live, the people we come to love, the lives of others we touch in miraculous ways, will all leave a signature of extraordinariness in the hearts of others when we live the Gospel and say “Yes” to the one who we call God.

There is a subplot I find in this celebration of Mary. The Feast of the Assumption can look past if we are not careful of the role of women in the eyes of God.
She was a woman of extraordinary strength and courage who experienced pov­erty, alienation, suffering, flight, and exile.
God treated her with respect that she was due. Her society most likely did not, and unfortunately in most places in the world, including here in the USA, and in many religious institutions, women are often mistreated or considered second class.
But we must remember God worked through a woman for the good of human kind. Although she was considered lowly in her society, God exalts her. There would not have been a Jesus without a mother.
In God’s eyes, women are as much of a partner than a man when it comes to helping bring forth the fulfillment of the Kindom of God. Men and women are not competitors but partners in God’s eyes.
This is not just pointed out in Mary, but in several gospel stories of Jesus interacting with the women in his world and treating them with respect.

So as we say “yes” to God each day, let us also remember we are in this together; men and women for the betterment of this world.

When I took a homily class in school the instructor warned that using sport’s analogies might do well for some in the congregation but not everyone will appreciate it. So I have refrained from using them in the past. Today however, I think in safety I can quote a famous contemporary religious person that sums up the reading with a baseball example.

“Faith is so rare,” says Richard Rohr, “and religion is so common because no one wants to live between first base and second base. Faith is the in-between space where you’re not sure you’ll make it to second base. You’ve let go of one thing and haven’t yet latched onto another. Most of us choose the security of first base”

In the sacred texts for this holy day, faith is the operative theme. The author of Wisdom (first reading) refers to the very first Passover observed by Moses and the Hebrew tribes after they left “first base” in Egypt, and cites their faith in God, which inspired and empowered such an escape. By faith they became God’s people, united with God in a covenantal love that would continue to define who they were: witnesses to the world that God cares, God sees, God loves, God liberates, God protects. Because of their witness, we, their spiritual descendants, continue to believe that God is the ultimate source of meaning in every human life.

In the second reading, the author of Hebrews offers an extended midrash (ancient commentary) on Abraham and Sarah, our ancestral faith parents. Faith in God led them to embark on a lifelong journey to places they had not planned to go and among people they did not know. With God as their only compass, they endured and surmounted the sorrow of childlessness. Then, when at last a child was given them, they acquiesced to the unthinkable possibility that their child and his life and destiny were not theirs to plan or protect. So many parents and caregivers face similarly unthinkable challenges in life. Yet faith must be summoned in that very moment when logic fails to satisfy and every reasonable hope seems to wither. From deep within the human heart we grasp at faith that does not see or understand, but we trust in God, who sees and knows all. This faith led Abraham and Sarah forward when every fiber of their beings yearned for a retreat to the safety, stability and familiarity of first base.

Jesus recommended this same quality of faith to his disciples. In today’s Gospel, the Lucan Jesus proposes that faith should dispel fear. It should foster a depth of trust in God that will move believers to sell their material possessions in order to acquire inexhaustible treasure in heaven. In between the selling and the acquiring, however, believers experience a limbo of sorts, during which we can only survive by having faith that the God who was with us on first base will also be ready to meet us on second and accompany us around the field of life.

We are all on our own journeys of faith. Depending upon our personal situation, some of us are clinging as hard as we can to first base not willing to trust God that she will be with us on second base as well. We feel comfortable on first. So why try to make it to second base?

From a faith perspective many are willing to live with their child images and understandings of God. Ones early impressions of God suit some just fine. They don’t desire to think of God beyond the confines of what was taught in church or in parochial school. God is in heaven and we are down on earth. God is far away, somewhere else, somewhere we will go if we are good and obey God’s commands. Yet, God is not “harnessable,” we don’t control who God is. Opening up to new and expanded possibilities of God begins an exciting journey to a new frontier of one’s spiritual life.

In today’s harsh economic times, millions of unemployed are left to either have faith in a God that will take care of them or they might find themselves on the brink of despair. A family we knew years ago was going through a tough economic time combined with a child who was always in trouble at school. When asked where they got there strength to deal with the issues they were living through, they simply said what gets them through these times was simply having faith that God is with them in good times and in bad. They did not cling to first base in despair, but moved to second knowing that God’s love was sufficient for them.

From a personal example, I have one foot on first, looking down to second base and afraid if I lead off too far, I will get picked off. Retirement is second base. First base is the comfort of a steady income all the while as I complain about how my job just is not satisfying me as it once did. I know it is about time to take the other foot off the base as well and trust. The dangers of being picked off (the economy turning really sour) keeps my foot rooted. But in doing so, I am far from the trust Abram and Sarah had as they were called to leave their home land of Ur and travel to some destined place they never conceived of before. For them, the unknown had to be scary but the risk in trusting the voice of God brought countless blessings to them. WE all need to keep this in mind when we feel the need to move to the next base in life.

]]> http://stfrancispastoralcenter.org/?feed=rss2&p=254 http://stfrancispastoralcenter.org/?p=247 http://stfrancispastoralcenter.org/?p=247#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:22:00 +0000 admin http://stfrancispastoralcenter.org/?p=247

For those who have experienced a spa having your feet massaged is one of the treats of such an experience. I have not had this experience. Yet, I can imagine the aroma of sweets smells of heated scents, dim candle lit room, relaxing music. Taking big breaths, absorbing the surrounding while someone massages the feet. Such a nice feeling!

And what if such joyous thoughts could be experienced as well by the one doing the massage? This would take a change in outlook of what it means to be the giver of joy to another. Instead of just being a job, the masseuse would also set it as offering joy to another person and by doing so getting a reward for themselves.

In a way, this is what Jesus did for his disciples that evening of which we celebrate tonight. His joy was in giving. But it was more than jus the giving that he must have enjoyed. He also knew his actions were God’s actions and represented God’s ways. In fact, Jesus’ entire ministry pointed solely to what God wanted us to understand about him/her.

I suppose when we do such wonderful things for each other like we did tonight in washing the others feet, or in do other works of love for those less fortunate or for those we love who are in need, we also get a sense of specialness knowing we are showing another not only our love for them but also God’s as well.

We celebrate Holy Thursday because it is the institution of the Eucharist. But taking of Eucharist is not something we do just for ourselves as symbolized by Jesus washing his disciples feet. Eucharist should be like a spa, it should energize us to live as Jesus did. As Fr. Ron Ronheiser puts it, “To take the Eucharist seriously is to begin to wash the feet of others, especially the feet of the poor. The Eucharist is both an invitation that invites us and a grace that empowers us to service. And what it invites us to do is to replace distrust with hospitality, pride with humility, and self-interest with self-effacement so as to reverse the world’s order of things - wherein the rich get served by the poor and where the first priority is always to keep one’s pride intact and one’s self-interest protected. The Eucharist invites us to step down from pride, away from self-interest, to turn the mantel of privilege into the apron of service, so as to help reverse the world’s order of things wherein pride, status, and self-interest are forever the straws that stir the drink.”

Eucharist should not feel like it is costing us anything. It is free spiritual food to take and it should feel free to give. Let us mindful of the beauty Eucharist is for it provides us a taste of what will come as we share its joy of acts of kindness with others.

Today we enter the church singing Hosanna to the Son of David, Oh blessed is he, oh blessed is he, who comes in the name of the Lord. It’s a jubilant song full of emotion and anticipation. Take a moment and take yourself back to the day when Jesus entered into the city of Jerusalem, crowds standing about waving palm branches and perhaps singing a song like this, as he seemingly is welcomed into the city of David.

There was such anticipation of someone whom many of his disciples put their trust in. Jesus up to this point had been roaming the countryside in Northern Israel, teaching, preaching, curing, and upending many of the social customs of his time. For everything he did was to point to the one who he called “Abba” letting those then and us now, how gracious, compassionate, and forgiving God is. Not only that, he also exemplified something new where God’s new reign was beginning to dawn on all creation. The kingdoms of the world that we know of will be transformed into an everlasting kingdom that is governed not by ego and greed, but by love and forgiveness.

I sense the disciples of Jesus’ time knew something special was happening as they jubilantly welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this excitement did not last very long once the authorities of the earthly kingdom of greed and egos came down upon Jesus with a fury of accusations based on fear that Jesus’ message was challenging the establishment’s power of control.

The Passion reading from Luke begins with an account of the Last Supper. A brief description of the Eucharistic celebration and then immediately a conflict breaks out among the apostles as to who will be regarded as the greatest. This is an interesting twist of events. Jesus shares the bread and wine and then the apostles begin to argue between one another. I think this is quite common for most families who come to church with good intentions and soon afterwards old issues stemming from ego and greed eventually surface again and again.

We know the rest of the story, Jesus moves to Gethsemane to pray, Judas betrays Jesus, the apostles abandon Jesus, and Jesus is tortured, crucified, dies on the cross. A subtext that runs through this account of Jesus’ passion is fear: Fear of authorities; Fear of change; Fear of losing power; Fear of loss of control; Fear of being associated with Jesus; Even the most powerful in the story, Pilate, feared what might happen by the angry crowd if he did not give over Jesus to be crucified. Fear can have its power over us as when we believe we are subject to rough seas as the apostles were on the Sea of Galilee. Or when we proclaim allegiance as Peter did but turn away when we feel threatened. Fear is a powerful enemy in denying us total and complete trust in the words and deeds of Jesus.

Eventually, it was the authorities’ fear that put Jesus on the cross and to his death. But metaphorically this same fear puts Jesus to death spiritually in our hearts. It can hold a ransom on our ability to believe in the impossible as it did with Judas. It can deny the possibility of a new world when we fear that we too will need to change. It can fence off our willingness to extend help to the outcasts of our society for fear of being around those we are not comfortable with. It can raise us to an angry state when we believe something will be taken from us that we don’t consider we should share with the less fortunate. It can engender hatred simply based on false accusations from those we share common values with, instead of seeking out the truth for ourselves. Fear can grip our hearts so tightly, light ropes holding a boat to a dock in a storm, that nothing but our own projections of what life and society should be can find a way out but nothing of compassion and empathy for others can find a door in.

These are just some of the sins that brought Jesus to the cross. It was not “Abba” that forced Jesus to the cross as atonement for our sins. It was the fear of the people that caused this to happen. And it our fear that causes Jesus to die in us as well. The promise however, is there is new life when fear abates, when we totally trust in Jesus’ message and put aside our own projections of what the world should be like. When be lay bare our ego and greed, face it head on, and then acknowledge its power to fence off real conversion of heart—change begins to happen. This then is the beginning of new life. Even death of the cross could not overpower the will of God for God’s Kingdom to continue forward to bring all creation into unity and oneness of heart.

Holy Week is now upon us. We will witness what it is like to wash another’s feet on Thursday. We will again hear the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. And finally recount the ongoing promise of resurrection on Easter Sunday. I love this juxtaposition of the washing of the feet and the Easter story around Good Friday. For Holy Thursday so symbolizes what the Eucharistic table should engender in each of us. We celebrate a small nugget of what it is like to put aside our fear of ego and greed to wash the feet of another as equal to ourselves. But then the human condition takes a step backward and lets fear again manifest itself as we all too often forget the hope of Holy Thursday. Yet, God will not allow this to happen permanently as the Easter story promises. A new world is in the making. The resurrection of our spirits will prevail and we will again and forever sing: Hosanna to the Son of David, Oh blessed is he, oh blessed is he, who comes in the name of the Lord.

Today’s gospel continues with Jesus in the synagogue of his home town proclaiming to those listening that the words he just proclaimed are being fulfilled in him. Those in the assembly were mystified at his claim, so much so they turned to anger and disbelief that anyone in their company could make such an assertion.

Since we know the story of Jesus, we can easily see this event as a precursor to what did happen to him in Jerusalem. Not only was he disowned by most in his hometown, but also by some of his dearest friends. Out of fear they left him, in a way tossing him out of their own comfort zone due to fear of the authorities and leaving him to be crucified.

So why were his hometown folks so upset? One can understand, perhaps, the reason he was abandoned before his execution, this surely came out of fear for their own lives. But this was not the case in his hometown. Jesus’ ministry was just beginning; he had just started to take it on the road.

Remember, Jesus was deeply steeped in Jewish tradition and scriptures. He knew the scriptures inside and out, as did those listening to him in the synagogue. So when he states, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” there had to be a sudden gasp. For he is directly referencing Deut. 8:3: people don’t live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. For those listening, they knew he was proclaiming to be the Messiah in their midst.

Just as unbelievable as this might have sounded for some, Jesus goes on to evoke the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, in reminding those listening that non-Israelites became the object of these two prophets. Thus Jesus’ was pointing out that the door to God’s saving grace was also for the gentiles and not restricted to the Jews alone.

So how do we internalize this today? As I said, we know the story of Jesus, we understand that being a spokesperson (prophet) for the God leads to a common theme as found through scripture: rebellion and killing of the prophet, punishment, mercy through sending of new prophets, then the cycle begins again. Even in our own day of age, we can easily see this pattern in the life of a modern-day prophet such as Martin Luther King, Jr.

Perhaps this is what keeps those of us who really believe in the saving power of God and trust in God’s love, to become voiceless in times where wrongs are made on God’s people and creation. Do we fear others will reject us if we become vocal spokespersons for God’s way? Do we fear others rejection for being seen as a “Christian” when this word today is filled with cynicism due to the misleading and hateful messages of “high-profile” agents of God found on TV? Do we want to remain solely in our homes, keeping our beliefs to ourselves, where it is safe from inspection from others?

Jesus knew from his baptism that the he was well pleased by God. Do we sense the same thing from our baptism? Are we confident that God is pleased with us as well and thus we become willing to do God’s work in the life and times we live in? These are not easy questions, because we cannot expect to say yes unless we are totally convinced, to our core, that God loves us, and no matter what rejection comes our way, that God stands on our side in support of our calling.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, our 2^nd reading this Sunday, love is the most perfect gift given us. It transcends both heaven and earth. It never ceases. This gift given to us is the lifeline we can depend on as prophets of good will and love to others. It is the fuel that brings us out of our comfort zone to speak to the injustices of life. It is the same grace given to the Old Testament prophets, to Jesus, to the apostles and to the disciples and saints for two millennia. We can depend on God’s gift of love to be the courage we need to speak as we best know how (in word or action) as prophets willing to step out in our communities to bring the good news to all.

Imagine yourself feeling the Spirit gently pushing you to stand up in a crowd and expressing what is on your mind. This would not be something that is acceptable in our society like calling out to at an umpire that his called strike was a lousy call. Nor would it be like screaming in a crowd to run away from danger when it was coming their way. These are socially acceptable outcries in most cases and we have all been there.

But now put yourself in Jesus’ sandals. But instead of screaming out in an acceptable location for such a situation, you instead walk up to the podium, read the words of Isaiah, then point to yourself as the one that these words will be fulfilled in. I don’t think any of us would ever do that, and if we saw someone do such a thing, we would most likely write it off to a person who lost the marbles. But this is what Jesus did, an as Luke describes the scene afterwards is that those in attendance in the synagogue were amazed but began to question his integrity. Perhaps, not too unlike what we would do if someone did the same in any church on Sunday.

But why would we do this if it happened in front of our eyes? And why did the friends and family of Jesus question his pronouncements? It seems obvious that anyone who proclaims themselves to be the person a famous prophet from the past pointed to, this would raise questions and some discontent. For such provocations could never come true in their time, or ours, right?

We all know the story; Jesus was the one Isaiah foretold a few centuries before. We don’t question this now like many people of Jesus’ era. We know the entire story of his time on earth, his actions, his death and resurrection. Looking backwards we see this prophesy of Isaiah manifested in the one we call Jesus, the Son of God.

But the story did not stop with Jesus, nor did the Spirit working through Jesus stop God’s work at the resurrection. No, the Spirit continued God’s ongoing movement through the apostles, disciples, and even down to us.

The word of God comes to us no less than to those in the past. Jesus, now risen from the dead and our source of life, is in our midst, in the word, in the assembly, and on the altar. Where there are ears that hear and hearts that welcome the Gospel, these words will come true in our hearing:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

In a way, this is our commission as Christians, to work to fulfill the words Jesus proclaimed in the synagogue. Jesus was living amidst the powers of the Roman empire, and living in communities whose self-interests were greater than seeing greater good; therefore his message might have been seen as utopian in nature. For how could anyone really bring glad tidings to the poor and let the oppressed go free, when the powerful around Jesus did not allow such jubilees. For the status quo would be disrupted if the social order of power were to be reversed.

Via our belief in Jesus we have become these words, we are the vessels of jubilee. The Spirit has anointed you and me to proclaim liberty to captives and bring glad tidings to the poor. We do it in our own way, as Paul points out, the Body of Christ is made up of many parts, but all one in Christ.

It does not take too much to look around our community and nation to see the needs of others being smothered by the status quo. This status quo takes on many shapes but is not really any different then it was in Christ’s time. For some reason it is hard for so many that “have” to provide to those who “have not.” This is not just about money, but also in what is accepted as the prevailing way of seeing reality. For too often, those in power define reality.

For example, a common acceptable statement we hear almost nightly is “we cannot afford health care as a basic human right for all Americans because it costs too much.” Yet on the other hand, we seldom question the need to spend billions on weapons that’s sole purpose is to bring death instead of life. The status quo says this is ok for this to take priority over bringing glad tidings to the poor or liberty to the captives of the health care system.

These types of examples are endless. But so are Jesus’ words. The resurrection points to the fact his words will eventually win out. New life will be the status quo. It is a life of liberty and of clear sight in the knowledge of our God. We are anointed as believers of Jesus to help bring this new status quo as the norm. We are anointed to stand up in the crowds of our family, friends, and our neighborhoods to proclaim the words Jesus did, in Jesus’ name. And then to work doing so in the ways we know best. May God bless all of you on your work to make this a world where jubilee is now the status quo.

The first reading from Isaiah puts it so well, that God loves us like a spouse or partner. God is wed to us and rejoices in us. God will never leave us in this loving covenant even during sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in good times and in bad, God’s love remains steady and unyielding.

In the Gospel, the Johannine Jesus reveals God’s desire to relate to human beings by becoming one of us. In Jesus, God reaches out to each of us as a caring, compassionate brother whose involvement in every aspect of the human experience is astounding. In the flesh, he attended weddings; he cried at funerals; he walked and talked and shared the same table with people from every walk of life. He even drew so near to us that he offered his very self as food and his life so that our lives might be saved. The wedding feast of Cana is just one example of Jesus being fully present in the human condition.

Paul’s letter expands upon the gifts humans carry, these gifts are reflections of the Creator but given to us to share. They are reminders that we share in the divine work of God, but so does everyone else. Each person is given what God wishes him or her to have and to use as Jesus did. They are the “banners” that never expire which highlight the generosity of God’s endless love.

God is then not only wed to our loved ones and us and showers us with gifts as St. Paul describes, but God also showers these gifts on all humankind. That is why tragic events like the earthquake in Haiti cannot be overlooked nor used as a pawn by some who wish to make gains on the suffering of others.

I am sure you have seen the faces of so many Haitian people on the streets in what seems like total mayhem around them. There are the crying faces of those whose loved ones have perished. There are the dead bodies lining the streets only to find a mass burial graves without the dignity of being mourned properly by family and friends. Perhaps you saw the women whose legs are trapped, her face covered with concrete dust and reaching out to the camera in total desperation. Then there are the countless millions in dire need for food and water waving to the helicopters as in a last ditch effort for their survival. There are also the ‘lucky’ ones who survived the ordeal but are now feverishly trying to save the lives of those crushed below concrete. All of these people share something with us and it is not just our humaneness.

As Paul points out, to each of us, as to each Haitian, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to them. Isaiah cries out as the young marry in innocence, so will the One who made you marry you and rejoice in you. God rejoices in the people of Haiti as God rejoices in us living here in Bellingham. That is why this tragedy matters. That is why we cannot simply be spectators watching it unfold but need to be participants in this event. Why, because we were gifted in some way, some manifestation of the Spirit, to use for the goodness of others. As Jesus fully participated in the lives of those living in his time, we too are to do the same.

Paul lists only a few gifts we are given, since they are countless. We know what gift we have been given, even if it is simply being in prayer for these people and their country or writing friends about what this event means to you and to the human condition.

Not too unlike the streets of Haiti before the earthquake, Jesus roamed the dirt paths of Galilee which was extremely poor as well. And as I said, he totally engaged in the lives of the people of that poor nation 2000 years ago. Jesus has not left the poor in Haiti, and so we cannot leave them alone as well. Jesus is wed to them and as he is wed to us. We are family in this sacred condition we call human life. We now hold the banners of the Spirit in our souls, the banners of the gifts given to us. Let us share them with our brothers and sisters in the best way we know how. How we respond to events of tragedies is not just a test of our humanness but it is a test of our faith. It is test that we firmly believe others are loved as much as we are by our God, that we do believe we are gifted with some quality of our God, and that we are willing to share in the lives of others when it is not just comfortable and when it meets our needs.

Jesus became fully human to share totally in the human condition and the Spirit left us with some possessions Jesus has. Let us then become fully engaged in those possessions, in those banners of God’s love as Jesus did with our humanness. There is no better place to start than with what seems so obvious.

John Henry Hopkins Jr. wrote the entry song we sung this morning. He was 37 years old when he wrote the lyrics to “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” In this achievement, Hopkins gave the world an enduring carol that has now been sung for a century and a half. Hopkins was the son of an Episcopal bishop. He wrote the words and music to the hymn for an 1857 Christmas pageant while he was teaching music at the General Theological Seminary in New York City. He later became a priest. The familiar words sing of the Epiphany we celebrate today: “O Star of wonder, star of night/ Star with royal beauty bright/ Westward leading, still proceeding/ Guide us to thy perfect light.”

We know this story that Matthew portrays. He is the only Gospel writer that depicts this event in the early life of Jesus. Three kings from the east were traveling towards Bethlehem, following this mysterious star in the sky as their navigation beacon. At first, they ended up a bit off target, landing in Jerusalem but eventually due to the evil scheming desires of Herod, he tells them they would find this “king” in Bethlehem. Once there, they offer the child Jesus gifts, but return to their own countries via a different route then they arrived.

Epiphany then is celebration of the light of Jesus manifest to all nations. The Magi were not Jews but Gentiles, foreigners to the Jewish land. They followed their intuition coming to Bethlehem. Somehow they knew they needed meet this “newborn king of the Jews” and did what it took to do so, most likely travelling long distances to meet this new king. They were struck by the “light” of Jesus, as symbolized by the star that guided them, never wavering until they arrived at their destination. Once there, so moved by what they encountered, they returned to their home countries on a trek that was not the same they arrived on.

“They were guided by a light but returned on a different route.” This short paraphrasing of what happened really gets to the heart of this story. This star of wonder so intrigued the three kings they had to see what it was pointing to. Does this light intrigue us as well? Like the lights on the Christmas tree or on the houses of our neighborhoods, they symbolize something much deeper than just being pretty. They reflect the light that is still there even though winter is at its peak. And therefore, we are naturally attracted to the light. This within us light never extinguishes itself, even in the dark nights of our soul—those days where we don’t seem to find good in the world, where Jesus seemingly might seem hidden to us, or we just have trouble believing the entire story of the Christ-child. The star still guides us in the “nights” of our lives.

This child of God so touched the souls of the Magi; they had to return on a different route. Once the light of Jesus touches us, nothing is ever the same again. When we say “yes” to the light, we begin to notice that our old ways of being need a new route to follow. We see the world differently; we begin noticing where Jesus’ love is being thwarted in the lives of others. And surely we begin to become more aware of where His light needs to shine in our own lives so we can better reflect this enduring light to others.

The Magi had it right, they followed their hearts to find the child Jesus. In doing so, it changed them so radically their lives took on a different direction. So, once the Christmas decorations are gone and the season seems something of the past, let us remember this story of how three other kings’ lives were changed by the child Jesus. And let us ask, did the light of the season change us too, or was it just a good feel time where gifts decorated with the sounds and sights of Christmas lights? Are we ready to return to our normal days of the year but instead refreshed and transfigured by the season we just celebrated? Will our life journey be rerouted to account for the new life of Christ in our hearts?

Let us pray each day: “O Star of wonder, star of night/ Star with royal beauty bright/ Westward leading, still proceeding/ Guide us to thy perfect light.”

For obvious reasons, we don’t reject the notion of this family being called Holy. My goodness, they had the son of God in their midst. If they can’t be holy, then who can? They were picked by God to be the earth parents of Jesus. God sent messengers to talk to both Mary and Joseph. This in and of itself sets them apart from most all other families in history.

Yet, we are asked to model this family. How can that be? Surely, any parent knows their child is not Jesus. We are like everyone else as parents, we do the best we can, love our children, try to teach them right from wrong and to walk a straight line. But it does not always work out that way; even with best intentions meet best effort.

Jesus asks all of us to be perfect as God is perfect. That would go for being a family as well. But in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, there is no word for perfect. So he could not have said this with the same intention we think about it today. The closest translation is the Greek word that describes the proportionate form of a statue.

If someone ever did get their desires in order, their wants in line, their passions all organized in the same direction; if anyone ever did get all their life energy focused on one thing, their will would be perfectly aligned with God’s will. That is called purity of heart. But as far as I know, only one person ever did that, Jesus.

What makes Mary and Joseph so unique in the Gospel narratives is that they listened to the will of God, discerned it, and then acted upon it. Mary, of course, on hearing the words of the Angel Gabriel agreed to be the mother of Jesus. Joseph listens to an angel telling him not to be afraid to take Mary has his wife after finding out she was with child. What they did was to listen to God and God’s will for them.

The Gospel reading is an example of a family in a major disagreement. Mary and Joseph being upset with Jesus for not telling them he was staying behind in the temple. And Jesus being upset with his mother and father for not trusting in him and his works. We all have family argument. But as I mentioned above, what made them Holy is they followed the word of God and God’s desires.

The challenge for us is not how perfect we might look others as a family. But more importantly, as a family, are we in synch with God’s desires? Only each family can answer that.

I read recently a good “preacher” carries the newspaper in one hand and the bible in the other.  I don’t consider myself a good homilist, but I do read the newspaper and reflect on the what our Christian tradition is calling us to do in situations such as above.  If we are the descendants of the disciples of long ago who have taken upon our shoulders the message of Jesus, we need to be aware of where the gospel is violated in our social and political lives.  We as current day prophets have to speak out for truth after careful reflection and prayer.  Let us not ignore the widows in our midst.