This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
The Epiphany of the LordStar: My GPS….or…..Recalculating voice of God!!!Is60:1-6, Eph3:2-3a 5-6, Mt2:1-12.Dear Sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, I wish you A Great feast of Epiphany. This feast has a History that, reveals coming of God for all to be with all. One has to explore and journey like the Magi to see, to recognize, to find and to adore Christ with gifts, the one who is constantly being born among and around us. What do I depend on for my journey? How do I explore and seek God in my spiritual and personal journey? The Magi followed the star, but we follow our GPS. The Eucharist and the feast we come to celebrate may lead me to redefine and revive my journey towards the Almighty on this day.We make trips to The Holy Land. We go on holy tours to Rome and Europe. We visit Marian Churches in Europe, including Fatima and Lourdes. We love to step into Poland to have the experience of Saints Faustina and John Paul II. We go on cruises to the Caribbean and Hawaiian Islands. In all these trips, if something happens along our way, someone gets sick, some technical problems or unforeseen weather changes, then how do I respond, react, or become restless? We want our journey to go smoothly according our (my) plan; one cannot grasp, cannot accept or cannot tolerate with patience for alternatives and other options. People enter into depression if they are laid off, not willing to find other options of jobs. Students do not want to proceed or pursue an alternate path, if the desired engineering or medical studies become too much. When couples both want to live their own way stubbornly and without little sacrifices, there is break-up. On this Feast of manifestation and revelation, we are invited to be open and recalculate our journey towards another alternative path to find and adore Jesus among us. In the first reading, in the year 538 B.C.E, the Prophet Trito-Isaiah addressed the people of Israel to choose an alternative path. The People of Israel were nomads, therefore known for their journeys. Their ancestors must have been recalling their various journeys. They had to be open to alternative paths for different situations or atmospheres. Just after their 70 long years of journey in exile, they were struck with despair, and they saw only darkness. They wept as their dwelling place was in ruins. Isaiah called them to choose the alternative path towards light, and the New Jerusalem. The long years of darkness will be overshadowed by light, including many others. Jerusalem was personified as woman, and the act of unfaithfulness and infidelity of the people covered Jerusalem with darkness. This restoration and rebuilding reveals two things: first, in their helplessness, God will be there to re-build for them; secondly, the New Jerusalem will attract and unite many people of other nations. This reflects the future vision of the Magi of the East, who were visiting from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. In the context of this feast, the gospel of Matthew raises a few questions: why did the wise men come from faraway places? Were there more than three; and what is the significance of these gifts? 1) The coming of wise men from distant places signifies that Jesus is born for all, not only Jews, but for Gentiles also. So this visiting of wise men is called the feast of Epiphany. Epiphany comes from a Greek word for “the showing” or “to make manifest.” The Gospel’s Epiphany is the showing of the infant Christ to the Gentiles everyone! 2) The “magi,” ”wise men” or Kings, were likely astrologers, considered at that time to be “wise men” because of their lifelong commitment to studying the skies and finding meaning in the cosmos. They probably came from Persia. They possibly were part of a school of wise men over which the Jewish prophet, Daniel, taught about coming of the messiah and the appearance of the star. Their skills with astrology and astronomy indicated their great education as well as their skill at seeking and interpreting divine revelation! That they were wealthy was shown in that they were gift-bearers. 3) Matthew does not tell us the names of the wise men; in the West they have traditionally been given the names Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Matthew does not tell us the number of wise men; he simply states that they offered three gifts. If you ever visit Cologne (Köln) Cathedral in Germany you can walk around the sanctuary and behind the main altar there is a large reliquary said to contain the bones or at least the skulls of the three wise men. These three gifts were chosen for their special spiritual symbolism about Jesus himself— gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh a prefiguring of his death and embalming. I want to reflect on Epiphany as a movement, as a journey, and as constant inward journey. The Star of Bethlehem was their GPS. They must have traveled three months from Persia in search of the new king, the Messiah and the Savior. It was a long journey from their paganism to worship Jesus. It was also an inward journey. There must have been various moments they wanted to choose their way. The Gospel relates that the GPS disappeared when they went into Herod’s palace. They found the star once they left Herod. Still then they were in darkness, then GPS recalculated the path to destination. Sometimes we don’t listen and go by re-calculating voice; instead we want our path and our journey as we want it to be. We panic, become distressed, and get struck in our search to meet and experience Jesus. There is a well-known movie which speaks about “the fourth wise men” which will be a good example for our reflection. Artaban, the fourth wise man, carried a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl of great price. He missed the caravan and the rest of three wise men because he was late. Why he was late? He followed GPS, yet he was open to the voice of recalculating, to stop by and attend to the needs of the suffering humanity on his way. His servant tried forcing him to follow his GPS to see the Savior, but he stopped along the way to help a dying man, selling his horse to cross the desert with Camels; he saved the life of a child, and supported a community to re-build their lives. He spent his last treasure, a pearl, as ransom to save a young woman from being sold into slavery. After thirty-three years, Artaban was still a seeker and a pilgrim. He arrived in Jerusalem just at the time of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. The story ends with a voice, “Verily I say unto thee, inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me."(Matthew 25:40) Am I listening to the recalculating voice of God to stop by…….. Am I particular to choose my path of GPS…… Am I open to the event of revelation, manifestation and epiphany in my journey…. Baby Jesus is around…..as a troubled child, as a sick person, as a lonely young man or elderly woman…am I ready to stop by and listen to God’s voice of re-calculating?-Amen. 
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