Epiphany of the Lord
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
OLR, NOLA
Upon
seeing the Christ Child, the magi
do something remarkable. Matthew tells us that they “. . .prostrate
themselves. . .do him homage. . .open their treasures and offer
him gifts. . .” This threefold reaction to the Child tells us all
that we need to know about who the magi believe the baby Jesus to be.
It also tells us how we as followers of Christ best prepare ourselves
to be better followers. Our exemplars are astrologers, probably
priests from a Persian religion called Zoroastrianism,
fire-worshipers. They travel to Bethlehem b/c the stars tell them
that a history-changing king has been born. When they find him, they
know that the Child before them is both the King of the Jews and the
King of the Gentiles. In other words, king of all humanity. So, they
prostrate themselves and do him homage, open their treasures, and
offer him gifts; thus, placing themselves at his service, making of
themselves his servants. They follow a star to the Christ Child. We
follow the Christ Crucified. Why would our response to him be any
different than theirs? Why would we – who claim his name – do any
less than the magi?
To
be better followers of Christ, we must become better servants of
Christ. The magi prostrate themselves before the Christ Child and do
him homage to demonstrate their subservience to him, their surrender
of themselves into his service. When we enter the Church, we
genuflect before the tabernacle to show our respect to the presence
of Christ. Whether we genuflect consciously or perfunctorily (out of
habit), we give an outward sign of our subservience to Christ. But
outwards signs are easy. What about the true subservience the outward
sign is suppose to mark? As followers of Christ, we are vowed to not
only show Christ respect as our teacher and Savior but we are also
vowed to become Christ for the salvation of the world. Meaning? We
are vowed to move beyond respect and obedience toward taking on the
mind of Christ. And from taking on the mind of Christ to becoming
Christ for others. Our worship of Christ in this church this evening
is nothing less than an outward sign of our desire to become him whom
we eat and drink. His body. His blood. His soul and divinity – to
the very limit of our own humanity. Prostration for us is not just a
posture for your body. Paying homage to him can never be perfunctory.
These are the surrender of your intellect and will to the Way, the
Truth, and the Life who suffered for you, died for you, and rose from
the grave for you. To put this in the form of a question: when you
go out there tonight and tomorrow and the next day, are you – in
thought, word, and deed – an epiphany of Christ for others? Do
you reveal the Father's mercy to sinners?
Our
Father's mercy is given flesh and bone in the gift of the divine
person of Jesus Christ born among us through Mary. We are given mercy
in the form of a man. The magi confess the divine kingship of
this man, this child, by opening before him their treasures, showing
that they know and understand and accept who and what he is and what
he has been sent to do. At our baptism, we receive the gift of divine
mercy. Freed from original sin and made members of the Body, the
Church, we are charged with living out our lives in mercy. As
followers and servants of Christ we have a single, priceless treasure
we can open before our king, a treasure he himself died to ensure we
would receive – the treasure of limitless forgiveness, boundless
mercy. The magi offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And we too can
offer our time, talent, and worldly treasure to the work of the
Church. But there's a limit to gold, frankincense, myrrh, time,
talent, and worldly treasure. To put on the mind of Christ on the way
to becoming Christ, we must offer the one treasure we possess which
possesses no limit – our freedom to forgive. If we cannot
forgive, we cannot love sacrificially; if we cannot love
sacrificially, we cannot become Christ for others.
Finally,
the magi offer their gifts to the Christ Child. Gifts are
freely given and freely received. No strings. No conditions. No
expectations. Freely given means freely given. Freely received
means freely received. The Father sent His Son to become one
of us so that His mercy might live among us in flesh and bone. He –
the Son – was freely given. Now, we must freely receive him.
Without strings, conditions, or expectations. Freely receiving Christ
means freely receiving the Father's gift of forgiveness. What gift
can we offer back to the Father in thanksgiving? Gold, incense, and
myrrh? No. We offer back in daily sacrifice the one gift that the
Father deems worthy of His Son's own sacrifice: our lives. We
offer before our king our hearts and minds and give to him our daily
work and words so that the Good News of His mercy is made known by
our hands and mouths. When we offer our daily work and words in the
name of Christ, we already know that these gifts are freely received
by the Father b/c Christ sits at His right hand ready to intercede
for us, his servants and friends.
To
be better servants of Christ, we follow the example of the magi at
Bethlehem. We prostrate our intellect and will in homage and in
defiance of pride, striving to become Christ for others. We open our
gifts, especially the gift of mercy, and forgive sacrificially. And
we offer to the Father the one gift that He sent His Son to save –
our very lives.
Follow HancAquam or Subscribe ----->
