Is. 60:1-6; Ps. 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13; Eph. 3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt.2:1-12

The Epiphany of the Lord is the manifestation of Jesus to the world marked by the appearance of the three magi or as we often refer to them as the “three Kings or wise men”.  “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me” the Epiphany of Jesus in all his humanity and divinity.  “On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me” the manifestation of the Christ for all the world to see.  Christmas is Jesus pouring out himself onto the world, through his graces, his answered prayers, his miracles of life and his everyday presence to us in spirit and in the Eucharist.  While the season of Christmas ends, Jesus offers us Christmas every day because he is the gift that keeps on giving. 

The question for us is “what is our gift to him this year?”  On the day we depart this world and judgment comes did we give ourselves to him with loving sacrifice?  Pope Benedict Emeritus died this week leaving us a legacy of his body of work as a theologian, scholar, priest and Father.  Some have already referred to him as a “doctor” of the church with a small “d” since that title has not been officially given.  In some ways it reminds us of the death of Pope John Paul II who quickly began being referred as a Saint.  Titles aside what where the last words of Pope Benedict as he died?  It was, “I love you, Jesus.”   This was his last gift to the Lord to testify his giving of himself, his love, his heart, his all.

We hear in the second reading “the stewardship of God’s grace…has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit”.  This Spirit we have received in baptism as priest, prophet and king to share as “coheirs, members of the same body” alleluia, alleluia!  It is a gift and we have a choice to make, to give Jesus the homage of thanksgiving by how we live our lives or to squander it by following the illusion of this world that denies God his rights to our lives.  We are called to be good stewards of his gifts, to multiply the good they are designed to produce, to reflect the love of Jesus in our souls and in our acts.  We are called to be Jesus in a world that does not recognize him. 

Today there are many in the image of Herod who speak of doing homage to the Lord calling themselves a follower of the faith but whose actions resemble the evil intent of Herod seeking to be their own king and authority above all.  It happens within the church and from without because ideology is their god.  Words like “conservative, liberal, or activist” are used not just in the political environment but within the church to oppose each other with different personal ideology.  Where is our homage to the one true God, to the one truth, to the Word made flesh that came to us over 2000 years ago to bring unity by declaring to Peter “you are the rock” and placed his trust in his Church?  History is a sign that Herod still lives with the desire to kill truth and unity seen in the Reformation, seen in secularism, seen in a culture of death and relativism. 

Ideology is about a system of self governing based on ideas and ideals of secularism where God and faith can only exist for the private life with no bearing on public governance.  Remembering Pope Benedict XVI’s view of our times he called it a “dictatorship of relativism”.  You have your God and I have mine or no god at all but regardless it has no place in governance.  This movement of relativism now feels empowered to dictate and to “cancel” anyone who disagrees with their ideology where there is no good, not truth beyond a personal one, no faith except in the power of oneself.  This is the dictatorship of relativism.  What now?

Pope Benedict is quoted, “To have Christian hope means to know about evil and yet to go to meet the future with confidence.”  Evil is from the evil one and it can be very deceptive, the wolf in sheep’s clothing is often the most dangerous because it prowls about the world seeking the ruin of souls quietly before revealing itself to claim to be the standard, normalized by a culture that hungers for “what’s in it for me?”.  The Epiphany of the Lord is the arrival of the ever-present future, Emmanuel, God is with us and we fear not to face this world with confidence. 

When someone dies, we reflect not only on the life of the person but also their legacy.  Pope Benedict wrote 66 books, 3 Encyclicals, 4 Exhortations, and innumerable homilies but this is not the essence of his legacy.  The essence of his legacy is how he lived his final words in his humility, his obedience, and his call to shepherd the people of God with his love of Christ.  Some look at legacy as a summary of accomplishments but Jesus looks at us as a sum total of our love, love of God and love of neighbor. 

So, if love had a scale of 1-10, one being “not very loving”, characterized by “what’s in it for me” and 10 being “divine love” reflective of “all for the glory of God”, where do we see our love rating?  If we are honest with ourselves, we will see that we have our work cut out for ourselves in our spiritual growth.  If we find it hard to judge ourselves then just ask someone you live with and don’t get offended if your rated lower than you expected.  We are all working to build the kingdom of God by one act of love at a time.  The Epiphany of the Lord is now how you and I manifest Christ to the world. 

How do we manifest Christ to the world?  It begins by receiving the Word through the gospel, through the body and blood of Christ and though the Spirit as a revelation of Christ himself.  It is fulfilled by the incarnation of the Word in our very being.  It is no longer the “I” that lives in me but the Epiphany of Christ that lives revealing his love, his mercy, his justice.  The celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord is Christ before me, Christ beside me and Christ within me. Amen.