(Epiphany 2019: This homily was
given on January 6, 2019 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani. Read Isaiah 60: 1-6; Psalm 72;
Ephesians 3: 2-6; Matthew 2: 1-12.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Epiphany 2019]
These three questions will test
how well you were paying attention to the Gospel text I just read to you . . .
According to the details given to
us in this passage from Matthew, chapter 2:
1. There
were three wise men. True or False?
2. The
wise men were kings. True or False?
3. The
names of the wise men were Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. True or False?
The correct answers, believe it
or not, are false, false and false again.
Matthew does not tell us the exact number of astrologers who came to
offer homage and gifts to the infant Christ.
The tradition that there were three comes from the fact that three gifts
were offered to the Lord: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Nor does Matthew ever tell us that they were
kings! That tradition comes from the
prophecy of Isaiah 60 (which we heard in our first reading) and Psalm 72 (which
was today's responsorial psalm). From
early on, Christians saw a foreshadowing of the Epiphany event in these two
passages from the Old Testament. And as
for their names being Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar—that idea is rooted in a
tradition that goes back at least to the sixth century. But it was not a part of Matthew's
description of the Magi as found in his Gospel. Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying
there were not three Magi; I'm not saying they were not kings, and I'm not
saying their names were not Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. I'm simply saying those details come to us
from other sources—not from the Gospel of Matthew itself.
If, perchance, you didn't do too
well with those three questions, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself with
two others:
1. The
Magi were Gentiles. True or false?
2. The
Magi submitted themselves to Jesus. True
or false?
In this case, the correct answers
are true, and true. And here we see why Matthew made the decision to include
this particular story in his account of the life of Christ. He included it to teach a very important
lesson to his community (and, by extension, to all of us). The Magi were Gentiles like most (if not all)
of us are. Why is that important? It's important because the prevailing mindset
among the Jews was that only they were special to the Lord. And so by telling us about these non-Jewish
astrologers who came to see Jesus at his birth, Matthew is telling us that everyone, without exception, is
included in God's plan of salvation.
This was also St. Paul's message to the Ephesians in that text we heard
in our second reading today—as those who took our Bible study class this Fall
would be happy to tell you. Listen again
to his words (this, remember, would have shocked many of the Jews of Paul's
day):
God's secret plan, as I have briefly described it, was revealed to me, unknown to men in former ages but now revealed by the Spirit to the holy apostles and prophets. It is no less than this: in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are now co-heirs with the Jews, members of the same body and sharers of the promise through the preaching of the gospel.
(That’s a slightly different
translation from the one we heard a few minutes ago, but I like it better. It a lot clearer.)
Many of the Jewish men and women
who first heard those words must have gasped in disbelief!—"You mean those
unclean, vile, heathen Gentiles have the same spiritual potential as we
do?!"
Yes, they do—thank God!
But there's another crucial fact
to note about these men from the East: they
submitted themselves to Jesus! St.
Matthew says that when they came into the Lord's presence, "They
prostrated themselves and did him homage."
In this regard, have you ever noticed that in almost every crèche scene,
at least one of the wise men is portrayed on his knees? (Look at ours before you leave Mass
today.) And the other two are usually
hunched over, as if they're preparing to kneel and prostrate themselves before
the Savior. Despite the fact that they might
have been kings, the Magi came to the Lord in submission and in humility.
And that's how we must come to
Jesus--if we want to experience the fruits of his redemptive work. Thus, if the Magi were standing here at this
pulpit this morning, they would say to us: "Yes, everyone is included in
God's plan of salvation--Jew and Gentile alike.
That means that every person can
be saved. But, regardless of who you are,
you must be willing to bend your knee to Jesus like we did. If you want to experience the gift of
salvation that he came into the world to bring, you must follow our example and
be willing to submit to him in humility
and in repentance. Otherwise you cannot be included in his
kingdom." That, of course, is a
very difficult message for some modern-day Christians to accept: Christians who
think that pretty much everybody goes to heaven, even if they never repent of
their sins! The Magi would disagree
strongly!
A while back I heard the
confession of a man who had not received the sacrament of Reconciliation in
almost 20 years. Without revealing any
of the details, suffice it to say that this person made a great
confession. He had a lot to unload—and
(as far as I could tell) he unloaded it all!
He was what St. John Vianney would have called "a big fish"--a
big catch for the Lord. Although he
probably didn't realize it at the time, that man came into the confessional and
did exactly what the Magi did in the cave of Bethlehem 2,000 years ago:
spiritually speaking, he prostrated himself before Jesus, by humbly asking for
his Savior's forgiveness. And so it
should come as no surprise that he left the confessional that day a "wise man"--a
wise man filled with joy and gratitude.
May all of us in our lives learn
to be equally wise.
