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“They prostrated themselves and did him homage.” (Mt.2:11) 

One of the things I like best about the Advent/Christmas Season is the stories we hear in Scripture. Stories of wonder and awe, angels and dreams, danger and drama. This weekend you will hear a very familiar one as we journey with the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem as we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. The word means a manifestation. God’s own self-revelation to the entire world. The noted theologian, Karl Rahner, once said that “when we read today’s Gospel, we are reading our own story, the story of our journey to God. 

• Like the Magi, we are called to God from far off places.  

• Like the Magi, we must struggle through deserts and ask others for directions.  

• Like the Magi, we must make our way through indifference, hostility, and politics until we find the one we are to worship as Savior-King.  

We make our way through childhood, through youthful strength and through the maturity of age, through occasional festive days as well as many mundane and uneventful ones. Every year the Magi point out for us the real direction Christmas should take and indeed the whole of Christian life and more often than not, the way isn’t as we initially planned or expected as we find ourselves “going home by another way.” 

Fr. William Bausch in his book “Storytelling the Word” suggests the Three Kings represent many of us in some ways: Outsiders, Seekers and Latecomers. 

The Outsiders do not belong. They are of other faiths and/or traditions. Many from a different country. They bring their own unique gifts and they are welcomed. Do such outsiders live today? They sure do. Pick-up any daily newspaper and you’re bound to see at least one article on immigrants or immigration. Fr. Walter Burghardt once called them “the newly unwelcomed”. For many it’s a very divisive issue. But at the crib, there were no outsiders. Jesus received them all, ox and ass, shepherds and kings, rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles. He would reject no one as he would accept the unique gifts of each.  

The Seekers don’t know where the journey will lead them. They look for signs and make inquiries. How many of us are genuinely seeking the truth but have lingering doubts? Many of us begin at being quite close to God in families of faith and then drift away through the distractions and complexities of life. We lose the light and get ourselves into what one called, “dreadful muddles” that involve others as well as ourselves. The Seekers are beloved by God and all are accepted. 

The Latecomers are not there from the beginning while others start out without much enlightenment and only gradually stagger in from the darkness. These are the converts, those on a different path, pace, orientation or drumbeat. All are accepted.“ 

“This is the last Christmas story of the season. Combined with our readings from Isaiah and Paul, Matthew’s story orients us to a new year of seeking the signs of God’s presence in the everyday circumstances of our world. It calls us to hope and reminds us that if we seek we will find God although rarely in the ways we would expect. As we begin this new year, let us heed Isaiah’s call to rise up because the glory of the Lord is truly to be found among us.” (Celebration Jan. 8, 2017) 

May Jesus Bless each and every one of you.

July 4
     Our Call to Be Prophets
June 6
     Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
May 30
     Parish Gathering re Altar Enhancement
May 16
     Ascension Sunday
May 2
      Bearing Good Fruit
April 18
     The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and Psalms
April 11
     Divine Mercy Sunday
March 7
     Fasting as a Pillar of Lent
February 21
     Lent as a New Beginning
February 14
     Lent Invitation from Fr. Lawrence
February 7
     Preparing for Lent
January 17
     Discerning God's Call
January 3
     Epiphany
2020
December 20
     Blessed Are You Among Women
December 6
     Waiting in Joyful Hope
November 15
     Living Our Talents
November 1
     Updates from Father Lawrence: Moving back into the Church
 October 17/18
     Loving Your Neighbor at Election Time
October 10/11
     The Heavenly Banquet
September 12/13
     Forgiveness and Mercy
August 15/16
     Hunger for the Eucharist
August 8/9
     Trusting Faith in God
August 1/2
     Invitation to 54 Day Rosary Novena
July 25/26
     Gratitude from Fr. Lawrence on Installation
July 18/19
     I Am Honored to Be Your Pastor
July 11/12
     Enoying the Harvest
June 27/28
     Living Our Baptism as Disciples
June 20/21
     Welcoming Bishop Barber
June 13/14
     Corpus Christi
June 6/7
     An Invitation
May 23/24
     Ascension
May 16/17
     Alpha Is Coming
May 9/10
     How Long, O Lord?
May 2/3
     Engaging You amid 'Shelter in Place'
April 18/19
     Divine Mercy Sunday
April 11/12
     Easter Sunday
April 4/5
     Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord
March 28/29
     The Raising of Lazarus
March 21/22
     The Man Born Blind