Epiphany 2104 - Br. Simeon

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Holy Redeemer



In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order


Homily, 5th January 2014, Feast of the The Epiphany, delivered by Br Simeon EFO.

Gospel:    Mt 2:1-12

“The wise men's journey”

Over many years, I have tried to place myself in the shoes of the 3 wise men. I have each Christmas pondered on the scripture readings of these wise men, their journey, and have often wondered what their conversations must have been like, and a whole lot of other thoughts about them have crossed my mind. I wonder what they saw in the sky that first night. What was it that got them thinking? What was it that  motivated them to pack and begin a journey to who knew where? Something had been revealed to them. But what was it? Was it in the sky, in their mind, in their heart?

We don’t have much historical information about these wise men and their journey. St. Matthew says they came from the East. Some have speculated they were from Persia. We like to think that there were three of them but St. Matthew doesn't say that and the number has varied throughout the church’s history. We call them Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar but those names didn't come about until the seventh century. And what about “the star?” It has been viewed as a supernatural phenomenon, just a regular star, a comet, or sometimes as a conjunction or grouping of planets.

This anonymity and lack of historical information is a reminder that this story, this Epiphany journey, is not just the wise men’s journey; it is everyone’s journey. The truth of sacred scripture is never limited to or contained only in the past.

I don’t know what was in the sky, what they saw, that first night. I don’t know what was in their minds; what they thought, asked, or talked about. I don’t know what was in their hearts; what they felt, dreamed, or longed for. But I know that there have been times when we each have experienced Epiphany; times when our night sky has been lit brightly, times when our minds have been illumined, times when our hearts have been enlightened. Those times have revealed to us a life and world larger than before. They have been moments that gave us the courage to travel beyond the borders and boundaries that usually circumscribe our lives. Epiphanies are those times when something calls us, moves us, to a new place and we see the face of God in a new way; so human that it almost seems ordinary, maybe too ordinary to believe.

That’s what happened to the wise men. They began to see and hear the stories of their lives. Something stirred within them and they began to wonder, to imagine, that their lives were part of a much larger story. Could it be that the one who created life, who hung the stars in the sky, noticed them, knew them, lived within them, and was calling them? Could it be that the light they saw in the sky was a reflection of the divine light that burned within them, that burns within each one of us?

To seriously consider these questions is to begin the journey. That journey took the wise men to the house where they found the answer to their questions in the arms of his mother, Mary. We may travel a different route than the wise men did but the answer is the same.

Yes, Yes,  God notices us, knows us, lives within us, and calls us. God is continually revealing himself in and through humanity, in the flesh.

Maybe it was the day you bathed your first child and saw the beauty of creation and the love of the Creator. Or that day you said, “I love you” and knew that it was about more than just romance or physical attraction. Perhaps it was the moment you really believed your life was sacred, holy, and acceptable to God. Maybe it was the time you kept vigil at the beside of one who was dying and you experienced the joy that death is not the end.

The privilege of the wise men can be ours, and we don’t have to go on a long journey. We simply need to risk being changed and challenged by God. Christmas is over, but God is still with us. If the lesson of Christmas is that God is with us, then the lesson of Epiphany is that God continues to seek us out and watch after us.

These are the stories of our lives, epiphanies that forever change who we are, how we live, and the road we travel. They are moments of ordinary everyday life in which divinity is revealed in humanity and we see God’s glory face to face.

Amen.

Homily Ist Sunday after Christmas by Br Simeon

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Holy Redeemer  In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order Homily, 

29th December 2013, First Sunday after Christmas, delivered by Br Simeon EFO.

 Gospel:  Matthew 2:13-23

 "Where is God Now? ” 

 The Gospel reading this day after Christmas strikes a new tone for the season by dramatically leading us away from anticipation of Advent and revelry of the holidays to the tenuous and dark days between promises and their fruition. Threats abound, but God carefully orchestrates Jesus' earliest days according to Matthew.

 Though as an infant Jesus cannot act in his own defence, God's steady protection and Joseph's faithful obedience combine to ensure his safety in a world of danger. Even as potential disaster threatens Jesus, ancient prophecies come to life and guarantee Jesus' ineluctable mission. 

 You have to hand it to Matthew in the way he balances a sense of wonder for the coming of Jesus with the grimmer bits. First we have the angels, the shepherds and even the wise men and a guiding star…a good story, filled with awe and wonder and even with a touch of magic. 

Then suddenly Matthew switches the mood of his story from pure wonder to pure horror. Herod is furious. Learning that he has been tricked by the wise men, who, despite their previous promise, evidently have no intention of coming back with information about a potential king being born in the area, Herod now in effect throws his toys.  He flies into a rage and sends his soldiers to kill all young male infants in the neighbourhood. Joseph and Mary are warned and flee with the baby Jesus to Egypt. 


 Eli Wiesel was a noble prize winning author and a survivor of the concentration camp Auschwitz. In the book Night, he tells of his experiences in the concentration camps. In one chapter of Night he tells of witnessing the hanging of three men. 

These men had been part of an underground resistance and had been captured. One of the three men was nothing but a boy. When they were hanged the two large men died instantly but the boy because of his light weight suffered terribly as he slowly choked to death. The prisoners in Auschwitz were made to watch the execution. And through it all a man behind Eli Wiesel asked out loud, "Where is God now?" And as the boy suffered he asked, "Where is God now. Where is he?" 

The man was not asking for God's geographical location. He was expressing an unutterable frustration and feeling that God had abandoned them. Here was a young man, a boy, who had risked his life to save other people. How could God let these Nazis torture him? They were God's chosen people, and yet this was happening. Had God forgotten them? Where was God anyway? 

 We are all familiar with the story of the Three Kings. Those three wise men who follow a star to Bethlehem to worship the King of the Jews, Jesus Christ. But right on its heels is another story that is tragic and disturbing. King Herod in his evil love of power plots to kill this baby born King of the Jews. At first he plans to use the wise men to find Jesus and murder him. But the wise men are warned by God in a dream not to tell Herod but to go home another way. When Herod realised he has been tricked he ordered all the children killed who are two years old or under killed. 

He didn't conduct a house to house search to find the one baby he wanted dead. He didn't order all the boys killed. He ordered all the children killed. But God warned Joseph in a dream and Joseph fled to Egypt thus fulfilling other prophesies. Jesus was spared from this attempt on his life. Jesus was destined to die, but this was not the right time. So God intervened allowing Jesus to grow up and be revealed through his earthly ministry. The powers of evil tried to kill the Messiah before his time but God miraculously intervened. Isn't that just wonderful! God intervenes to save the Messiah while hundreds of other innocent children die. I don't know about you but there is a part of me that asks, "What about these children?" What about their parents and grandparents - their brothers and sisters? What about these suffering people? Its fine that God intervened to save one baby boy, but why didn't God intervene to save these hundreds of others. 

Where was God in this!? I am not the first to ask this question. Christians before have asked this same question and arrived at different answers. The ancient Christians gave special honour to these children. This event was called the "slaughter of the innocents." And because these children had died while Jesus escaped, they reasoned that these children were in a sense the first Christian martyrs and that they went straight to heaven and have a special place in God's kingdom. 

Where is God Now? Perhaps I have over looked a very important part of this story. This story is, after all, about Jesus, Emmanuel - "God with us." Jesus is at the centre of this story. So where is God in the slaughter of the innocents. 

Well, God was right there, in the middle of it. God was and is where ever people are suffering. Isn't that what the Christmas story is all about. God the Almighty came into the midst of our suffering and pain to bring comfort and salvation and to hang on a tree. Where is God now as thousands die in wars and or poverty. God is there with them. Where is God Now? 

We often look for God in the beautiful and pure. We look for God in decorated churches and fancy sanctuaries. And God is here because God is everywhere. In the Christmas season we look for God in fancy decorations, gold and silver objects, decorative candles. But today's Gospel reading tells us of another place to look. ``-If you want to find God, look for pain and suffering.

 If you really want to find out where God is go to the slums, he is there. Go to the AIDS wards and cancer wards; God is there. Go to the war torn parts of the world where children are being slaughtered. And you will find God there. Oh, you won't see God at first, but through Christ and the Holy Spirit, God is there. And while you are there looking for God, could you do me a favour? Why don't you lend a hand to bring some comfort and peace, then you will really see God. When you come face to face with the evil of this world and you ask yourself "Where is God Now." Remember that God is with us "Emmanuel." Amen.