Homily for January 6, 2008 Feast of Epiphany
Today is the original celebration of the birth of Jesus, and in much of the world, it is the big feast. In the eastern part of Christianity, December 25 is not celebrated at all; January 6 is the big day. And next Sunday, the Baptism of the Lord, is a big day. The readings surrounding the birth of Jesus are the story of the Magi, the story of the baptism of the Lord, and the story of the wedding feast at Cana. Luke's story of the manger -- that came in later than all the others.
Commentators on this feast have always seen in the three Magi -- I say three, but remember the Gospel doesn't say there were three -- the mystery of Jesus being revealed to the Gentiles. I was taught growing up that the three magi represented us, and in the second reading today, Paul says, "…the mystery hidden from all generations, but finally revealed." Do you remember what that mystery was? The Jews and the Gentiles are coheirs and are partners in the Gospel again, that theme of universality. I want to build on that today.
As I was reflecting on the readings, I was reminded of a retreat I made years ago with a writer, Richard Foster, a Quaker writer, who has written a lot about religious disciplines and religious formation. This was an ecumenical retreat, and at the beginning of this retreat, what he did was ask us to meet in small groups of four and make sure that we were with somebody from a different denomination. Then he asked us to say to each denomination in the group what we valued about that denomination.
I want to invite you to do that today. Imagine that we are gathered together Catholics, Baptists, Methodist, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Pentecostals. Now, what can we Catholics learn from the Baptists? Their love of Scripture; their insistence on a personal relationship with Jesus; a good sense of community in their churches.
(The following comments were part of a dialogue with different members offering their answer.)
What can we learn from the Methodists? They're good singers; dedication to missionary work; they had their origins in the social gospel, too; very good in including and educating on the handicapped.
What can we learn from the Pentecostals? Praise and worship; following the Spirit.
What can we learn from the Episcopalians? They still have tradition; how to build a large endowment; tolerance; diversity; they allow women in the priesthood. I'm not going to comment; I don't want to get in trouble.
What can they learn from us? What can all those other groups learn from us? Dedication to helping people; a consistent ethic of life; we do schools well, education; tradition; ritual. We also work for social justice; tolerance; love; overseas missions.
Let me expand it a little. What can we learn from the Jews? Patience; perseverance; suffering; tremendous love for the poor; and a very rich understanding of God's law and of our obligations; our roots; a deep appreciation of the value of family and community; storytelling; by the way, also diversity. I went to a thing by Rabbi Sandy Sasso a couple months ago, and she said in the rabbinic tradition you can have two stories that have two totally different interpretations, and they're both true. They value the stories.
Yes? A care for the mourners; scholarship. They are a people of the book.
What can we learn from the Muslims? Tremendous love for the poor, they feed the poor; love and appreciation of poetry. They have a very rich mystical tradition, by the way, a very strong, extreme integration of faith and daily life; love of their Scripture; the power of daily prayer; and extreme dedication to God's will.
What can we learn from the Buddhists? A deep spirituality; a connectedness; humility; a love for the poor. By the way, western psychology separates psychology and spirituality. In Buddhism they're the same. There's an integration of the two. An appreciation of what happiness means in life; strong sense of non attachment; freedom; living in the present moment; a willingness to live with paradox and mystery; value for the elderly and their ancestors.
By the way, in asking all of these questions, I want to make a statement. I consider myself 100 percent Catholic and totally loyal to Catholic teaching. It's from that perspective that I love learning from other traditions, not from a spirit that says we're all the same, but from an appreciation that my being thoroughly formed as a Catholic has given me a place to stand from which I can value and appreciate other beliefs and other traditions.
And I think there is, in God's word, a universalism that calls us beyond the divisions that we humans create. And then as I reflect on all of that, my (this "dream" is taken from Richard Foster's comments in an article in the Spring 2007 edition of Conversations.) "my" dream in this new year for Christian formation would be that those who follow Jesus are known throughout the world for their ability to live well, to love their spouses and their families well, to raise their children well, to be good students, to be good stewards of the earth, to be lovers of tradition, to know how to live, to know how to die, and to know be how to be filled with hope, that above all we would be known as people who know how to live well with everything that that encompasses.
Commentators on this feast have always seen in the three Magi -- I say three, but remember the Gospel doesn't say there were three -- the mystery of Jesus being revealed to the Gentiles. I was taught growing up that the three magi represented us, and in the second reading today, Paul says, "…the mystery hidden from all generations, but finally revealed." Do you remember what that mystery was? The Jews and the Gentiles are coheirs and are partners in the Gospel again, that theme of universality. I want to build on that today.
As I was reflecting on the readings, I was reminded of a retreat I made years ago with a writer, Richard Foster, a Quaker writer, who has written a lot about religious disciplines and religious formation. This was an ecumenical retreat, and at the beginning of this retreat, what he did was ask us to meet in small groups of four and make sure that we were with somebody from a different denomination. Then he asked us to say to each denomination in the group what we valued about that denomination.
I want to invite you to do that today. Imagine that we are gathered together Catholics, Baptists, Methodist, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Pentecostals. Now, what can we Catholics learn from the Baptists? Their love of Scripture; their insistence on a personal relationship with Jesus; a good sense of community in their churches.
(The following comments were part of a dialogue with different members offering their answer.)
What can we learn from the Methodists? They're good singers; dedication to missionary work; they had their origins in the social gospel, too; very good in including and educating on the handicapped.
What can we learn from the Pentecostals? Praise and worship; following the Spirit.
What can we learn from the Episcopalians? They still have tradition; how to build a large endowment; tolerance; diversity; they allow women in the priesthood. I'm not going to comment; I don't want to get in trouble.
What can they learn from us? What can all those other groups learn from us? Dedication to helping people; a consistent ethic of life; we do schools well, education; tradition; ritual. We also work for social justice; tolerance; love; overseas missions.
Let me expand it a little. What can we learn from the Jews? Patience; perseverance; suffering; tremendous love for the poor; and a very rich understanding of God's law and of our obligations; our roots; a deep appreciation of the value of family and community; storytelling; by the way, also diversity. I went to a thing by Rabbi Sandy Sasso a couple months ago, and she said in the rabbinic tradition you can have two stories that have two totally different interpretations, and they're both true. They value the stories.
Yes? A care for the mourners; scholarship. They are a people of the book.
What can we learn from the Muslims? Tremendous love for the poor, they feed the poor; love and appreciation of poetry. They have a very rich mystical tradition, by the way, a very strong, extreme integration of faith and daily life; love of their Scripture; the power of daily prayer; and extreme dedication to God's will.
What can we learn from the Buddhists? A deep spirituality; a connectedness; humility; a love for the poor. By the way, western psychology separates psychology and spirituality. In Buddhism they're the same. There's an integration of the two. An appreciation of what happiness means in life; strong sense of non attachment; freedom; living in the present moment; a willingness to live with paradox and mystery; value for the elderly and their ancestors.
By the way, in asking all of these questions, I want to make a statement. I consider myself 100 percent Catholic and totally loyal to Catholic teaching. It's from that perspective that I love learning from other traditions, not from a spirit that says we're all the same, but from an appreciation that my being thoroughly formed as a Catholic has given me a place to stand from which I can value and appreciate other beliefs and other traditions.
And I think there is, in God's word, a universalism that calls us beyond the divisions that we humans create. And then as I reflect on all of that, my (this "dream" is taken from Richard Foster's comments in an article in the Spring 2007 edition of Conversations.) "my" dream in this new year for Christian formation would be that those who follow Jesus are known throughout the world for their ability to live well, to love their spouses and their families well, to raise their children well, to be good students, to be good stewards of the earth, to be lovers of tradition, to know how to live, to know how to die, and to know be how to be filled with hope, that above all we would be known as people who know how to live well with everything that that encompasses.
Labels: Homilies
posted by Fr. Larry Voelker at
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