Homily for The Epiphany of the Lord

January 8th, 2023

Franklin Fong, OFM

  This weekend’s readings provide us with some unifying themes to help us appreciate and understand what the meaning of having God with us as a human baby. This is the essence of the meaning of Epiphany: that AHH Ha moment when we get the point of the message.

  The first reading from Isaiah presents to us the first visual image of the light of God’s presence in our life in the darkness. The connection between this light and the glory of God is clearly stated. We can now see clearly that God is present and makes all the difference in what is happening.

  The second reading from Ephesians also clearly points out that God’s grace is for Gentiles as well as those who already believe in God and Jesus. This would include the stranger, the foreigner, the one who might speak a different language or have a different culture. They are the Co-Heirs and are not to be excluded from our concerns.

  The gospel reading from Matthew now presents us with specific examples of these Gentiles or outsiders who seek the light of God’s love by paying homage to the birth of Jesus Christ. There is something special of our spiritual truth that caused the Gentiles to seek at this special moment of the presence of "God is with us". Clearly then this is an invitation for us to identify with the magi or the gentiles.

  These outsiders are three magi or astrologers, persons who study the movements of the stars. Remember Jewish orthodoxy did not recognize astrology as a way to seek God. And we hear in these readings that the Magi bring three distinctive gifts - which give us an indication of what they are anticipating for the life of the baby Jesus.

  The first gift is of gold. Let’s think a moment for what analogies there might be for gold. The initial thought that comes to most folks is that the gold gives the receiving person the power to accomplish something through the power of using that gold.

  Another way of seeing that gold is that the magi themselves were the gold of the gift. The personification of that gold might be their energy, or their enthusiasm, or their skills that would be given to the new king to use in building God’s kingdom.

  The incense suggests that Gentiles or new members can help us renew the way we experience and express reverence for God. Outsiders are interested in us not just because we're an attractive social group or a place to hear nice music. They hope we're a channel for contact with a mysterious God. In our humility we have to admit that often times, we need time to reflect on God’s actions in our lives. So that the incense may be more indicative of how difficult it is for us humans to grasp God’s vision and purpose for our life on earth.

  Finally, the Magi, outsiders, present burial spices to the new born baby. What an interesting gift which indicate they understand that the baby will need to make sacrifices in his life to achieve his purpose on this earth.

  But in the same token, the Magi, outsiders, are coming to us and want a community of courageous believers whose convictions and bonds are stronger than death.

  Now we can begin to see that the Gentiles of the world seek a truth that we cherish, and they bring with themselves, the gold of their enthusiasm, the incense of the mystery of God’s plan for the world, and the spices needed by a community who is willing to make sacrifices because of our faith and trust in a loving God.

  So is our Church community willing to put ourselves at the disposal of the Reign of God in the world?

  Because we live in an American culture that stresses individualism each one of us has made that personal commitment to make those necessary sacrifices in our personal lives to be that disciple of Jesus Christ. We as individuals understand the personal decision of Mary, of Joseph, of Elizabeth and of Zechariah to say yes to the angels.

  As a faith community, we are as well called to make sacrifices as a group of disciples to build the kingdom of God. The three Magi, and the group of shepherds are exactly the example of decision making by a faith community to make that leap of faith – traveling great distances to a foreign land to bring symbolic gifts and to pay homage .

  In this time of the 45th anniversary of the Chinese Catholic Community, is a wonderful time to reflect on those leaps of faith that this faith community has made in these past 45 years. It is in recalling and naming these leaps of faith that we can deepen our understanding of what it means practically to be a faith community and not simply faithful individuals.

  From the culture of the 60’s we get the saying which applies to this current situation: If you can’t name it, you can’t claim it !

  So take some time to name what those leaps of faith may have been over these 20 years. Name what the fears were, and name what happened next. How did the Holy Spirit confirm your trust in God by making those leaps of faith?

  So you now can now understand a little bit better what these Magi or outsiders have done to help us live more clearly and openly our lives as devoted disciples of Jesus Christ ! It is takes the stranger to remind us of

1) the power of enthusiasm,

2) the mystery of God’s action in the world, and

3) the sacrifices we must be willing to make because of our faith.

  In the eucharist, Jesus once again manifests himself to us, feeding us in the form of bread and wine.

  Like the magi, we come to him in adoration, bringing him gifts of ourselves.

  In the eucharist, we receive the joy of encountering Jesus.

  In the eucharist, God asks us to tread on a new path, the way to evangelize.

  So take some time this coming week to reflect on how these three gifts were expressed in your personal and communal faith journey!

That my brothers and sisters is

 the great news for this Epiphany season.

Alleluia Alleluia

(中文翻譯.原文以英文為準.)

鄺神父主日道理中譯本

禮儀年甲年主顯節的講道, 2023 年 1 月 8 日

讀經一 : 依撒意亞先知書

讀經二: 厄弗所書

瑪竇福音

本週末的讀經為我們提供了一些統一的主題,以幫助我們欣賞和理解作為人類嬰兒有天主與我們同在的意義。這就是 Epiphany (主顯節) 意義的本質:當我們明白信息的要點時,那 AHH Ha (頓悟) 時刻。

依撒意亞先知書的第一篇讀經向我們展示了天主臨在我們黑暗生活中的第一個視覺形象。這光與天主的榮耀之間的聯繫已清楚說明。我們現在可以清楚地看到天主的存在並使正在發生的一切變得不同。

厄弗所書讀經二也明確指出,天主的恩典是給外邦人的,如同給那些已經信了天主和耶穌的人。這將包括陌生人、外國人、可能會說不同語言或具有不同文化的人。他們是共同繼承人,不應排除在我們的關注之外。

瑪竇福音現在向我們展示了這些外邦人或局外人的具體例子,他們通過向耶穌基督的誕生表示敬意來尋求天主之愛的光芒。我們的屬靈真理有一些特別之處,導致外邦人在這個特殊的時刻尋求“天主與我們同在”。很明顯,這是邀請我們認同賢士或外邦人。

這些外來者是三位賢士或星象家,研究星辰運行的人。請記住,正統猶太教不承認占星術是尋天主的一種方式。我們在這些讀經中聽到賢士帶來了三件與眾不同的禮物——這讓我們知道他們對小耶穌的生命有何期待。

第一份禮物是黃金。讓我們想一想黃金可能有什麼類比。大多數人最初的想法是,黃金賦予接收者通過使用黃金的力量來完成某事的力量。

另一種看待金子的方式是,賢士們本身就是禮物中的金子。金子的化身可能是他們的能量、他們的熱情或他們的技能,這些將被賦予新國王以用於建立天主的國度。

這(乳)香表明外邦人或新成員可以幫助我們更新我們體驗和表達對天主的敬畏的方式。局外人對我們感興趣,不僅僅是因為我們是一個有吸引力的社交群體,或者是一個可以聽到美妙音樂的地方。他們希望我們成為與神秘天主接觸的渠道。我們謙卑地承認,很多時候,我們需要時間來反思天主在我們生活中的作為。因此,(乳)香可能更能說明我們人類是多麼難以理解天主對我們在世上生活的願景和目的。

最後,外來的賢士向新生嬰兒獻上埋葬香料(沒藥)。多麼有趣的禮物,表明他們明白嬰兒需要在他的生命中做出犧牲才能實現他在這個世上的目的。

但出於同樣的原因,賢士,外來者,來到我們這裡,想要一個由勇敢的信徒組成的團體,她的信
念和連繫比死亡更強大。

現在我們可以開始看到,世界上的外邦人尋求我們所珍視的真理,他們帶來了他們熱情的黃金、天主對世界計劃的奧秘的熏香,以及團體所需的香料,她願意因為我們對慈愛的天主的信仰和信任而做出犧牲。

那麼,我們的教會團體是否願意讓自己接受天主在世界上的統治?

因為我們生活在強調個人主義的美國文化中,我們每個人都作出個人承諾,在我們的個人生活中做出必要的犧牲,成為耶穌基督的門徒。作為個人,我們理解瑪利亞、若瑟、依撒伯爾和匝加利亞對天使說“是”的個人決定。

作為一個信仰團體,我們也被呼召像一群門徒一樣做出犧牲來建立神的國度。三位賢士和一群牧羊人正是信仰團體做出信仰飛躍的決定的例子——長途跋涉到異國他鄉,帶來象徵性的禮物並表達敬意。

在華人天主教會成立 45 週年之際,正是反思這個信仰團體在過去 45 年中實現的信仰飛躍的絕佳時機。正是通過回憶和指稱這些信仰的飛躍,我們才能加深對成為一個信仰團體而不僅僅是忠實的個人的實際意義的理解。

從 1960 年代的文化中我們得到適用於當前情況的說法:如果你不能指稱它,你就不能聲稱它! 因此,請花點時間說出最近這 20 年來信仰的飛躍可能是什麼。說出恐懼是什麼,說出接下來發生的事情。聖神如何通過這些信心的飛躍來確認你對天主的信任?

所以你現在可以更好地理解這些賢士或局外人做了什麼來幫助我們更清楚、更公開地過我們作為耶穌基督忠實門徒的生活!需要陌生人提醒我們:
1) 熱情的力量,
2) 天主在世界上作為的奧秘,以及
3) 我們必須因為我們的信仰而願意做出犧牲。

在聖體聖事中,耶穌再次向我們顯現,以麵餅和酒的形式餵養我們。

像賢士一樣,我們懷著崇拜的心情來到他面前,帶著我們自己的禮物送給他。

在聖體聖事中,我們領受與耶穌相遇的喜樂。

在聖體聖事中,天主要求我們踏上一條新的道路,即傳福音的道路。

因此,在接下來的一周花點時間來反思這三項禮物是如何在你的個人和團體信仰之旅中表達出來的!

我的兄弟姐妹們,這是這個主顯節日的好消息。

阿肋路亞, 阿肋路亞。