God Has Found US!

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

January 8, 2012

I want to believe you haven’t forgotten that we are still in the season of Christmas. The commercial Christmas is almost gone. But the real Christmas has not ended. In fact, the real Christmas does not end. It is said that everyday is not Christmas. Yes, everyday is not the commercial Christmas. Yet, the real Christmas is every day for those who allow the word of God to take flesh in their hearts. For real Christians, the real Christmas takes place every day, because, every day, Christ born again in their hearts. So, the real Christmas is every day to those who receive the word of God in their hearts and allow God’s word to guide their steps, to shape their lives and to form their characters. 

Today, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord Jesus. On Christmas Day, just a few days ago, we celebrated the birth of Christ Jesus in Bethlehem. On that day, the angel of the Lord and the shepherds led us to the manger. Today, we celebrate his Epiphany, his manifestation to the nations. Epiphany means the manifestation of the Divine Son to the nations of the world. Today, the star that guided the wise men from the East is guiding us too, guiding us to Bethlehem, guiding us to see the presence of God almighty in a little child, a child who has just been born. 

In today’s gospel taken from Matthew 2:1-12, we are told that the wise men from the East, the Magi, the shepherd arrived Jerusalem looking for Jesus, the Savior of the world. Jerusalem was a great city. It was a beautiful city and a great city of commerce. But when these shepherds arrived there, they were not interested in the beauty of Jerusalem. They were not there to sell or to buy any product. They were desperately looking for the Savior and their salvation. A discovery of the Savior leads to salvation. 

Herod was greatly disturbed at the news the wise men gave to him: “An Infant King is born. We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.” The star they saw was the light of Christ. That star, shining on their path and leading them, was a sign, a sign that the One they were looking for had himself found them. They were looking for Christ Jesus, the light of the nations. But it was Christ, the light of the nations that first found them. When they told Herod that they had seen a light, Herod was greatly disturbed and sad. And just as Herod was greatly disturbed upon receiving the news that the light of God had found the wise men, the devil too is disturbed when God finds us, for we will no longer belong to his party. The world is disturbed when God finds us, for we will no longer join the bandwagon of sin. And we too can be disturbed when God finds us, because we will no longer live like slaves of our passions. When God finds, we must stop living in darkness. When God finds us, we must put behind us the deeds of darkness. But the devil does not want us to give them up, and that is why, when God finds us, the devil is disturbed. 

To be found by God is to have to travel by a different way. After Christ manifested himself to the wise men, the Gospel said that they returned to their country by a different way. Today, by manifesting himself to us, God has found us. Therefore, we must travel, from now on, by a different way. But before the wise men returned to their homeland, they paid homage to the new born King and offered their treasures of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 

Sisters and brothers, the wise men offered their best gifts to Jesus. They gave him gold which symbolizes the the kingship of Jesus. Jesus is the King of kings and the King of eternal glory. They gave him frankincense, which represents the priesthood of Christ. Jesus was a priest, and as a priest, he offered the greatest and the highest sacrifice on the cross. He offered himself that we might live. The wise men gave him Myrrh, which represents the death of Christ on the cross. He died to set us free. In this New Year, what gift or gifts are you going to offer to the Lord? What are we going to give the King of kings, our Origin and Guide? In Romans 12:1, St. Paul says, “Therefore I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” The best gift we can give to God in this New Year is the gift of ourselves. And offering ourselves to him means offering the Three Tees: Time, Talent, and Treasure.