“We have seen His star in the east” (Mt 2:2)Epiphany: the Inclusive Kindness of God
January 2, 2011, Feast of Epiphany
Isaiah 60:1-3, 5-6 Ephesians 3:1-3 Matthew 2:1-12
First reading from Isaiah
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Second reading from Ephesians
“I, Paul, the servant of Christ, am here in jail because of you – for preaching that you Gentiles are also a part of God’s household. No doubt you already know that God has given me this special task of showing God’s favor to you Gentiles, as I briefly mentioned before in one of my letters. God Himself revealed to me this secret plan of His, hidden from former generations, that the Gentiles also are included in His kindness."(Eph 3:1-3)
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Glory to you, Lord.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, astrologers from the east arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel[1].” Then Herod called the astrologers secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I, too, may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
Epiphany: East and West
Introduction
Epiphany: East and West
Epiphany is a Greek word meaning `a manifestation’ or `a pointing to.’ In the Eastern Church Epiphany focuses on the Lord’s baptism when a heavenly voice pointed to Jesus and declared that this is “my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3: 17) In the Western Church, Epiphany focuses on the adoration of three astrologers (readers of the stars and heavenly bodies) to whom a star pointed out the spot where an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes was laying in a manger. (Mt 2:1-12)
The glitz of Epiphany
In the course of time, tradition dressed up Epiphany with a lot of glitz. With Isaiah chapter 60 in mind, tradition turned the astrologers into kings, placing crowns on their heads, and loading their arms with gifts of gold and frankincense for the infant. (Is 60: 5-6) Tradition also numbered the astrologers as three, because Matthew adds a third gift of myrrh to Isaiah’s gold and frankincense, and consequently another king was needed to carry the third gift. (Mt 2:11, Is 60:6) By the middle of the 3rd century, tradition even gave the kings names: Melchior of Nubia, Caspar of Tarshish, and Baltazar of Chaldea. By the 9th century, tradition claimed that the three kings represented the whole human family: Baltazar was Asian, Caspar a white European, and Melchior was African and therefore black.
Wonderful new news!
Before Vatican II, Epiphany enjoyed a privileged status in the liturgical calendar. It was an `immovable feast’: it was always celebrated on January 6.[2] Now it may be moved to the Sunday after January 1.[3] The feast enjoyed a `privileged octave’: for eight straight days the Mass of Epiphany was repeated verbatim -- using the very same epistle, gospel, and prayers. With Vatican II, the feast lost its privileged status. Was it because the liturgical revisionists after the Council were not as wise as the wise men that the feast lost its privileged status? Was it because those revisionists viewed Epiphany as not much more than just a `cute story’ to tell our kids that the feast lost its privileged status?
There’s a lot of story and imagery in three kings wrapped in fine robes, visiting baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. The medieval tradition which turned the astrologers into three glitzy kings from the East might delight the child in us, but it isn’t very profound. Nor is it profound to simply debunk the story. More profound than glitzing or debunking Epiphany is to go in search of its religious meaning. At the end of the day, the gospels are not historical documents; their aim is not to record history. The gospels are religious documents; their aim is to communicate religious meaning. And the religious meaning of Epiphany is the wonderful new news that “the Gentiles also are included in the kindness of God.”
The inclusion of Gentiles in the kindness of God
That indeed was new news. Up until now, everyone in the Christmas drama is exclusively Jewish. Isaiah, the great prophet of Advent, is a Jew. All the main characters (Joseph and Mary, Zachary and Elizabeth, old Anna and Simeon in the temple) are Jews. The shepherds, though unwashed and unkempt, are also Jews. Even the angels singing “Glory to God in the highest” seem to be singing in Hebrew. The lead-actor in the Christmas drama, the Messiah Himself, is for sure a Jew – “a descendant of David according to the flesh.” (Rom 1:3)
Up until now Gentiles have been missing in the drama of universal salvation. That drama awaits a last act, which comes with the arrival of Gentile astrologers. The story of a bright-shining star leading Gentiles into the Christmas drama shines with religious meaning. It bears tidings of wonderful new news that “the Gentiles also are included in the kindness of God.”
That, indeed, was new news for Jews. It was also shocking news for them, for they had always thought that they alone belonged to the household of God. Epiphany now summons them to move over and make room for Gentiles in God’s house. The drama, which began on Christmas Eve with no room in the inn for the holy family, now ends with much room for everybody. (Lk 2:7) Epiphany, that feast which makes much room for everybody, was indeed (is indeed) worthy of being granted the status of `an immovable feast’ with a `privileged octave.’
The inclusion of women in the kindness of God
In the second reading from Ephesians, Paul says that God’s intention to include also Gentiles in His kindness was “a secret plan, hidden from former generations” but revealed to him by God Himself. (Eph 3:3, 6) We wonder why in the world would God want to hide the good news of His great inclusive kindness in the first place? Did God hide that good news from the Jews of old, or did they hide it from themselves?
After attending an ordination in St. John’s Cathedral in Milwaukee, WI., some years ago Barbara Marion Horn, a feisty lass from Ireland and a theologian in her own right, wrote to Archbishop Rembert Weakland:
Your Excellency, the beauty of the music, the power of the liturgy and the ancient tradition of the laying on of hands, at moments, left me breathless. The palpable joy and strength of that occasion will always be with me. But, as is the case with a growing number of Catholics, a great sadness arose in my heart; a feeling of how wrong everything was amid the beauty, the power and the strength. The procession of male clergy across the altar reverberated throughout my body: the visible reminder that the oldest, deepest exclusion, the one we are all too accustomed to, is alive and well in the bosom of my faith community.
On the feast of Epiphany we ask who hid the good news that women also are included in the kindness of God? Did God hide that good news from society and church down through the ages? Or did a male-ridden and male-driven society and church hide it from themselves? Down through the centuries, man cleverly uses God to exclude what man wants excluded.
The inclusion of gays in the kindness of God
Fr. Mychal Judge was a devout, gay, recovering alcoholic priest who wore his Franciscan habit everywhere, and rejoiced in his vow of poverty. The holy foolishness of the first Franciscans weaved in and out of the story of his life. As a priest he often sought out and comforted people who had been rebuffed by the harness of other priests. When church authorities urged a boycott of the first gay-inclusive St. Patrick’s Day parade in Queens in 2000, Fr. Judge showed up in his Franciscan habit and sandals to march with a gay Irish group, as protesters waving rosaries heckled them. By his joining the march Fr. Mychal wanted to quietly, dignifiedly and courageously (for sure) proclaim the good news and new news that gays also are included in the kindness of God.
On the feast of Epiphany we ask who hid the good news that gays also are included in the kindness of God? Did God hide that good news down through the ages, or did homophobic society and church hide it from themselves?
Down through the ages, man has always been using God in order to justify whatever he wants to exclude. The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, and his little gang of followers are experts in the use of God. Phelps and his gang passionately hate gays. Because the US tolerates gays, they picket the funeral of fallen US soldiers, and carry signs reading `God Hates Fags.’ God doesn’t hate gays; it is the Rev. Phelps with his gang who hates them. Their signs are a very blatant (but highly ineffectual) attempt to use God to back up their gay-bashing which they cherish so much.
Conclusion
Dismissal to the real business of Christmas
All the great religious stories (whether Jewish, Islamic or Christian) need a last act, and all need the same last act! All need a Star of Epiphany to purify them not of their diversity, uniqueness and quaintness but of their hostility, hatred and exclusive spirit. All need a feast of Epiphany to summon their adherents to move over and make room for others. And ample room there is, indeed. When Jesus came into the world the inn-keepers said to Joseph and Mary: “There is no room for you in the inn.” As He was leaving the world, He said to His disciples, "In my Father's house there is much room for everyone." (Jn 14:2)
A Christmas card of many years past bore a very meaningful dismissal of the Christmas season. It reads:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings have returned to their villas,
When the shepherds are back in their fields,
The real business of Christmas begins:
To find the lost, to heal the broken,
To feed the hungry, to seek the path to peace,
And to worship a God who includes everyone in His kindness,
And who asks us to do the same.
