Article Title: HOMILY OF THE FEAST OF EPIPHANY OF THE LORD.YR B.
Author: Fr Ben AGBO
Date Added: 2009-01-08
Theme: THE GLORY OF ADORATION
Epiphany means manifestation of glory-the glory of a believer destined unto prosperity and blessings. It is the feast of the star-the star of our destiny. As the star of Christ shines today, the star of all believers in Christ is supposed to shine. Today’s first reading from Isaiah 60:1-6,says:’Arise shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee…The nations will come to your light…your heart shall trill and rejoice since the riches of the sea will flow to you; wealth of the nations will come to you…everyone in Sheba will come, bringing gold, incense and singing the praise of God’. Epiphany is a moment of bloom when the believer after encountering the new-born King, is expected to blossom out of blessings received. It is a time to realize our baptismal potentials. At baptism we received a lot of anointing; catechumen, initiating us into the fold of believers and chrism, empowering us as priests(common priesthood of all believers) unto holiness and sanctity. At confirmation we are anointed again and commissioned for witnessing. It is therefore completely preposterous for a baptized Christian to be said to be obsessed by witchcrafts,ogbanje or spiritual husbands. The word of God assures us that ‘His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and goodness’
The gospel reading from Matthew 2:1-12,says that after Jesus had been born at Bethlehem, some wise men came from the east searching for him. They said, ‘we saw His star as it rose(horoscope) and have come to adore him. In the olden days, the wise men could read the destiny of great men from the stars.Herod was perturbed about the destiny of Jesus Christ just as Joseph’s brothers were perturbed about his destiny,cf Gen 37:5.He(Herod) told them ‘Go and find out about the child, and…let me know’. Yes the enemy needs our secret to be able to harm us. Poor him! He didn’t know that the destiny of children of God are perfectly in the hands of God.
We are celebrating today the glory lying in a manger; joy in the midst of poverty and suffering because there was no place for the king of kings in the inn,cf.Lk 2:7.Yet the rich and the wise men from far and near came looking for him and when they found him, they bowed down in adoration. That was the starting point of the Spirituality of Adoratioin.Today,the Eucharistic glory does not excite modern-day worshippers(especially Pentecostals).They think it is idolatry but they do not realize that the Jesus present in the tabernacle is the same Jesus the wise men found in Mary’s arms. The cult of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament stems from this pristine adoration of the new-born King. What we do during Benediction every Sunday evening and indeed in every mass is exactly what these wise men did.
Let us then look at the significance of the offering of the wise men. We need to offer Him our GOLD-the richest of our gifts,cf The story of Cain and Abel,Gen 4 and we need to make our tithe offerings,cf Gen 14:20 & Mal 3:11.We need to offer Him our FRANKINCENSE-the offering of ourselves as priests in the service of God,cf 1 Peter 2:9 and Rom 12:1f. Incense is our desire to live a noble life which gives off the aroma of Christ,cf 2 Cor 12:15.We need to offer Him our MYRRH-our life’s crosses, sufferings(e.g. sicknesses) and death,cf Lk 9:23,Gal 2:20,etc.Myrrh reminds us of the passion of our Lord and our own sacrifices for our salvation and that of others. Twenty centuries have gone since after this Ist Adoration, yet many Christians do not yet value the spiritual import of adoration. Many think adoration is for those who have serious problems yet we see that the wise men who began it were not sick, poor or needy but healthy, prosperous and educated men who did not feel too big to bend down and worship Jesus. Salvation begins from worship. The deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt began when after hearing the Word of God from Moses and Aaron, “they bowed down and worshipped Him”,cf Ex 4:31.
According to Romans 8:28f,God works everything unto good for the people of God-those who love Him, who have been destined, called, justified and glorified. Who are these people of God? They are those who receive Him, He gave power to become the children of God, born-again not of human will but of the will of God,cf Jn 1:12f.This destiny unto greatness for children of God does not mean they can therefore do what they like, but like the biblical Joseph, they struggle to remain in righteousness in order to realize the perfect will of God in their lives,cf Gen 39.
Epiphany reminds us that we should use every available means to bring our friends, relatives and colleagues close to Jesus. I will like to throw the following as our “epiphanic challenge” for this year:1.To make a positive influence on somebody this week.2.To offer Jesus a gift.
*Story of the Crippled Amahdt and the Night Visitors(The 3 Magi) on their way to visit the new born king.Amahdt offers his crutches and begins to walk. If we adore the Lord in this Christmas season and offer Him a precious gift, we are sure to be healed. And like the 3 wise men, we shall travel through a different route unto the realization of our destiny.
*Song: Our Father in heaven, we glorify your Holy Name, we bow down before you.
