Feast of Epiphany Starlight Everywhere First Reading ( Is 60:1-6 ) : Everyone will behold your Light Second Reading ( Eph 3:2-3, 5-6 ) : All people will share God's grace Gospel ( Mt 2:1-12 ) : The wise men came to adore Chinese Classics “I have a pearl, Long locked up in dust; One day the dust is gone and the light comes to life, Shining through a million rivers. (1) ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ ( Mt 2:1-12) Epiphany commemorates the day the newborn infant Jesus Christ was revealed to the Gentiles. It is the greatest feast in the Oriental churches, even more important than Christmas. This is because it is the time when the Savior is revealed to the Gentiles. Isaiah once predicted,” ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.’ (Is 60:1-3) Today, we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. We firmly believe that God showed Himself to us. But how did God do this? Where was the star of the Lord? If you look up at the sky in Hong Kong at night, can you see a star? It is difficult. Today the sky that before was blue has turned to gray from the heavily polluted air. The bright twinkling stars of the past are fading away. Where is the star of the Lord? Does the feast of the Epiphany today still have meaning for us? Yes, it does! The star of God is still there, outside of us and also within us. God's star is ‘outside’ of us: 1. when we are reading the Bible the Lord's star is there 2. when we listen to the teaching of the Church the Lord's star is there 3. when we share life's meaning and experience with friends the Lord's star is there 4. when we observe and ponder changes taking place in the world the Lord's star is there Changes in the world are actually the “signs of the times” the Church so often mentions in Vatican II. Council. Each time we observe changes in the world, and events happening around us, the star of God is there. God is speaking to us through the changes that take place in the world. When St. John Bosco walked around the streets, he saw many young people wandering about without proper education. He related this observation to an inspiration he had in prayer: ‘What you do for the least of your brothers and sisters you do unto me.’ He then made use of parts of his religious houses where activities for teenagers could be held every Sunday. So, the world is the Lord's star, one of the external stars. God is speaking to us through all the happenings around us. God also speaks to us through Scripture, the church, our friends and all the changes taking place throughout the entire world. But the Lord's star is also in our hearts: 1. when we pray God speaks to us 2. when we enter deeply into our conscience God comes into contact with us. Vatican Council II said that God is present in the deepest corner of our conscience. At that secret place God is there is God and we meet Him there. The Chinese people have a beautiful poem, “I have a pearl, Long locked up in dust; One day the dust is gone and the light comes to life, Shining through a million rivers.”(1) Every one of us has a luminescent pearl in our lives. However, this pearl is covered with dust. Once the dust and dirt are removed, this pearl will light up the world and the people around us, and it will point to the way we should follow. This pearl is actually our star. It is also our conscience. ‘We observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ Friends, do we see the star of the Lord on the feast of the Epiphany? From Scripture and the teachings of the church, do we see the Lord's star? In sharing with our friends, in the changes of the world, do we see God's star? Are we willing to enter deeply into our own hearts to touch our conscience? Are we willing to go into the hidden corners of our conscience and meet God there? Persons who find the star become stars themselves. “The glory of God is shining on you. People will run to your light”. When we find our star, we will become stars ourselves or become an instrument of the star. Of one thing we can be sure, after their pilgrimage to Jesus the wise men would let others know about this Savior. How about us? Do we let other people know about God after we found Him in the Bible, in the church, among friends and in the world? After we have entered into the depths of our conscience and discovered the secret of God there holding the pearl of our lives, do we share this by word and deed? Christians should be a light and the light should brighten the darkness. Brightness is the characteristic of Christians. ”You are the light of the world.” When we have found the star we become a star. After we have been brightened, we will become a light. “The glory of God has shone upon you. All people will follow your light. All Kings will run towards your emerging brightness.” O God, we ask you to shine upon us that we may become a light for others. (1)我有明珠一顆,久被塵牢關鎖; 一朝塵盡光生,照破山河萬朵。 |