OMELIE / Omelie EN

06 gen 2023

06/01/2023 – The Epiphany of the Lord

06/01/2023 – The Epiphany of the Lord

Reading 1 Is 60,1-6 Psalm 71 Reading 2 Ef 3,2-3.5-6 Gospel MT 2,1-12

Our attention today is focused on the mystery of God’s love towards all men. Initially only the Jews knew God, as the Psalm says and Jesus had said while talking to the Samaritan. They were allowed to know Him so they could share the knowledge with all the other peoples. All men are loved by God the Father, who has created them not in order to abandon them but to keep them with Him. Behold, today this mystery is revealed by introducing Jesus to the representatives of all peoples on earth!

This possibility is granted by the three kings’ quest. They are representing the pagan peoples who are navigating their life through science they think is certain, making attempts which, by themselves, would not reach a satisfactory conclusion. We can see then that the reading they make of the movements of the stars is allowing them to follow the right course, but does not lead them to the correct destination. They are even directed to the worst possible person for the job, Heron, the enemy of all justice and truths and enemy of the very person they look for.

In Heron’s House the Wise people of Israel help the strangers to reach their destination, although without following the lead themselves. Those who came from afar find the treasure of all humanity, while they, who know, keep their distance, afraid of a possible change in their life. It is happening what will happen again and again: those who are close become distant, those who are distant become close. Jesus will say it often. And the apostles’ experience will still be like this: they will announce the Gospel to the Pagans because the Jews are refusing to listen.

What happens in the dwelling pointed out by the star, which had become really bright after they have listened to the Scripture, is an example for everyone: the Wise men open their chests in front of the Child in the Mother’s arms. From their chests come out gifts full of hidden meanings. The gold acknowledges Jesus’s royalty, the frankincense His divinity, the myrrh His immortality. The men with their symbols recognise that Jesus is the king of God’s kingdom, that He Himself is God, and He wins over death, the enemy of men. These symbols are given to the Child, and then they are even clearer: only He deserves to reign, to receive honour from men, to live forever. The Wise Men, who approach Jesus and empty their chests in His hands, realise the beauty of poverty chosen for the love of Him because richness has value only in His hands; they discover the beauty of obedience and humility, because only Jesus can “direct” without taking away from men their freedom; and they also discover the beauty and value of meekness and chastity, because only Jesus’s presence is needed for the future of the world.

The Wise Men needed Heron to reach Jesus, but now they do not need anyone anymore to go back to their land. Now Jesus Himself is their guide. They do not need stars, they do not look up at the night sky anymore. Now the Sun shines upon their path always.

Now they will look at every child attentively, because in every child there is the reflection of that Child. They will now look carefully and in awe at every man’s face, because every man for God is a child who is carrying with him the image of the Child adored in Betlehem.

How many changes happen when we meet Jesus! And even if Jesus does not say words, His presence itself is Word!

Jesus’s presence for us is always there, and it is available to us in different ways: in particular through the celebration of the Liturgical Year, which today the Church declares through its meaning and its main milestones:

“Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord’s glory has been shown to us and always will be shown to us until His return. In the rhythm and the events of time we remind ourselves of and live the mysteries of the salvation.

At the core of the liturgical year is the triduum of the Lord, crucified, buried and risen, which will end with Easter Sunday on the 9th of April.

Every Sunday, the weekly Easter, the holy Church reenacts this great event in which the Christ has won over sin and death.

From Easter come all the following holy days:

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, the 22nd of February.

The Ascension of the Lord, the 21st of May. Pentecost on the 28th of May.

The first Sunday of Advent, the 3rd of December.

Also in the feasts of the Holy Mother of God, the Apostles, the Saints and in the Commemoration of the Holy Souls, the Church pilgrim on earth proclames the Easter of the Lord.

To Christ, who was, is and will come, Lord of the time and history, unending praise. AMEN.