The Epiphany 2009

There was a bidding prayer at Midnight Mass which I know made an impression on some of you. I know, because you told me so yourselves. It spoke of the magic of the Christmas story and its power to speak, not so much to our intellect, but to our imagination, and, through our imagination, to touch us in ways mere ideas never could. And then, two days later, on radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’, I heard a lovely example of this. The presenter was Fr Jerome Murphy O’Connor, an Irish Dominican priest and cousin of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, who, for the last forty years, has worked at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. He is a world renowned Scripture scholar who knows the New Testament inside out and knows perfectly well, therefore, that not everything about the Christmas story is history in the sense that we would use the word. But in his thought that morning he said nothing about this. Instead, he took the story of the flight into Egypt just as it is in Matthew’s Gospel and, using it imaginatively, invited his listeners to enter into the experience of Jesus the refugee and from there into the experience of refugees everywhere. And we can do the same with every aspect of the story.The Gospels, like all great literature, have the power to open up levels of insight and understanding far beyond the immediate meaning of the words on the page and it is in that sense that I invite you to join me today in an imaginative journey with the Magi.

And as I begin to imagine this story unfolding, the first thing which always strikes me is to wonder how many other people had the same initial urge to follow the star Westwards in search of the infant King of the Jews and what happened to them. We know from sometimes painful personal experience that not every thought or inclination leads to action. Many good ideas come to nothing and, in my imagination, this must have happened to many in the place the Magi came from. Like the seed that fell among thorns, they would have been so caught up in the cares of life that what began as a good idea remained no more than that and came to nothing; an invitation to reflect on how often this has happened in our own lives.

But for those who did begin the great journey in search of Jesus, many problems lay ahead. The journey to Bethlehem was a long one and would take them through many different lands. In my imagination many of those who set off would never have been abroad before and so, just a few days into the journey, would have taken cold feet and returned home. Unable to cope with new, unfamiliar experiences, they scurried back to where they were comfortable, seeking refuge in what they had always known and reminding us of the times when we have started journeys or projects only to give up on them when the going got a little bit tough.

But for those who resisted the temptation to turn back, the frontier of a very difficult land to pass through soon loomed ahead, the land of confusion and uncertainty. To leave one place and go to another where Jesus is involves more than an outward physical journey. Even more difficult than that journey, the journey from one place to another, was the inner journey each person had to make, the journey from one way of thinking to another which inevitably involves a period in the middle when nothing seems certain and everything seems in doubt. And at the centre of this land lies a great crossroads which no one passing through it can avoid. To the left, the signpost tells the traveller, lies certainty, something very attractive to the confused traveller, but in reality this is no certainty at all. It is only apparent certainty in the form of simple answers to complex questions and the name of the town which lies along this road is religious fundamentalism. And many today seek refuge in it. But Jesus is not to be found there. And to the right lies another town which offers some respite to the weary traveller. Its a kind of biblical Benidorm offering all kinds of attractions to distract the traveller and take his mind off the challenges of the journey. And so many who wanted to meet Jesus but didn’t want it enough settle down there and go no further. But for those who are brave enough and committed enough, the road ahead point towards Bethlehem and along this road go the Magi.

But before they reach the place where the child lay, the biggest challenge of all still lies ahead. In search of the infant King of the Jews, they, naturally, expect to find him in a palace. And so they visit Herod. But the one they have come so far to see is not there. They have been seeking him without ever realising who it is they seek. Unknown to them, the child they are looking for is infinitely more than they could ever have imagined. He is God made man and living among us. He is Son of God and son of Mary. He is something totally new in history with the result that all the expectations and all the pre-conceived ideas the Magi have brought with them from the East – up to now the place where people have gone in search of wisdom -have to be left outside at the entrance to the stable. What lies inside this stable is not power but powerlessness; not riches but poverty: not human wisdom but divine foolishness. The Magi brought their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh expecting to offer them to the new infant King, only to discover that, far from being the bearers of gifts, they are, in fact, the receivers of the greatest gift history has ever seen: God’s gift of himself. And so, as Matthew tells us, they went home by a different route, their whole lives transformed by the experience of meeting Jesus.

At this point, of course, you might imagine that they would take home with them the story of what had happened to them and who it was the star had led them to. But in my version of the story this is not what happened. There are some things which cannot be shared. We have to discover them and experience them for ourselves. And so when the Magi arrived home, no one even noticed them. By then the memory of the great journey so many had begun had faded. Life had moved on and, just like today, very few people would have known what they had missed out on. .... So, would you have?

BIDDING PRAYERS

On this Day of Prayer for Peace we begin by holding up before God the whole of humanity, torn apart, as it still is, by conflict and division. The journey through history in search of the peace we long for is slow and painful. Bogged down in ancient prejudices and century-old disputes, the world repeats over and over again the mistakes of history and so remains trapped in its past. And so we ask God today to lead us out of this trap into a new way of relating to each other.................Lord hear us

The peace we speak of is a peace the world cannot give. It is a peace only God can give. It is not the result of diplomacy and can never come about through warfare, no matter how many times we delude ourselves into thinking it can. It’s only possible when, through grace, the hearts of men and women throughout the world are changed and we begin to think as God thinks and love as God loves. And so we ask God to bring about this transformation through his Spirit at work in history.........Lord hear us

The Church, like the Magi, is itself involved in a great journey, this time through history. Many times over the centuries, however, it has wandered from the path and become bogged down in one mess after another of its own making. The great sign of this in today’s world is the tragic state of division which exists between the followers of Jesus, and, on this day of Prayer for Peace, we ask God to heal these divisions as a sign to humanity of an even deeper healing among nations........................Lord hear us

Our own parish, too, is on a journey. Rooted in the teaching of Jesus and in the tradition of the Catholic Church – especially the documents of the Second Vatican Council – we are moving slowly but surely from religion to faith, from being a people who have heard of God to a people who know God intimately. And so we thank God for the progress we have already made on this great journey and ask him for the courage and faith we need to persevere in it to the end...................Lord hear us

But in the end, it is each one of us who is on this journey. Each one of us is called, like the Magi, to follow the star wherever it takes us. But no two people follow exactly the same path. We journey within the context of the Christian community to which we belong, but, since God has a unique dream for each one of us, we must have the courage to discern our own individual vocation and follow it. And so we pray for the courage and maturity we need to do this.....................Lord hear us

When our own patron Matthew wrote the story of the Magi – and it is unique to his Gospel – he saw them as a sign, right at the beginning of Jesus’ life, of his mission to all nations. In Jesus there are no longer any divisions between one nation and another. In him all men and women are equal and every person on the face of the earth is our brother or sister. And so, as a parish bearing Matthew’s name, we pray that we will have an especially deep sense of this great truth...................Lord hear us