Posts
(04.01.2010)
Gospel Reading: Matthew 2:1-12
“We came from the east to do the king homage.”
This story of Jesus, told by St Matthew, is very familiar to us.
You know, the star is something that is natural. What Matthew wants us to realize is that natural wisdom, human wisdom and human knowledge cannot reveal God. Let it be human wisdom; let it be natural sciences - all these do not contradict faith, but they do not lead to the nature of God.
That is why these three wise men, when they were in Jerusalem, couldn't see the star. They were lost, and that is why they had to consult King Herod. But it is very strange that these wise men would walk into the palace of Herod and ask where is the new born King, because whenever the palace has a new born child, the whole world will know. It was the scribes, the priests who revealed the messiah to these three wise men. And the moment they came out of the palace, they saw the star there, and this star led them to the manger.
You know, we can know God not because we are diligent or we are intelligent. We can know God because it is the delight of God to reveal Himself. Now, for example, I just can't walk out to the bus-stop outside, and seeing a few people there, ask: Can you tell me you're happy or not? Or, I can't know the truth by forcing someone to tell what is inside: whether you're sad, whether you're happy. People will reveal what is inside only when they love, isn't it?
Likewise with God revealing Himself. God revealed Himself to us because He loves us. And because He revealed, we can know Him. Otherwise we can never know Him. And we see how Matthew concluded this episode. Epiphany in Greek means revelation - God unfolding Himself; God unfolding Himself as Emmanuel, 'God with us'. These three wise men, after doing homage to the newborn King, did not go back to the path where they came from. They did not return to Herod. They went back another way.
This Christmas, God reveals Himself to us; He reveals Himself to us as a defenceless child. God comes to us in a manner that does not threaten us. Having received this revelation, we can never return to our old life, because when God reveals, we are being transformed. In this Holy Mass, our Lord comes to us. He comes because He loves us, and that is why we can never know God without love. It is only in love that the birth of the Saviour makes sense.
It is only in the context of love that the Eucharist has meaning. You take this love away, the Eucharist is just bread and wine, nothing more, nothing less... bread and wine. But in the context of love, everything changes. This bread becomes our Saviour - our Saviour giving Himself to us.
In this Holy Mass, our Lord comes to us. He comes not because we are good Catholics. He comes not because our prayers are powerful or our faith is powerful. There is nothing we can do to make God present. He is present simply because it is His delight to be with us - to reveal Himself, to give Himself. And that is why we can never experience His presence without love, especially gratitude, because gratitude or thanksgiving will open our being to this God who gives Himself, who reveals Himself.
On this feast of Epiphany, may you discover this love. May you discover Him being with you. You know, when we think of God being with us... He comes to us with His abundance. He is a generous God. Everything we need, everything we long for, is in Him. When He comes … God never comes to us empty-handed... The Eucharist and the Epiphany have the same message: we have a God who comes, and when He comes, He gives – He gives all, He gives the best to all of us.
In this Mass, as we receive Him, we ask Him to open our life, our heart, our whole being to Him and receive His abundant blessing. In experiencing Him being with us, may we live our life fully. And we all can; we all can because our God is a God who loves, who empowers us in giving Himself to us. With this God who loves us, we all live our life fully, especially throughout this new year.
To this God who loves us, we praise and thank Him.
Rev Fr Stephen Lim
Holy Trinity Church, Kuching
