Saint Frances Cabrini Parish

Father Kleppner - January 4^th 2004

Today we have the opportunity to reflect on the meaning and implication of the Feast of the Epiphany.

The magi came from a distance. They had set out on a spiritual quest that required them to become actual pilgrims, traveling across the miles to the place of encounter with God. We can understand them, since we, too, are travelers. We know from everyday experience what it is like to make a journey of expectation to the house of a friend, the bedside of a sick loved one, or even the trip to a show or a nice restaurant. There is something in the distance that calls to us.
What is true in these little journeys is also true of the whole of life. We are called by a great promise to move out from where we are to the future God has planned for us. We hope the journey itself is pleasant and safe, full of happiness and new discoveries along the way. And, of course, we seek good and trustworthy companions, people who are wise about traveling, who know the dangers to be avoided and the delights to be enjoyed. We need fellow pilgrims who will encourage us when we want to give up or come to find us if we get lost. In God's plan we find these companions in our families and good neighbors - and especially in that great and grace-filled band of pilgrims we call the Church.
This journey is not mere restlessness (the kind of aimless movement that comes from boredom or unchanneled energy). It is, like that of the magi, a true quest for the encounter with God. This is the glowing center of Epiphany's brightness: coming upon the holy presence of God. Every human person is created for this encounter - and needs it for their lives to be really fulfilled. We are created for that encounter; we will not be happy without it. But not everyone does the necessary traveling. We see this echoed in the Gospel - in the suspicions and plotting of King Herod. He seemed little interested in God's future; he had his own goals and purposes (with all their tragic consequences). We know that this resistance and blindness continues in our world.
Yet the magi kept to the journey, even when here and there they seemed to be without the light of God's guidance. In this they reveal what is best in the human spirit, a humble and courageous hope about the life's possibilities, that our journey is actually leading somewhere that is good.
But the magi were foreigners! This, too, is a key aspect of Epiphany's glory. The child they honor with their gifts is not just the glory of Israel; he is the light for the nations. Isaiah's beautiful prophecy encourages Jerusalem to "rise up" and "shine out" - not for her own sake but so the nations can walk by the light which has appeared in here, and kings by her shining radiance.
Yes, Israel's finest moment is when she steps aside to welcome others to share the glory and love revealed in her midst. Look at the Gospel again. The magi find the child with Mary his mother. She is Israel. She knows that what has been born of her is not her possession (though she has had a privileged place in the unfolding of God's plan). We might imagine Mary opening up the blanket, holding the child Jesus up for the strange visitors to see. Her best moment: she is presenting the world its Savior. She is part of that world; he is her Savior, too.
Here is where we also get to see the Church from another perspective. We are a pilgrim people, as we've said. But we are also the "sacrament of the world's salvation." In us the Lord is already shining and we are called to "rise up" so that this light can fill the world. We do not hold this brightness for ourselves alone, but for every person of every time and every tribe and race and nationality and country. If God's light among us does not shine into the world, by what light will the nations and the kings of nations walk?
Like Mary, the people of God, "Holy Mother Church," presents Christ to the world - not as our handiwork or possession but as the gift of God. And, in our day and age, it is necessary to think of the Church even as the guiding star. It is not enough for us to tend our little spot in the world, waiting for the nations to arrive at our doorstep. We need to help people find Christ the Lord. We need to go out to where people live, taking God's brightness like a torch along the highways of culture and commerce, into the valleys of gloom and oppression, into the forgotten places of our world where otherwise God's children are at risk of never seeing his glorious face.

FATHER KLEPPNER ARCHIVES

115 Trinity Drive
Aliquippa, PA 15001 (724) 775-6363 Phone
(724) 775-3848 Fax

Father Kleppner - January 4th 2004

FATHER KLEPPNER ARCHIVES

St. Frances Cabrini Parish

Father Kleppner - January 4^th 2004