January 2010

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

We return today to ordinary time in our liturgy celebrations. Last Sunday we celebrated Baptism of the Lord and we renewed our baptismal vows during Holy Mass. Today is second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Gospel from Saint John for today’s Sunday is telling us about first miracle which Jesus did in the beginning of His public ministry.

For 10 anniversary of my priesthood I went to Holy Land. I went for pilgrimage with my classmates priests. We spent two weeks traveling from one to another historical place. We visited different towns, villages and places connected to the Bible. One day we spend at Cana in Galilee. We touched the place where Jesus did the first miracle during the wedding and started his public ministry. At that time I felt like new ordained priest one again. After this pilgrimage to Holy Land I understood better the Holy Bible and Jesus. Jesus changes me, my personality, my priesthood and my style of preaching.

My dear brothers and sisters the public ministry of Jesus begins, as John tells today in his Gospel, at the wedding in Cana. How this happened!

Mary notes that the wine is about to run out and she is concerned. How embarrassing it would be for this young couple to begin their lives together if they could not provide sufficient food and drink for their guests. Mary brings her concern to Jesus and water is turned into wine in abundance. The wedding reception continues and the party goes on. What a wonderful work Jesus does! Because of him the joy and happiness of the celebration continues.

In the last sentence of today’s gospel we read: “Jesus did this as the beginning of His signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed His glory, and His disciples began to believe in Him.” This sentence is central for John.

The divinity of Jesus is manifest in this sign and His glory is revealed. Seeing these great wonders, His disciples begin to believe in Him.

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,

In Cana of Galilee Jesus worked the first of His signs and throughout his public ministry He would continue to work and perform miracles. For the most part what He did was either ignored or rejected. His public ministry would culminate in the saving act of our redemption – His death and resurrection. In this Christ event He revealed His glory for all. His disciples believed even more fully that He truly was God’s Son.

Jesus continues to work His saving acts in our midst. Day in and day out Jesus is there for us. Without fanfare and in the quiet of our souls He works with us. The trick is to see these saving acts and to know of His presence so that we can believe even more fully that Jesus is the very center of our being and, then to publicly avow this.

During every Holy Mass we celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation. Priest is asking us to look into our hearts, so those hearts can be ready to forgive others and in that way be ready for Jesus. And that what Epiphany is about. Epiphany is a celebration of change, change were it really ought to happen.

The three Kings or Wise man stayed all the time with the star of Christ. It changed their lives so they could find Jesus.

As I said so many times, we live in a world where so many Catholics instead of following their faith, they run the other way, looking for something different, something new. Had the three kings followed a different star every night? No, because otherwise they would never be able to find Christ.

And we just heard in the Gospel, that when they came to Jesus they offered him gifts: gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. There are few interpretations of the meaning of those gifts. One is that:

1. The gold is the most precious of metals, so therefore a symbol of royalty. A symbol that the Kings acknowledged the newborn Christ as King, a title that would later appear above Christ’s head on the cross.
2. The incense is associated with prayer and divine worship. The kings professed their faith in Christ’s divinity as Son of God, the Word made flesh.
3. Myrrh was used to dress wounds and embalm the dead. It symbolized the humanity of Jesus. The kings prophesied that Jesus will suffer for each and everyone of us.

The second explanation goes even further. It says that the three gifts also symbolize what we should present to Christ:

• First, the Gold signifies the loyalty and fidelity we owe to our prince of Peace.
• Second, the frankincense symbolizes our prayers to the Lord our worship of him in our homes and in the Church.
• Third, the myrrh represents the gift or our sufferings, our forgiveness and sorrow when we share in Jesus’ passion.

However, what if our coffers are empty because we haven’t been very faithful, or prayerful, or patient in suffering and not changing our hearts? Then we still have Jesus Christ to offer as our gift to the Father.

In the prayer over the Gifts we ask the Father: In mercy, Lord, our God, look upon the oblation of your Church. No longer do we offer gold frankincense and myrrh, gifts of earth; rather we sacrifice and receive Him Who is the gift of heaven. In other words, though we might be poor in good works, Jesus Christ will enrich us with Himself in the EUCHARIST. Though we may be destitute as far as devotion is concerned, Jesus Christ will supply what we lack.

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

We cannot be discouraged to approach our Heavenly Father. He doesn’t expect us to bring computers or other gifts like that. He wants our hearts to love him and to love our neighbor. He is interested in our prayers and in our problems. The Father does not care where or how far we came from. He wants to send us on our daily journey like the three Kings – overjoyed at having found his Son, Jesus Christ. Christ who ultimately is and will be our savior at the end of our times. Amen.