Lee Casaccio gave a copy of this art piece entitled "The Walk Home" 

On this Feast of Epiphany I think of the three as the Kings of Matthew's gospel led by the light into the presence of the Christ at his birth.   There follows here my homily to celebrate the day.

EPIPHANY   SJU Chapel  at 11 AM 2025 

 

The gospel writers Matthew and Luke, want to be sure we understand that the birth of Jesus, Our God in human flesh, has changed the very course of history.   In the gospel of Luke, angels reveal this to the shepherds and they recount what they had seen and heard about the child and “all who heard were astonished.”  Then Matthew goes further and introduces the Three Kings who journey from far away Kingdoms.  They find the new-born Child Jesus and worship Him as a Child King, as the New and Blessed Ruler over all.  These kings fulfill prophecies such as the one in Isaiah in our first reading today.    Isaiah predicts some extraordinary person who will come to lead Israel.  This person will attract world leaders to do him homage.  Isaiah writes: “kings are coming to your dawning brightness” and   “everyone in Sheba will come bringing gold and incense.”

So yes, angels, shepherds, wise men visit the newborn and his parents.   And
Jesuit-founder St. Ignatius of Loyola in his own imagination enhances the birth of Jesus in his personal prayer.  He considers that Joseph and the pregnant Mary on their journey to Bethlehem are accompanied also with “a maidservant leading an ox.”   And after Jesus is born in the stable, Ignatius uses his own imagination to pray in this way: “I behave myself as a poor and unworthy little servant, looking at father, mother and child and ministering to their necessities.”   In imitation of such imagination I recently read a contemporary description of ordinary persons paying attention to this family’s needs.  That is, a description of some more visitors who come after the three wise men had presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh and left the scene.   At that point into the stable to take their place walk three wiser women bearing their more practical gifts for Mary: diapers and casseroles for the week.

But, of course, back to the wise kings: we have no objective historic record of them and their extraordinary journey.    The first Christians came to know, however, as part of the experience of Jesus’ resurrection that his birth is to be celebrated because he is the one bringing wisdom and understanding to the whole world, Jew and Gentile.   The wise men are seekers of such wisdom traveling from a Gentile kingdom.  They travel from that part of the world that had often threatened the survival of the Jewish people.    The principal revelation in this scripture story?   God comes as a Jew to bring salvation not only to the Jews but also to Gentiles in a fulfillment of Jewish prophecy.

 

Two other points: First the contrast of power and wealth against the simplicity in this birth and finally our opportunity to protect children as the Kings protected Jesus.

 

Matthew’s story is inspiration for artists who welcome the clashing symbols of Royalty arriving at the stable.   The kings find there a baby born to parents who are nobodies.    This is the ultimate upper class-lower class drama.   Artistic illustrations of this event down through the centuries have gone out of their way to magnify the contrast.    The kings are clad in ermine and gold.    The kings have attendants holding their flowing garments, calming the camels draped in color and tending to the gifts the kings will present to the baby.   Jesus and his parents have a poorly clad farm hand tending to the simple farm animals.   The child lies in swaddling clothes on a straw bed.   The baby quietly glows in light while mother and father fix their gazes on him. The kings bend down and kiss the baby’s feet.   The artistic organization of image and light focuses solely on the little child.   The powers of the world bow to the wonder of the child. 

When we today see such a picture and hear this story we recall our own experiences of holding a very young baby, an experience that fills us with wonder, the baby’s eyes alight with hope and promise.    

The event as Matthew presents it clearly expresses the enthusiasm of the Christians for whom he writes.   He does not write exclusively for the powerful Romans or for the guardians of the Jewish Temple or the Torah.  He writes to express the fresh dignity that embraces everyone in every state of life.  His word and images express even among the kings a passing willingness to sacrifice their own kingdoms to enter the new kingdom of this child.

How can we join in the wonder that the three kings experience?   In some fleeting way they sense that they have found a new and lasting king.    Well, what is their first response?   They defend the child by their refusal to share their knowledge with that despot, King Herod, who surely would have killed this baby whom the three kings identify as the one who will overthrow all kings.  They defend human dignity by refusing to play by the rules of King Herod.   They risk his ire by sneaking away without telling him that they have found the child who is said to threaten his power. 

How can we share in their careful defense of the child?    Most of us are blessed to be surrounded by family and friends who welcome the birth of children and love them.   Babies before us beckon us, even urge us, to the work of defending life starting at a very early point in the womb and to make available whatever a pregnant woman needs to help her bear and raise her child. 

In a culture where abortion is so common, the Sisters of Life here in Philadelphia have a broad mission assisting struggling women to bear and care for their children.   I quote from one of the sisters’ presentations:  “There are a lot of people who are hurting, and we need to heal.   That healing can come from pro-life ministers, who can be the first ones to tell a scared pregnant woman that they matter and that someone is there for them.  Important it is, too, to offer the same message to a mother or father of an aborted baby that they, too, matter and are loved.”

Recently I had the privilege of baptizing the new-born son of immigrants who are seeking asylum.   The parents, because of the fresh ire aimed at immigrants without papers, have some financial struggles and the wise Sisters of Life are the ones helping them with the diapers and other things for this child.    

Further we ask the Spirit of God to lead us to be courageous in defending defenseless children who are threatened in so many ways.     Think of the threat of childhood hunger and disease in so many countries where power-hungry modern Herods value power and greed over the common good.   The World Health Organization in its review of mortality rates among children testifies to what is  happening now as 2026 dawns:  for the first time since 2000, the steady decline in child mortality rates has stalled or reversed.  

This situation is occurring not simply because children’s lives are lost directly in acts of war but more so because wars are disrupting food distribution and are causing millions of children to fall into malnutrition even at the same time as needed healthcare structures are destroyed.   If we in this country had as much commitment to feeding the hungry children of this world as we do to controlling oil reserves such as those in Venezuela, so many childrens’ lives would be saved, even millions over the years ahead.

Our own responsibilities to protect human life begin of course right at home among our families and friends, our neighborhoods and our workplaces.     None of us are kings or queens.   But all of us have the power of our own lives.   We witness to the truth by what we do and what we proclaim within the circles of life around us.   

Just as God helped the Wise Men to see and defend the Child Jesus, may God continue to inspire us in our care for the born and unborn, for all the children who can bring hope into the next generations.