SHEPHERDS AND KINGS
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this feast of the Epiphany is, “Shepherds and Kings.”
When we walk up to the Christmas crib or crèche, we see shepherds and kings.
They are not there by accident.
NO SMOKING SIGN
I follow the “No Smoking” sign rule when I read the Bible.
If it’s in here, it’s in here for a reason.
Smoke gets in your eyes.
If there is a “No Smoking” sign in a building - or now - just outside the entrance of a building - someone has been smoking there - and somebody doesn’t want smokers there.
If there are speed bumps, if there are “No Dogs Allowed” signs, if there is a violinist playing on the street and there is a box in front of him or her, they are expecting a tip.
Everything on stage - everything in a good story - is there for a reason. Everyone who has done plays knows Chekhov’s rule, “If in the first act, you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following act, it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.”
So if we hear about shepherds in the Christmas readings and Wise Men or Magi or Kings at the Epiphany readings, they are here for a reason.
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE
There are two kinds of people who discover the Light - who discover Jesus - who discover God.
Today’s first reading from Isaiah says, “Raise your eyes and look about.” Isaiah continues, “Then you will be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow.” [Cf. Isaiah 60:1-6]
What do you see, what do you tend to notice, when you look around you? When it comes to God, what have you discovered? When it comes to God, what type of a person are you?
The first type person has God coming to them. The shepherds were out there at night tending their sheep when the angel of the Lord came to them by surprise.
The second type person goes in search of God. The Magi - the word used in today’s translation of Matthew 2: 1-12 - are the searchers - those who come from a far to discover the Light.
Which is more me? Going after or waiting for? Making it happen or it happens to me?
The butter is still in the refrigerator and the bread is on the table. Am I the type that gets up and gets it or do I wait for someone to bring the butter out for me?
Am I a waiter or a get up and get it myselfer?
Am I content or am I restless?
Am I like the shepherds and God comes to me or am I like the 3 kings and go in search of God?
Do I see, meet, discover God, when I’m doing my work, and God surprises me at times in my everyday activities?
Or do I have to get up and do my own searching to find God?
I think one reason why we have these stories in the scriptures is for us to figure out ourselves - to see ourselves in the stories.
No kidding.
LITERATURE TELLS US THAT PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT
If we read the scriptures - if we read literature - we know that the writer - knows that people are different.
Once upon a time there was a tortoise and a hare ….
Once upon a time there was a girl named Cinderella who had 2 stepsisters ….
King Lear had three daughters and he was getting older ….
Jesus used to visit the home of his friend Lazarus - who had two sisters. One was named Mary and the other was named Martha ….
A shepherd had 100 sheep - 99 were safe and sound - but one of them was lost….
A woman had 10 coins - and one was lost and she ….
A man had two sons ….
A man named Jacob had 12 sons and 1 daughter ….
Jesus had 12 disciples - and the one named Judas - betrayed him.
On the cross hung Jesus - along with two thieves. The thief on his right said…. The king on his left said ….
There is a Zen story about a man who had two sons. One son left home and traveled the world for a couple of years and then came home. The other son never left home - but worked the farm and stayed with his father. Which one saw more? Which one learned more?
Often these stories, these plays, these movies, these parables, end without telling us the moral or the message.
In these stories there are gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh - to be opened - and their glitter can get us. They have a scent and it can reach us. And good stories - really good stories - contain a pain - a sword that can open up our eyes to insight, wisdom, an epiphany. [Cf. Hebrews 4:12.]
Which character in the story is a lot like me? The play, the movie, the scriptures are a mirror. See myself in the story.
Look in the mirror and see the spinach in one’s teeth - as well as the look in one’s eyes - and then pause and really look deeper into one’s being. Who am I and what’s going on inside of me?
WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR GOD MOMENTS
What have been our God moments?
On the feast of Christmas many people are like the shepherds. They hear the music. They see the light - the stars - the stained glass windows in the distance - and these get these folks to church for Christmas. They are like the shepherds. They see the baby. Ooh. Ah. Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. Then they go back to their fields and their work.
On the feast of the Epiphany many people are like the Magi, or the Wise or the Kings - searching for the new born King of the Jews. They discover him - do him homage - and then they depart for home by another way. They are changed.
What have been our Christmas Moments - when God brought us to himself and what have been our Epiphany Moments when we went in search of God - and found him.
What have been our God moments?
That would be the key question that I am asking in this homily.
That’s my sign - a la a “No Smoking” sign - that I’m projecting onto the screen of your mind today.
“God Moments!”
Two words.
Make a list of the God moments of one's life.
If you want me to be more specific, make it 3 or 5 key God moments.
Just jot them down.
Andrew Greeley did some research and found out that most people have had revelations - personal God moments in their lives. [Cf. today's second reading from Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6]
Let me present a quick 3 step process on how to get in touch with our God Moments.
First step: just jot. Just jot down telegraphically items like: "Rome 1993" or "the birth of our first child" - or "the death of my dad" - or "Second Honeymoon on our 25 anniversary in 2003" -or a Sunday Mass 9 years ago" - or "I was walking in the woods once and" - or "Cancer 2007" or "a funeral 14 years ago of a dearest friend".
So step one is to just jot down a quick list of epiphany moments in one’s life.
Second step: flesh them out. Just flesh them out.
For example, someone might flesh out a listed moment this way: “I was in Rome in the summer of 1993. It was hot and we came into St. Peter’s Square. It was all set up for a large outdoor talk by Pope John Paul II. There were over 200,000 people there - mostly standing. Then in the middle of the talk - I couldn’t really understand most of the words - it hit me that I’m a Catholic and so are all these people in all these different languages and look - and we’re one with each other in Christ. I can’t explain it, but my faith suddenly made so much more sense to me. I felt so one with God and all these people. Thank You God. Thank You, God!”
Or, for example, someone might write, “I was with my 3 year old granddaughter and we were playing with Play Doh and she started to make a lion and a camel and a man and a woman and a baby. Well, I asked her what she was making. She looked at me as if I were really dumb. Then she said, ‘It’s the Christmas crib you took me to see in church yesterday.’ Well, that moment was like a lightning storm. I realized in a flash all the good things I passed down to my 4 kids as well as some bad example. I cried and I laughed. Then I said to myself, 'It’s all okay. Jesus was born in a stable with ox and ass and you know what they can do to your floor - and who cares if I helped create lions and camels instead? God will take care of all.' And as I was crying tears of joy, my little granddaughter didn’t say a word but came over and hugged me. Thank You God. Thank you God.”
Third step: after you have about 5 of them. Put a "K" or an "S" next to the story. The K and the S stand for King or Shepherd. The king moments were God moments when I went searching for God and the S moments are the Shepherd moments. They are God moments that just happened to me. They were total surprise. An angel appeared and the next moment you were in the presence of Jesus.
CONCLUSION
Amen.
