Homily for Epiphany 2026
January 4, 2026
The Search for Truth
About a
thousand years before Christ, a Persian pagan priest (say that five times fast)
named Zoroaster was officiating at the spring festival when he saw some sort of
shining image on a river bank. This heavenly visitor began to teach him a new
religion: one that had only one god, who was locked in a cosmic battle between
good and evil. This good god would send a savior (called the Saoshayant) who
would be born of a Virgin and would win the final victory over evil.
Zoroastrianism
began to catch on in Persia, where it still flourishes today (there are about
120,000 adherents to this religion). Their priests are called Magi (also still
existing today). So in Jesus’ day, these Magi were very much on the watch for
their version of a savior, the Saoshayant – which is why they were so eager to
find this newborn baby, for they believed it fulfilled their prophecy as well
as the Jewish predictions of the coming Savior.
But these
men did not return home as Zoroastrian priests. Notice that when they encounter
the Christ Child, they performed acts of worship – they knelt down and
worshipped Him. Having been led out of the shadows of their former faith, they
returned home as believers in Christ, and according to tradition they were
martyred for their new Christian Faith. They are now venerated as saints: St. Caspar,
Melchior, and Balthasar. Their relics are in the cathedral in Cologne, Germany.
Their
original faith of Zoroastrianism had hints of the truth – enough to set them on
a search for the fullness of Truth in Jesus Christ. And this should be the
natural progression of things: coming from the shadows into the bright light of
truth.
When
considering Catholicism’s relationship to other religions, we must avoid two
extremes. One extreme is seeing every other religion as categorically false and
worthless. This would be an error. Our Catechism states that there are elements
of truth and goodness in other religions, that are preparations for the Gospel.
We see the elements in Zoroastrianism such as monotheism, the belief in a
Savior. We see such elements in Islam – belief in one God, a respect for
Abraham and Mary. We even see it in Buddhism and Eastern religions – a desire
to do good and avoid evil. All of these good things in other religions are
meant to point us to the fullness of Truth in the Catholic Faith.
And thus
we must also avoid the opposite error, which would be religious indifferentism,
the belief that all religions are equal paths to God. This is also an error,
since we believe that, as the Second Vatican Council states, “It is through
Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation,
that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained.” We have a
duty to seek the Truth in religious worship, and to adhere to it.
Sadly I
have met many people who have left the Catholic Church because they wanted a better
community, or more upbeat music, or better preaching. But those are all
external things – the question we should be asking is, did Jesus Christ
establish a Church? Yes – He set it on the rock of St. Peter’s faith. Does this
Church still teach everything Jesus taught? Yes – we have the same teachings
that were handed on from the Apostles to the Church Fathers to us today. Does
this Church have the fullness of the means of grace? Yes – we have the
Eucharist, Confession, the Sacraments, the richest tradition of prayer and
saints and art.
Seeking
the truth in religion is the most important question we will ever ask. It’s
about more than your tastes and preferences – it’s about which one contains the
clearest path to God. It often requires sacrifice to seek the truth. I mean,
wouldn’t it have been easier for those Magi to stay home and say, “That’s a pretty
long 700-mile journey, could be dangerous and exhausting, and Zoroastrianism is
pretty fine and I’m happy here…might as well just stay home and enjoy my good
job as a pagan priest.” Nope – they said, “There is something incomplete in my
faith – I must seek the Truth, even if it costs me a great deal.”
In the
1920s, there was a young German Jewish woman named Edith Stein who was unhappy
with life. She had abandoned her Jewish faith, instead choosing the life of
academia. She got a doctorate in philosophy and began to teach, under the
direction of a famous philosopher named Edmund Husserl – who happened to be a
devout Christian. He encouraged her to look at Christianity, which she began to
investigate.
But
pretty soon a friend gave her the autobiography of another saint, St. Theresa
of Avila. She began reading it – and literally read the entire thing in one
night. Famously, she put the book down as the sun was rising and declared, “This
is truth.” She knew that she had to answer the call of Christ – and sought
baptism.
But she
feared telling her mother. Eventually, on holiday from the university, she told
her Jewish mother that she was choosing Christ – and her mother walked out of
the room and did not speak with her again that day. When the visit was over,
Edith returned to university on the train, which passed by her parents’ house.
Her mother was standing there in the picture window, waving at her – giving her
as sign that their relationship could be salvaged.
She
continued teaching, but ten years later felt another restlessness – she sensed
God was calling her to enter the convent and become a nun. On break, she told
her mother this bit of news – and once again the mother refused to speak with
her. That time, as her train passed by her house, her mother was not standing
by the window – and Edith took that as a sign that she had lost her mother forever.
Indeed, they would never speak again.
Edith
took the name Sr. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross and became a Carmelite nun –
but this was right around the time that Hitler took power in German. Due to her
Jewish heritage, she was arrested and taken to Auschwitz. Her last will and
testament, written right before her arrest, said this: “I beg the Lord to take
my life and my death as atonement for the unbelief of the Jewish People, and
that the Lord will be received by his own [Jewish] people.” She is now St.
Theresa Benedicta of the Cross – one who suffered greatly in searching for the
Truth found in Jesus Christ.
I stand
before you with the claim that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the
Life, and that our Catholic Faith is the True Church founded by Christ with the
fullness of truth and the clearest path to salvation. But don’t take my word
for it. Go on a search like those Magi did. Search the Scriptures; read the
Catechism and the Church Fathers; bring it to prayer. It may take sacrifice to
look for the Truth, but I can’t think of any more important search we will ever
embark upon.
