Epiphany Homily - January 8, 2023

 

Homily for Epiphany

January 8, 2023

History is His Story

 

            Have you ever considered: who were these Magi and how did these fellows from far-off lands hundreds of miles away know anything about a newborn King in Israel? The answer to that story takes us back almost six hundred years before Jesus’ birth, to one of the most tragic events in Israel’s history.

            God had destined Israel to live in the Promised Land in peace and security, becoming a people of holiness, a true “light to the nations”. But sadly, time after time Israel strayed and acted like the surrounding nations – worshipping their gods, falling into their sins, denying their unique status as the Chosen People. So God, as a good Father, needed to correct His children. He said, “You want to act as the other nations, with their false gods and their sinful ways? Then go, live among them for seventy years.” In 587, the Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar took over the land of Israel and enslaved and exiled all of the people, taking them with him back to Babylon.

            Israel was shocked to its senses by this exile. They suddenly realized that no, they didn’t want to act like the other nations! They repented, and God rescued them – the Persian Empire rose up and overtook the Babylonians, and the Persian King Darius allowed the Jews to return home.

            But many of the Jews liked Persia, and they were treated well by the Persians, so they stayed in the new land and became friends with them. They began to share a little bit about their religion, including that there would be a Messiah born in Bethlehem when a new star arose. The Persian wise men listened intently, and began to watch the sky for this star.

            Fast-forward hundreds of years. The wise men saw the star, came to encounter Jesus, and then took this news back home…which prepared the way for when the Apostles, especially Sts. Simon and Jude, traveled to Persia to preach the Gospel. The people already had the foundation because they had heard about the Messiah.

            So this huge tragedy for the Israelites – their land was conquered, they were taken into exile, they suffered slavery – ended up preparing the way for the Gospel. It’s almost as if God had planned it…because He did!

            As Christians, we do not see human history as if it were a random series of unconnected events. History is about so much more than just “this king fought this battle” time after time. No, human history is really His Story – it is arranged by God’s providence for the accomplishment of His purpose, which is the salvation of souls and the restoration of all creation in Jesus Christ.

            Consider another example of God’s providence in history – why did Jesus come exactly when He did? He entered the world during a time when the Roman Empire was at its peak – why? Because that was the best time in history for the spreading of the Gospel. Consider: Rome had established the pax Romana – the Roman peace – which made it easy for St. Paul and Peter and the other Apostles to travel all throughout the Empire in safety. Also, because Rome stretched its authority to the end of the known world, everyone would have spoken Latin, which would have made it easy to preach the Gospel to all lands using a common language. It was not by chance, but by Providence that God entered human history precisely when He did.

            All of us acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the very crux of history any time we write out the date. It is 2023 because it is 2,023 years since the most important event in human history ever occurred: the birth of the Son of God. Even those people who don’t want to use BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord) still have to acknowledge that something happened in 0 AD which formed the turning-point in history.

            So history isn’t just a random series of events, but it is the unfolding of God’s story of bringing about the restoration of all things in Him. But do we have a role in His story?

            When the first Lord of the Rings movie came out, I went to see it with my sister and as we drove home, I recall that she looked off into the sunset and heaved a heavy sigh and said, “Why can’t life be like that? An epic battle, a grand adventure, a quest to save the world?” That desire goes deep into our hearts – to know that our life IS more than bills and doctor’s appointments and the everyday humdrum routine.

            I am here to tell you that you and I have a unique and unrepeatable role to play in the unfolding of God’s great story! If the goal is the restoration of all things in Christ, then we play our part through the daily drama of restoring our lives and our sphere of influence, putting them under the merciful Kingship of Christ. It is a battle – a battle against our interior sin and selfishness. It is an adventure – as Pope St. John Paul II said, “Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure. He alone can give full meaning to life, He alone is the center of history.” It is indeed a quest – a quest for sanctity, and to bring as many others to Christ as we can.

            Certainly it is difficult – but aren’t all quests? To quote Lord of the Rings again, there is a poignant scene when Frodo is discouraged by the magnitude of the task, and he says to Gandalf, “I wish I had never found the ring.” To which Gandalf responds, “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for [us] to decide. All we can decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” It is indeed exceptionally difficult to be a saint in our modern world – but with God’s exceptional grace, it is not impossible. You and I are not here by accident, at this most critical and difficult moment of history. Our lives have been foreseen in this very moment by an all-loving, all-providential God, who has put us here to help us bring about His Kingdom in our lives and in our sphere of influence in twenty-first century America.

            To sum up: history is not a meaningless series of events, but part of God’s providential design to bring about the salvation of souls and the restoration of all creation in Christ. You and I have a critical role to play in this big story, when we cooperate with God’s grace to become saints and lead others to Heaven. Let us take up our task gladly, trusting that God will work all things for His glory, since after all, history is really His Story.