Holy Mary, stella Maris, stella orientis—Holy Mary, star of the sea, star of the east pray for us, lead us, and others through us, safely to Jesus-Emmanuel in the Holy Eucharist.

Feast of the Epiphany. Sunday December 5th 2014

As we continue in our great Celebration of Christmas, we come to today’s feast, the feast of Epiphany. Epiphany, the day the three wise men came from a far to Bethlehem in order to adore the newborn King now made manifest to all the nations. The Wisemen coming to Bethlehem signifies the universal revelation from God; that now because Jesus is born, all men are call to salvation, not just the Jews, but the gentiles as well (that is all of those who are not Jewish). God’s truth is not secret, shared only with the elite; it is not some hidden mystery unavailable to the little ones; no, now through Jesus God’s truth, God Himself is revealed and He is made available to all men with humble pure hearts, in other words, men of Good Will.

We know the Wisemen or Magi were probably astrologers, philosophers or maybe even Magicians before they were converted to the Christ Child. Their gifts are symbols to tell the whole world both who this newborn child really is and what is His mission. But the gifts also reveal to us as well, what who we are and our mission, what we are to do before the newborn king.

The Gold the three Wisemen offer signifies their tribute to him as King, but not just any King, the King of kings; the incense shows us their faith that this seemingly ordinary child was indeed God Himself in the flesh, and thus worthy of our worship and adoration. And the Myrrh, which was used to embalm dead bodies, tells us that now God, the second person of the Blessed Trinity has become Man in order to offer His life in sacrifice for ours. He is in fact, the only person to come into the world not to live but to die, to die for each one of us. And so in faith, the Magi come to adore the God King become man, who was before them as a little child, Emmanuel, the true and only Savior of the world, our Lord and our God.

Next Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. This feast reminds us that through our baptism in Christ, we too are elevated to royalty. When each one of us was baptized, we were anointed with sacred chrism oil. And as Christ was anointed priest, prophet and king, so we too as sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father share in this threefold office of Christ, we to are called to share in his kingship, His priesthood and in His prophetic office of Christ…We are all royal sons and daughters of the Father through Christ. We are to be His witnesses to all the nations and to all men.

This being said, we discover that the star of the epiphany over the crib is Bethlehem is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary; she is the true star of the east who points the way to Christ’s Mass. There in the modern stable of the Church we, as sons and daughters of the Most High, are to come before the newborn king reborn on the crib of the altar. However, Like the wise men we too must come in faith on bended knee; and with bended heart made pure by the repentance and confession of our sins, bow down in humble adoration before the God-Child truly present in the Holy Eucharist; adoring the One who is our holy Hope and placing our complete trust in Him. We must like the Wisemen bring our gifts and place them before the newborn King.

In our case, the Incense we are to offer is our faithful prayer from our hearts, our intimate daily conversation with God. They myrrh is the offering of the sacrifice of our good works, of our little acts of selfless love done each day for the Love of God and neighbor, our witness to others of our love for the true and living God. And what of the Gold? The Gold is the offering of our love, the offering of our hearts, all that we have and are, offered to the Heavenly Father as an oblation of love in union with the sacrifice of His only Son made truly present before us and offered to us as the greatest of all gifts, the True Gift of Love, Love Himself…JESUS.

And yet, the sacrifice of our gifts, of ourselves isn’t the end. When we leave our gifts before Jesus newly born on the altar, He, never being outdone in generosity or love, repays the sacrifice of our gift with something not even the Wisemen were able to experience. Jesus leaves the crib and offers us the gift of Himself in Holy Communion. And through our communion with Him, to the extent we have given Him our hearts and opened them to Him, He will possess our hearts and consume us in love, staying within us even after we return home, making our hearts His living crib. But he can only remain, if we leave all our earthly treasures behind, especially the treasure of our selfish self wills, just as did the three Wisemen, which is why they were wise.

How can we not be changed by Him when we experience Him, receive Him under our roof. We are told that after the three kings experienced Jesus they left and return to their country by another way. This other way signifies that once we have an encounter with the incarnate God in the Holy Eucharist we too must leave by another way…that is we must leave this Church changed by the encounter, we must leave the old behind and live anew in Christ and with Christ and His Holy Church. Now that we have been lead to Him and found Him, we must, absolutely must, allow ourselves to be changed by this real encounter with the Christ Child truly, personally and physically present in the Holy Eucharist.

Sadly, how many there are today, who while they say Jesus’ name and profess to believe in Him, nevertheless, deny His Sacred real Bodily Presence. How many Catholics have left the Church to find Jesus, not realizing that they had His true presence right before Him in their Catholic Churches, on her altars and in her tabernacles. The star given to us today from our Heavenly Father is the gift of true faith--faith in His Church, faith in the Eucharist only available in His Church and faith in the truths God gives us through the same Catholic Church and her teachings, which we faithfully strive live out in love in our daily lives with the help of God’s grace.

To help us, we like the Wisemen need to turn to the true Star of the East-the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us ask the Mother of God to help us lead others to adore Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and to participate actively, fully and conscientiously in His once and for all Sacrifice of Calvary at the Holy Mass. Our communion of love with Him gives us the antidote for all our anxieties and fears, including pain and death. He is the Bread of Angels that removes our pains, our cares, our worries; He alone brings joy and peace to our soul, he alone satisfies our whole being. Come let us adore!!! .

Let us ask Holy Mary who leads us to the Star that is Christ to help us become as stars as well so that our light may lead other men to light of God and the truth of His love for them! Holy Mary, Stella Maris, Stella Orientis—Holy Mary, star of the sea, star of the east pray for us, lead us, and others through us, safely to Jesus-Emmanuel in the Holy Eucharist…. I recognize in You, O little Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, the King of heaven and earth; grant that I may adore You with the faith of the Magi. Amen.