(Inspired by a Homily of Fr. Charles Irvin, frcharlie.org)
Have you
ever heard the expression you can’t see the forest for the trees. It’s all
about perspective; the way we see and understand things. We could focus on one
thing, one tree and examine its leaves, know the gnarls the branches, and hues
of its bark. A tree is a beautiful thing; but, it’s a limited perspective and we
miss the beauty that is the forest.
Perspective
is our focus, attitude, and way of thinking. It is how we comprehend the world.
Sometimes, we need a new perspective.
The
ancient Israelites had been focusing on their past. Their perspective was a
life of distress, despair, and destruction.
But, in
the first reading Isaiah tells them to look to see the beauty that was ahead of
them. He was giving a new perspective. Isaiah’s words were of God’s promise,
giving them reason to hope. Hope was something desperately needed.
Centuries
later the world again needed a new perspective. It was into that world God sent
His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus.
His birth was
the fulfillment of prophesies. Jesus fulfilled all that was promised throughout
the centuries about the Messiah. He was Emmanuel, the anointed one of God, the
Christ born to a virgin in the line of David. He was God’s Promise, the long
awaited messiah of the Jewish people.
He is hope
in a time of distress, despair, and destruction. He is the promise of God the Jewish people needed to see things differently.
But, if that
was the perspective the world had of the Christ, it was not seeing the forest
for the trees. Jesus was born for all people, the non-Jews, the Gentiles,
people all over the world living in times past and times now.
God went beyond
offering hope for the Jewish people. God sent His Son for people all over the
world. This change of perspective offered enlightenment and hope to everyone, everywhere.
That is the Epiphany.
That was
why the magi, wise men from the world came to Bethlehem. They were looking for
a new perspective. They were seeking something new, something fresh, and that something
was hope and redemption to everyone everywhere.
They
followed a star, a light from heaven that promised a new perspective to the
world.
They came
to experience the Christ. They came to worship and adore him. They came to
offer him homage and gifts. They came to learn and see new things. They came
for the hope that was promised and to bring that message of hope to the world.
Sounds like a mass!
But, Herod
was full of hate and envy; wanting only his perspective in the world. Even
today, the world is full of Herod(s) forcing their perspective - terrorism,
fear, clergy abuse, corruption, and the politics of hate. Herod(s) are the secularists
and despisers of religion who pursue a perspective that misrepresents people of
faith as the problem in the world.
Sadly,
many return to Herod not able to see the beauty of the forest for the trees.
We need to
go a different way. That way is by church. Attending Mass is the way to know
the perspective of hope that is Jesus Christ.
It is at
Mass that we come to experience Christ in the Eucharist. We come to worship and
adore him. We come to offer homage and gifts. We come to learn and see new
things. We come to learn of the promise of hope. We are to bring that message to
the whole world.
Sounds like wise men!
God’s word
proclaimed during Mass is the perspective we need.
But, mass
is only 60 minutes out of each week; 60 minutes out of a week that totals 10,080
minutes. Remove the time we sleep, then
its 7,560 minutes awake each week. As a good practicing Catholic you have 7,500
minutes between each week’s Mass.
What do we
bring from those 60 minutes to the other 7500 minutes of our week?
Here is an
example. Teaching my 5 year old grandson to pray the rosary, my daughter says, “We
need to say the Our Father.”
He says “Mommy,
I got this…. “Our Father who are in Heaven, hollow be thy name…” then his
prayers mix a little. It has Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the Holy Spirit.
His mommy
asks, “Where did you learn that?”
His answer,
“It’s easy, we say it at Church.”
His
perspective is one we should all have: It’s easy to bring everyday life from
Church.
What
perspective do we bring? Maybe, it’s an Epiphany perspective, maybe it's hope, the beautiful promise of Christ for the world.
Be good,
be holy, and preach the gospel in every minute by the way you live your life and
love one another. Amen.
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