January 4, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03The feast of the Epiphany is not simply
2. 0:06about a star, three mysterious figures,
3. 0:10or a charming scene that completes
4. 0:12Christmas.
5. 0:14The feast of the Epiphany is about
6. 0:17revelation,
7. 0:19about what happens when God makes
8. 0:21himself known and how the human heart is
9. 0:24forced to decide what will it do when it
10. 0:28realizes that God is no longer distant,
11. 0:33no longer abstract, that God is there,
12. 0:37near enough to change everything.
13. 0:42The gospel today places before us two
14. 0:44very different responses to the same
15. 0:46revelation.
16. 0:49The Magi and King Herod both hear the
17. 0:53news that a child has been born who is
18. 0:56to be called a king.
19. 0:59Both receive the same information.
20. 1:03Both live within the reach of Bethlehem.
21. 1:06Yet only one group seeks out to find
22. 1:10him.
23. 1:12This is not accidental.
24. 1:15The gospel is deliberately inviting us
25. 1:18to see ourselves somewhere in the story.
26. 1:23The magi are not accidental visitors.
27. 1:27They are scholars,
28. 1:29observers of the heavens, men trained to
29. 1:32see signs and patterns.
30. 1:36But scripture is careful to tell us that
31. 1:38knowledge alone does not bring them to
32. 1:41Christ.
33. 1:43What moved them was desire, a desire of
34. 1:46the heart.
35. 1:48They allowed what they saw to unsettle
36. 1:51them.
37. 1:53They allowed a question to arise in
38. 1:55their hearts. What if what does this
39. 1:58mean?
40. 1:59What if this means something?
41. 2:02What if God is acting now in our time?
42. 2:07So they leave. They set forth. They
43. 2:11travel. They risk misunderstanding,
44. 2:14inconvenience, and danger. They cross
45. 2:17borders, geographical, cultural, and
46. 2:20religious.
47. 2:22And when the star finally stops, it does
48. 2:24not lead them to a palace, but to a
49. 2:27child being held by his mother.
50. 2:30And scripture says something
51. 2:32extraordinary.
52. 2:33It tells us that they rejoice
53. 2:35exceedingly with great joy.
54. 2:40Not because everything made sense,
55. 2:43but because they had found the one that
56. 2:46they were seeking.
57. 2:49Their gifts tell us everything about
58. 2:51their faith.
59. 2:53Gold for a king,
60. 2:55frankincense for a priest, myrr for the
61. 2:59one who will suffer and die.
62. 3:03They do not offer him what is easy. They
63. 3:06offer him what is costly.
64. 3:09And then quietly but decisively,
65. 3:13they go back to their country by a
66. 3:15different way.
67. 3:18Herod, on the other hand, never leaves
68. 3:21Jerusalem.
69. 3:23He has scripture.
70. 3:25He has scholars. He has proximity.
71. 3:29He knows exactly where the Messiah is to
72. 3:31be born.
73. 3:33If you've ever been to Jerusalem,
74. 3:34Bethlehem is only a few miles away.
75. 3:38And yet, he does not go.
76. 3:41Why?
77. 3:43Well, because for Herod, God's nearness
78. 3:46is not good news.
79. 3:48It is a threat.
80. 3:50arrival and in interruption.
81. 3:55Christ does not frighten Herod because
82. 3:57he is powerful, but because he's asking
83. 4:00Herod something he refuses to give up,
84. 4:04and that is surrender.
85. 4:07Herod represents a temptation that never
86. 4:09disappears from human history
87. 4:12or from the church. the temptation to
88. 4:14prefer control over conversion,
89. 4:18security over truth, familiarity over
90. 4:22worship.
91. 4:24He's not hostile to religion. He is
92. 4:26hostile to transformation.
93. 4:30And that distinction matters.
94. 4:34I remember the archbishop used to say
95. 4:36when he goes when he would go around
96. 4:38talking, people are opposed to change
97. 4:40and transformation because if they were
98. 4:44if they were against change and
99. 4:46transformation, they'd still have eight
100. 4:48track tapes in their cars.
101. 4:51What people fear most is losing control.
102. 4:55The Epiphany reveals something
103. 4:57uncomfortable.
104. 4:59It is possible to know about Christ
105. 5:02without ever kneeling before the Christ.
106. 5:06It is possible to be close to holy
107. 5:08things and yet remain unchanged.
108. 5:11It's possible to hear the gospel and
109. 5:13still refuse to journey with the Lord.
110. 5:17This is why the Epiphany is not a feast
111. 5:19about them. It's a feast about us.
112. 5:24Because the real question this feast
113. 5:26places before us is not do I believe in
114. 5:30Jesus Christ. Do I believe that Christ
115. 5:33exists? That's not the question.
116. 5:36The question is am I willing to seek him
117. 5:38when it costs me something.
118. 5:42The magi teach us that faith is not
119. 5:44passive.
120. 5:46Faith moves. Faith searches. Faith
121. 5:49risks.
122. 5:50Faith does not wait for perfect clarity
123. 5:53before it begins the journey.
124. 5:56It follows the light it has. And even
125. 5:58when that means surrendering control,
126. 6:01ordering one's life with discipline,
127. 6:04letting go of what of whatever it is
128. 6:07that does not lead you to God,
129. 6:11trusting that he will give more along
130. 6:13the way.
131. 6:15Herod teaches us the opposite lesson.
132. 6:19That fear can masquerade as prudence,
133. 6:22that delay can disguise as resistance,
134. 6:26and that the greatest danger to faith is
135. 6:28not outright rejection, but quiet
136. 6:31refusal.
137. 6:33And this brings us to the heart of the
138. 6:35epiphany.
139. 6:37Christ reveals himself, but he never
140. 6:39forces himself.
141. 6:41The light shines, but it must be
142. 6:43followed.
143. 6:45That light still shines today.
144. 6:49Not as a star in the sky, but in
145. 6:52quieter, more demanding ways.
146. 6:55Shines in the eukarist, in the word of
147. 6:58God, in the voice of a of a conscience,
148. 7:01in the call to repentance, in an
149. 7:03invitation to prayer, in the witness of
150. 7:06a faithful follower, in the summons to
151. 7:08reorder our lives around him.
152. 7:12So the question still remains the same.
153. 7:15Which path will we take?
154. 7:18We live in a world saturated with
155. 7:20distractions,
156. 7:22noise that dulls our desire, comforts
157. 7:26that keep us stationary,
158. 7:28routines that make movement feel
159. 7:30unnecessary.
160. 7:33It's easy to admire the magi and condone
161. 7:37Herod.
162. 7:38It's harder to admit how often we
163. 7:41resemble him.
164. 7:43Postponing conversion,
165. 7:45protecting habits we know that are
166. 7:47unhealthy,
167. 7:49staying spiritually near to Christ
168. 7:52without actually going before him and
169. 7:54kneeling and giving ourselves completely
170. 7:57over to him.
171. 8:00Epiphany doesn't ask for perfection.
172. 8:03It asks for movement.
173. 8:06It asks us to follow the light we have
174. 8:09to take one real concrete step towards
175. 8:12Christ.
176. 8:14To pray when it would be easier not to.
177. 8:17To return to the sacraments with
178. 8:18intention, with full attention to
179. 8:22simplify what clutters our hearts to
180. 8:25offer Christ not what's left over but
181. 8:28something real.
182. 8:31Because the gospel ends with a detail
183. 8:34that matters. It says they returned home
184. 8:37by way of another route.
185. 8:40Not because the road was closed, but
186. 8:43because encounter changes direction.
187. 8:47I remember reading how Archbishop Fulton
188. 8:50Sheen was talking about this gospel and
189. 8:52how he observed that no one ever comes
190. 8:55to Christ and goes back the same way
191. 8:58they came.
192. 9:00No one who truly meets Christ goes back
193. 9:02unchanged.
194. 9:04No one who kneels before him can live as
195. 9:07if nothing happened. Change happens.
196. 9:11Transformation occurs.
197. 9:14And that's the grace of Epiphany.
198. 9:17God reveals himself not to impress us
199. 9:20but to transform us. Not to confirm our
200. 9:24plans but to redirect them. not to
201. 9:27threaten what is good but to free us
202. 9:29from what is too small.
203. 9:33So my brothers and sisters today we pray
204. 9:35for the courage of the magi, the
205. 9:38humility to kneel before the Christ, to
206. 9:40let go of what is not of God, the
207. 9:44generosity to offer our gifts and not to
208. 9:46just to give oh here Jesus I'll give you
209. 9:48whatever is left over
210. 9:51and the wisdom to choose another way.
211. 9:55May the light that led them lead us. May
212. 9:58the Christ that adored claim our hearts.
213. 10:03And may this epiphany mark the
214. 10:05beginnings of a deeper journey with
215. 10:07Jesus Christ. Amen.