January 5, 2025 Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03well today we celebrate the Feast of the
2. 0:06Epiphany a feast that shines light on a
3. 0:10stark
4. 0:12contrast one that invites us to examine
5. 0:15our own hearts and to see where we
6. 0:18really are on our faith
7. 0:22Journey the gospel presents us with the
8. 0:24profound
9. 0:27juxtaposition the gospel presents us
10. 0:29with the Magi and King
11. 0:32harod both encountering the news of the
12. 0:35Christ
13. 0:37birth yet the responses could not be any
14. 0:42different chopos the placing of two
15. 0:46opposing side by side is a powerful way
16. 0:50to highlight a
17. 0:53truth think of the goodness of
18. 0:55Cinderella set against the cruelty of
19. 0:58her stepsisters
20. 1:00or closer to home the resilience of
21. 1:03South
22. 1:04Floridian coming together as a community
23. 1:07rebuilding after a hurricane and
24. 1:10contrast that with the price gouging of
25. 1:14opportunistic
26. 1:17businesses today's Gospel we find a
27. 1:19similar but even deeper
28. 1:22contrast a contrast between those who
29. 1:25seek God and those who resist him
30. 1:30the Magi men of great wisdom and wealth
31. 1:34traveled from
32. 1:35afar leaving behind their comfort and
33. 1:38security to seek out the newborn
34. 1:42king their Journey wasn't
35. 1:45easy they followed a star across foreign
36. 1:48lands faced countless uncertainties and
37. 1:52even humbled themselves to ask
38. 1:54directions from
39. 1:56Herod a man whose motives they likely
40. 1:59sensed were less than
41. 2:02pure but their goal was
42. 2:04clear to find and worship the
43. 2:08Messiah and when they finally arrived
44. 2:11their response was one of faith and
45. 2:14humility they offered their Treasures
46. 2:17gold frankincense myrr gifts fit for a
47. 2:23priest for a king and one destined to
48. 2:28suffer
49. 2:30Herod by contrast stayed in the comfort
50. 2:34of his
51. 2:35Palace just a short distance from
52. 2:38Bethlehem he had no interest in seeking
53. 2:41the
54. 2:42Messiah in fact the news of the Christ
55. 2:45child was an
56. 2:47inconvenience a threat to his
57. 2:50power rather than joury to see the child
58. 2:54harod chose to manipulate the
59. 2:57situation F interest in in worshiping
60. 3:00him by plotting a destruction
61. 3:05instead the contrast between the Magi
62. 3:08and Herod is
63. 3:10Stark the Magi represent Faith humility
64. 3:13and a willingness to seek God at all
65. 3:17costs Herod embodies fear ambition and a
66. 3:22refusal to S to surrender to God's
67. 3:27plan this contrast invites all of us
68. 3:31this morning in this new year to reflect
69. 3:34on our own response to
70. 3:36Christ are we like the
71. 3:39Magi willing to seek Him With Open
72. 3:42Hearts no matter what the
73. 3:45cost or do we like harod cling on to our
74. 3:49Ambitions our Busy World our our plans
75. 3:53our tied up with distractions like
76. 3:57social media and anything that will
77. 3:59bring us instant
78. 4:01pleasure do we resist the transformation
79. 4:04Christ brings
80. 4:07about the magi's journey is a reminder
81. 4:10that seeking God often requires
82. 4:15sacrifice it requires leaving behind
83. 4:17what is comfortable and stepping into
84. 4:20the
85. 4:21unknown it means offering not only our
86. 4:24treasure but our very
87. 4:27selves yet in doing so so we discover a
88. 4:31joy and a peace that the world cannot
89. 4:34give
90. 4:36us herod's reaction on the other hand
91. 4:39warns us of what happens when we allow
92. 4:41fear and our egos and selfishness rule
93. 4:45our
94. 4:46hearts he was so consumed by his desire
95. 4:50for control that he failed to see the
96. 4:52greatest gift of all the Savior who had
97. 4:56come not to take away his throne
98. 5:00but to offer him eternal
99. 5:03life this brings us to the profound
100. 5:06truth about
101. 5:08Epiphany it reveals that God's light is
102. 5:11for all
103. 5:13people the Magi were not Jews they were
104. 5:17Gentiles Outsiders of God's chosen
105. 5:21people yet they were the ones who
106. 5:24recognized the
107. 5:26Messiah while Herod a Jew REM remain
108. 5:31blind to his
109. 5:33presence this reminds us that God's
110. 5:36invitation is
111. 5:38universal it is not limited to race
112. 5:41nationality or background or any other
113. 5:44circumstance God invites
114. 5:48everyone the Light of Christ shines for
115. 5:51everyone and the question is whether we
116. 5:53will follow
117. 5:55it the story of the Magi challenged us
118. 5:58all to ask a very important
119. 6:02questions what star are we
120. 6:05following are we seeking Christ with the
121. 6:08same determination and Faith as the wise
122. 6:11men or are we distracted by the Comforts
123. 6:15and Ambitions of the world like
124. 6:19harod we live in a world filled with
125. 6:22distractions we're surrounded by the
126. 6:25glow of
127. 6:26screens The Lure of success
128. 6:30the noise of constant demands on our
129. 6:34time yet the Feast of the Epiphany calls
130. 6:37us to
131. 6:38refocus to follow the Light of Christ
132. 6:41and allow that light to guide
133. 6:45us this year let us resolve to
134. 6:48prioritize our relationship with
135. 6:51Christ to attend Mass Faithfully to pray
136. 6:56daily perhaps pray the rosary daily or
137. 7:00once a week celebrating the sacraments
138. 7:04regularly these are practices not
139. 7:08obligations but a love
140. 7:10story they are the ways we seek God and
141. 7:14allow that light to penetrate our
142. 7:17hearts in the end of Magi returned home
143. 7:20by another
144. 7:22way Archbishop fton J Sheen once
145. 7:25remarked on the magi's journey he said
146. 7:28finally they returned return to their
147. 7:30home country by another route and Fon
148. 7:33Sheen says of course they did of course
149. 7:37they went home by another route for no
150. 7:39one comes to Christ and goes back the
151. 7:41same
152. 7:43way this observation underscores the
153. 7:46transformative power of encountering
154. 7:49Christ the magi's decision to return
155. 7:52home by a different path symbolizes the
156. 7:55profound change between that happened
157. 7:58between them after meeting the
158. 8:01Savior their physical change of
159. 8:04Direction mirrors the spiritual
160. 8:06redirection that Christ inspires all of
161. 8:09us to
162. 8:11seek in our own lives encountering
163. 8:14Christ invites us to embark on a New
164. 8:17Journey leaving behind old ways and
165. 8:20embracing a path that is illuminated by
166. 8:22faith and
167. 8:24transformation just as the Magi could
168. 8:27not return the same way after their
169. 8:29Divine
170. 8:30encounter we too are called to let our
171. 8:34experience with Christ guide us towards
172. 8:37a new beginning a deeper relationship a
173. 8:41more meaningful spiritual
174. 8:45fulfillment their encounter with Christ
175. 8:48changed them forever and they could not
176. 8:50go back to life in the same
177. 8:53way this is what Christ desires for each
178. 8:56of us that we encounter him and such a
179. 8:59profound way that it transforms our
180. 9:02lives and it sets us off on A New
181. 9:07Path my brothers and sisters on this
182. 9:09Feast of the Epiphany is my prayer that
183. 9:11the light of the Star Guide you as it is
184. 9:15it guided the
185. 9:17Magi that we have the courage to leave
186. 9:20behind anything that keeps us from C
187. 9:23from Christ and the humility to offer
188. 9:26him the treasures that we have in our
189. 9:28hearts
190. 9:30and we and may we like the wise men find
191. 9:34Joy always in coming around the Altar
192. 9:38and worshiping the King of Kings amen