The Epiphany of the Lord

(Is 60: 1-6; Eph 3: 2-3a; Mt 2: 1-12)
By C. T.

The Noble Desires

On the morning of November 26, 1994, a vast crowd of parishioners from the diocese of Paterson, New Jersey excitedly rejoiced in witnessing a rare event in Church history:  The Mass of the Ordination to the Priesthood of a blind deacon, Michael Joly.

When Michael was 5 years old, he underwent an emergency brain surgery to remove a tumor.  Unfortunately, this surgery caused major damage to Michael’s optic nerves and gradually led to blindness on both of his eyes.  However, from the abyss of darkness that Michael experienced, a dream was enkindled within him.  Michael began to wish that he would one day become a priest to testify to God’s love for all mankind.  It’s one thing to wish for something,  but to actually accomplish what you wish for, that’s another story altogether. 

For a normal person with perfect eyesight, at times, it’s not easy to observe and analyze certain issues, or make the right decision.  Imagine how much tougher it is for a blind person like Michael.  All the more reason Michael’s dream of becoming a priest seemed too daring and quite out of reach, if not to say impractical and unrealistic.

And yet, with an unwavered determination, and God’s abundant grace, Michael struggled hard to overcome so many obstacles along his journey toward the priesthood.  Michael shared that his “most difficult challenge was to read the philosopy and theology books”.  How can a blind person read!

But then, patiently, Michael did some research and discovered that the computer has the ability to download all the words in a book through a scanner, and then the computer can read out loud the words using an audio translation program.  And so Michael did not pass up this opportunity to turn his sacred desire into reality.  As a result, Michael was able to finish his studies in phylosophy and theology and was ordained to the priesthood, serving the Church in the diocese of Paterson.

Going back 2000 years ago, there were also those who held on to their sacred desires.  They have worked hard and overcame many obstacles in order to reach their destination.  These are the three magi, also known as the three kings.  Their wishes were to see the Christ, “King of the Jews”.  The magi were astronomers who specialized in studying the stars in relation to the changes in world events and in people.  As soon as they discover the new star and realized that this star signaled the birth of the newborn Messiah, the three magi immediately went forth on their journey with a sole purpose: to search for the Savior of the world.

That was their wish, but in order to accomplish it, that’s a different matter.  They had to travel through rugged mountains and hills, and crossing the desert of the Middle East under extremely harsh weather:  burning heat during the day and freezing cold temperature at night time.  As if the earthly obstacles were not enough, the heavens above seemed to be putting the magi to the test as well -  the special star that guided them disappeared from sight.  Losing a guiding star is like a person without sight.  Yet, although they were faced with many obstacles and hardship, although mother nature seemed to be against them, although they lost track of the guiding star, the three magi were determined to carry out their dream.  They continued to search and to ask questions.  The question:  “Where can we find the newborn King of the Jews?”  expressed their desire to encounter Christ.

Those who sincerely seek God would never be disappointed.  The magi earnestly searched for the Messiah and God did not let them search in vain.  The Lord allowed the star to re-appeared and they were “overjoyed at seeing the star”.  God showed Himself to them and they prostrated themselves and did Him homage.  In the end, the magi achieved their noble desire.

Some people use their talents and knowledge to search for God like the three magi.  Others utilize science and technology as their “guiding star” to achieve their noble desires like Father Michael Joly.  As for me, have I made good use of my abilities, my knowledge, as well as the tools of science and technology to help me search for Christ?  Or may be I have used these things to cause blindness to my own spirit and distort the path of my life?  Instead of using the computer and the TV to help me learn more about God and serve Him more faithfully, perhaps I’ve been using these things to kill time and to watch things that are damaging to my spiritual growth.

While others are using their knowledge and scientific tools to evangelize and guide those who loose their way to return to God, have I  been using these tools to diminish people’s faith, causing the image of God to fade away from their hearts?

Many people are searching.  Yet their goal is not to find God, their goal is money, material things, fame, power, sexual and wordly pleasure… Perhaps they have not recognized the eternal value and joy that are God; theirs is a life of darkness because they lack the “guiding star” to light the way.

It’s been 2000 years since the special star appeared, today however, there is still a great need for  guiding stars to light the way for so many people who lost their faith and their way.  You and I are called to become the guiding starlights in the midst of this materialistic and deteriorating world.

Many people still question:  “Where is the King of the Jews?” 
Would I be able to answer them: “He is present right here, in each and every one of my desires and dreams” ?