HOMILY for January 7, 2017: The Feast of the Epiphany, Cycle B

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Feast of the Epiphany, Cycle B

St. Mark’s, Fallston

January 7, 2018

The Story of the 3 Magi as Our Story

By Nicholas P. Amato

A Star

I’d like to suggest that each of us has some star in our life. Each of us has something leading us from within ourselves or drawing us from outside ourselves to some goal.

Today’s gospel passage tells about the Magi or wise men from the East following their star.

The star they follow is leading them directly to the newborn Christ. The question I’d pose for us today on the Feast of the Epiphany is: What star are we following?

Perhaps it is the star of getting as close to Christ as possible as we age and realize that our time for going home to God is getting closer.

Or maybe it is the star of a college student pursuing her dream of becoming a physical

therapist.

So what is our star? And, like the star that the Magi are following, (1) will our star lead us to God, (2) in some way give glory to God, or (3) draw others to God?

Journey

The Magi are clearly on a journey.

The passage says that they come from the East, maybe present-day Iran or Iraq, and arrive in Jerusalem. They have left the comfort of home and have undertaken a journey to see the newborn king.

A good way for all of us to understand our lives is as a journey. And a journey makes some demands on us.

It may mean that a young man and woman take the risk of commitment to one another in marriage or It may demand that I risk retirement not knowing whether I’ll have enough to live the lifestyle I’m accustomed to or the risk of having elective surgery or moving out of our family home into a retirement community.

Seeing our lives as a journey is challenging, but it can also be life-giving.

So the question becomes: What journey am I on right now?

Hurdles

The Magi are wise enough to detect a hurdle of their journey. Their hurdle is King Herod.

Herod pretends to be interested in this young child, but the Magi sense that in truth Herod feels threatened and will do violence to the one to whom the star is leading.

In a similar way, there will be hurdles for us as we journey and follow our star.

Perhaps comforts and pleasures and the easy life that lure will distract us from the journey and leads us to waste our talents and opportunities.

Or perhaps someone will discourage us from following the star that seems right for us.

The question here is: What hurdles can we identify for ourselves?

Giving

The gospel tells us that the Magi give gifts to the newborn Christ.

Perhaps this is a good test of the star we are following or the journey we are on, that is, does our journey lead us to be more generous in our giving?

So, if we are consciously trying to follow the way of the Lord, are we generous in giving to God’s work on this earth? Besides finances, could we be more generous in giving of our time or talent?

It could be kind deeds for elderly neighbors or helping out in our parish.

Here the question becomes: What is the quality of our giving to God on our journey?

Change

Finally, the gospel tells us that the Magi had to change their plans.

Recall that after seeing the child, they are warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, but to return home by another route. The insight here is that seeing God more and more fully and getting closer with Jesus will also change us.

In fact, remaining unchanged is not necessarily a virtue. Change and growth

seem to be what each star and journey are all about.

Maybe our journey leads us to see things from the perspective of others first,

instead of just being close-minded or judging others as wrong.

The question here is: How is our star and our journey calling us to change?

Conclusion

To conclude, the deeper story under the charming story of the 3 Magi can really be our story.

Our star, our journey, our hurdles, our giving, and our changing – all these elements in the Christmas story can reflect our own human experience.

And in that sense it becomes a revelation to us of our story.

HOMILY for December 31, 2017: The Feast of the Holy Family, Cycle B

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Feast of the Holy Family, Cycle B

Church of the Nativity

December 31, 2017

The Magic Word for Becoming a Holy Family: R-E-L-A-T-E

By Nicholas Amato

The Holy Family and Our Family

Today is the Feast of the Holy Family, and it’s easy to dismiss it as referring only to the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and having little to do with our family.

But that is not the case. Today we’re talking about your family and my family and the relationships of spouses with each other and with their children.

Like our families, the holy family had its high points and low points.

To be sure there were:

Ø  The normal misunderstandings that are crop up between spouses

Ø  The hopes and dreams for an infant as he’s brought to the house of God to be blessed

Ø  A teen’s getting lost and his strange response to his parents of “Having to be about his father’s business”

Ø  And leaving home to pursue a career that parents do not understand.

And those are only the challenges we hear about in the scriptures! Yes, the Holy Family had its ups and down as do our own families.

As I thought and prayed over the scriptural accounts of the holy family, a pattern of how parents and children might treat each other to become more holy — if you will — more like the holy family, began to emerge.

The efforts we might make to mirror the growth and holiness of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and their life together, became clear.

What I came up with is the acronym RELATE: R – E – L – A – T – E with each letter calling to mind a concrete effort I could make beginning today to deepen the love and holiness in my very own home with my very own family.

The letters in the acronym stand for action words of: Respect, Express, Listen, Apologize, Thank, and Eat.  So, RELATE – a good word for the holy family; a good word for our family as well.

R = Respect

Let the R stands for Respect.

The idea here is to accept one another as we are.  This means that we appreciate mom for the great meatloaf, brown gravy and mashed potatoes she prepared or affirm a middle schooler for his computer skills.

Respect means that we are sensitive to parents who feel stressed with their jobs or teens who feel the need to push back on in some areas of life together.  And it means that we do our share of the responsibilities, like cleaning the bathroom or the kitchen for the good of all who live in our home.

E = Express

So, Respect, and then the first E in the word Relate stands for Express. 

Here the word doesn’t mean an express line at the supermarket, but rather the important action of expressing ourselves to other family members.

So, we express our ideas or our feelings about things – our country’s immigration policies, our school’s dress code, whatever it is, and, of course, we express ourselves respectfully.

We do this because it makes our home a safe place for our family members to get to know who we are and creates the opportunity for closeness.  And we also do it because we can be enriched by hearing what others have to say about what we have said. 

L = Listen

And “express” flows right into the next letter: L which stands for Listen.

Listen to one another.  Really make an effort to take in not just the words I’m hearing, but the passion or excitement, disappointment or fear that is underneath the words.

It is really giving of yourself to a parent or child, a brother or sister, a grandparent who is speaking. 

And by all means, hear them out. Do not interrupt them, though you’re tempted to do so.

A = Apologize

From “Listen” we move to the A in the word Relate. It stands for Apologize.

While the verb Apologize is not rocket science, yet, it still may not be easy to do.  When children have talked back their parents, when a parent makes a sarcastic remark about somebody forgetting to get milk at the store, we need to apologize.

The insight here is that when I say, “I’m sorry,” it doesn’t diminish me or make me less of a person.  It actually enlarges me and makes me a bigger, nobler person. 

T = Thank

So, Apologize, and then the T stands for Thank.

Here I am thinking of the importance of thanking God.  And I’d expand that thanking to thanking God together as a family, whether there are two or five of us at the table or starting out in the car or wherever.

Even though there may be different religious traditions among those in the same household, we can still offer a simple prayer or word of thanks for someone or something.  It is a good practice to do this right before having dinner and that takes me to the last letter of our word.

E = Eat

This second E stands for Eat.

There are a number of studies that demonstrate the value of families eating or dinner together. 

In fact, the incidence of certain issues – like teens getting into drinking and drugs – is significantly less in families that eat dinner together three or more times a week. Imagine that!

And this “eating” means no texting or watching TV.  Instead, it means that we are using the meal as a way to be together and to value one another, yes, a way to Relate to one another.

Conclusion

So there you have it — RELATE: Respect, Express, Listen, Apologize, Thank, and Eat.

They are my suggestions for responding to the 2nd reading to, “Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

The acronym RELATE may just hold the key for making your family a more holy family in this new year!