Jesus on the Journey with us (Baptism of the Lord homily)

 This Sunday’s feast is a liturgical pivot: 

it is the last Sunday of Christmas, 

and tomorrow begins what is called “Ordinary Time.”

That name, “Ordinary Time,” is a little misleading.

We hear “ordinary,” and we think, “routine,” or “same old, same old.”

If ever anyone in Rome calls me for advice – haha!

I would suggest they rename this as “Counted Time.”

That’s what it really means: we count the weeks; 

there are 34 weeks of “counted time” 

until we come back to Advent at the end of the year.

We count the years too, right? 

This is Anno Domini – the year of our Lord – 2026. 

We’ve been counting the years since Jesus was born.

This act of counting time is, 

when you think about it, an expression of our faith.

How so? Well, because it reflects our confidence 

that we are making progress on a journey. 

We’re not going in circles; and we’re not staying put.

Some world religions believe that you and I go through 

many life-cycles – this is sometimes called “reincarnation.” 

But everything in our Christian faith teaches us

that each person is unique and has an eternal destiny.

That destiny, that promise, is astonishing:

It is no less than to be lifted up into God’s own life.

This is what many of the prayers of Christmas call the “holy exchange.” 

God became human so that human beings can become divine.

When we festoon our buildings and trees and bushes with lights, 

it is not only cheerful, it serves to represent this reality:

that everything of this world is destined for transformation.

Well, as I said, this is the last Sunday of Christmas;

So I guess I’ll have to stop wishing you Merry Christmas today!

Still, if what you and I celebrate is real,

Then Christmas never ended! Jesus didn’t stop being one of us!

Our destiny still is ahead of us, and we count the weeks and years!

Now, there is a special focus in today’s Gospel, 

and it is on Jesus choosing to have his cousin John baptize him.

Remember, John was calling people to be baptized as repentance.

The equivalent for us is the sacrament of confession.

When the other priests and I invite you – or we invite each other – 

to come to confession, we’re doing what John the Baptist did:

Challenging people to repent and convert.

Starting in February, we’ll all do this collectively and intensely, in Lent.

So, to appreciate more fully what Jesus did – in being baptized – 

imagine he came into church and got in line for confession!

Let me tell you: if I’m hearing confessions, and the Lord comes in, 

I’m falling to my knees and confessing to him!

Surely that’s how John the Baptist felt, don’t you think?

When Jesus does this, he is demonstrating his solidarity with us. 

Every single one of us. 

There might have been some unsavory or disreputable people 

waiting on the riverbank, that Jesus came and stood with that day.

So, don’t worry about whether he will stand with you.

This again emphasizes the hope drawing us forward.

It is not merely an individual journey: we go forward together.

Since Jesus chose to be in solidarity with us – even the “worst” of us – 

then none of us, here, can dare to say, “but not those people.”

There is absolutely no one that Jesus does not invite to heaven!

You and I, therefore, are sent by him to relay that invitation!

Remember, this is the key point of the “Beacons of Light” project.

Reorganizing ourselves to be inviting, welcoming, evangelizing.

We had a good “problem” on Christmas, which we’ll try to address:

Some of our Masses were overly full!

No, we’d rather not have the stress involved, and yet:

Don’t we really want to face this “problem” on more and more Sundays?

If you and I are living our faith and sharing it, that’s what we hope for!

As you and I go forward in this year of our Lord,

We are looking for Jesus to meet us at journey’s end;

And at the same time, we know he keeps his promise:

He is with us, along the journey, all the way.

Don't miss your sign (Epiphany homily)

 Today we celebrate the Epiphany. 

What is an “epiphany”?

If you or I have a sudden moment of clarity, 

we’ll call it an “epiphany,” or an “‘aha!’ moment.”

So, it works like this:

Christmas is when God is born a human being. 

But only a few learn of it.

January 1 is the eighth day; that’s when a newborn boy is circumcised,

and when his name is given publicly for the first time.

Today, Epiphany: now the child is revealed to the nations.

He’s not just a Messiah for the Jewish people, 

but as Isaiah said in the first reading, light for the nations.

And that’s where the Magi come in: they are a symbol of the nations.

Their arrival is the beginning of the world having it’s “aha” moment.

So, who are these “Magi”? 

Magi were sort of like priest-philosophers

of the religion of Zoroastrianism.

And one of the things they did was to study the stars, 

expecting them to give signs and meaning. 

Now, as we know, sometimes the stars and planets 

do line up in curious ways, 

and you can have several seem to “meet” in the sky, 

making for an unusual light, which because it might happen so rarely,

no one alive had ever seen before. 

Nowadays, we have so much artificial light in the sky that we miss a lot.

But in those days, everyone saw a night sky full of light; 

and if you watched the sky, you saw lots of interesting things.

So, while the sign they saw might have been a miracle, 

it also might have been one of the delightful surprises 

that happen in the long course of the ages, planned by God.

Whatever the sign was, it stirred up the magi to make a journey;

and it alarmed Herod and the whole city.

Now, here’s where I give you something to ponder.

They only saw that star because they were paying attention;

What signs might you have missed, because you weren’t looking?

Or maybe you only “sort of saw,” but,

because you didn’t want to deal with it, you pretended not to see?

Sometimes we find the message troubling; but it doesn’t have to be. 

Herod could have welcomed Jesus – 

imagine how well that could have gone!

So many people find the sacrament of confession troubling.

They come in afraid and anxious,

but they leave so very, VERY happy:

because they didn’t ignore the prompting of their conscience.

I meet couples frequently who are preparing for marriage.

They are always glad they didn’t ignore 

the signs and promptings that led them to each other.

And I tell you right now, I am not sorry 

I followed the star that led me to be a priest.

But what if at the end of my life on earth, 

I had discovered that I missed it?

Then I would have been sorry.

Finally, we are sometimes tempted to think 

that our particular role isn’t important. 

But great things almost always start with tiny beginnings.

A baby is born. Far away visitors come to see.

But little by little, the message spread; 

until the year of our Lord 2026 

when a third of the world are Christians.

There are still Herods, striking out in violence.

Even so, the light keeps spreading. 

The word of Isaiah is being fulfilled.

Today you are the Magi who came to visit.

What have you seen? What will you lay at his feet?

And what will you tell others that you saw?

The Mirror (Mother of God homily)

 In considering how to summarize this holy day of obligation,

I decided the concept I want to give you is “mirror.”

Think of a mirror. Now let’s apply it to this day.

First, we have the title: Mary, Mother of God.

We are happy to honor Mary—and Jesus is happy that we honor her—

but this title is not primarily focused on her.

Rather, it makes a powerful statement about who Jesus is:

He is God; therefore, Mary is the Mother of… whom?

See how that works?

And now it does indeed become about Mary.

Mary is the mirror: everything for her is about reflecting her Son.

Recall what we celebrated on December 8:

how, from the first moment of her conception,

she was preserved from sin.

Why? Because the Savior deserved an immaculate mirror.

Now consider another aspect in today’s observance:

Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day, which falls today.

This small detail reminds us of so much.

Mary’s Son, who is God, is also completely human.

He entered not only the human family but the Jewish family.

Let’s recall the calling of the Jewish people.

It began with Abraham, who was told that in his descendant—singular—

all nations would be blessed.

It continued with the children of Israel,

whom God delivered from slavery in Egypt

and with whom he formed a covenant at Mount Sinai.

Most of our Bible is about God’s work among this people.

They were chosen to be a mirror; to reflect God’s glory to the world.

That his people so often proved poor mirrors

actually makes the story more powerful,

because it shows that God’s purpose always prevails 

despite human failure.

The plan was that this Chosen People would give the world a Messiah.

I emphasize, a choice God made.

Let me pause here to notice something disturbing in our time.

There is a revival of an ancient darkness called anti-Semitism.

Some of it takes the form of violence and harassment,

including that terrible attack in Australia recently;

and we have seen violence in our own country as well.

There is also a slicker form online:

popular personalities who deny the Holocaust

and peddle crackpot race theories,

all with a smile, promising the “inside story.”

I do not want this to be my main point, but I must say it clearly:

this hostility toward the Jews is crackpot and Satanic.

Remember: God chose a Jewish mother for himself,

and chose to become a Jew himself.

As Saint Paul says in Romans,

“The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.”

Now, returning to the meaning of this day,

something else happens: the Messiah is given his name.

This connects beautifully to the first reading,

where Aaron blesses the people with the Name of God.

Allow me a short detour into history.

God revealed his Name to Moses in the burning bush: “I AM WHO AM.”

So great was the reverence for this Name that, over time,

it was almost never pronounced aloud.

Yet on the annual Day of Atonement,

the high priest would speak the Divine Name,

And the people fell on their faces.

Picture that scene.

Now return to the Gospel:

the baby Jesus is circumcised and named.

This involves shedding a small amount of blood.

Even as we celebrate Christmas, 

the shadow of the Cross falls across the crib.

Still, the point remains that, on this occasion,

the Divine Name is spoken, a new Divine Name:

Jesus, which means “God saves.”

So, we come to the first, the last, and the best mirror: Jesus himself.

Scripture often speaks of the “face of God,”

emphasizing that to see His Face was impossible, even deadly.

But with Jesus’ birth, God now truly has a human face.

Mary gives us this Gift;

God, through the Jewish people, gives us this Gift. 

Will you be a mirror?

Saint Paul reminds us 

that you and I have been adopted into this family.

Isn’t this our calling—to be his mirror?