HOMILY OF HIS
HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
Vatican Basilica
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
HOLY MASS ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
The words of the Prophet Isaiah – addressed to the
Holy City of Jerusalem – are also meant for us. They call us to rise and
go forth, to leave behind all that keeps us self-enclosed, to go out from
ourselves and to recognize the splendour of the light which illumines our
lives: “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has
risen upon you” (60:1). That “light” is the glory of the Lord. The
Church cannot illude herself into thinking that she shines with her own
light. Saint Ambrose expresses this nicely by presenting the moon as a
metaphor for the Church: “The moon is in fact the Church… [she] shines not with
her own light, but with the light of Christ. She draws her brightness
from the Sun of Justice, and so she can say: ‘It is no longer I who live, but
Christ who lives in me’” (Hexaemeron, IV, 8, 32). Christ is the
true light shining in the darkness. To the extent that the Church remains
anchored in him, to the extent that she lets herself be illumined by him, she
is able to bring light into the lives of individuals and peoples. For
this reason the Fathers of the Church saw in her the mysterium lunae.
We need this light from on high if we are to respond
in a way worthy of the vocation we have received. To proclaim the Gospel
of Christ is not simply one option among many, nor is it a profession.
For the Church, to be missionary does not mean to proselytize: for the
Church to be missionary means to give expression to her very nature, which is
to receive God’s light and then to reflect it. This is her service.
There is no other way. Mission is her vocation; to shine Christ’s light
is her service. How many people look to us for this missionary
commitment, because they need Christ. They need to know the face of the
Father.
The Magi mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew are a
living witness to the fact that the seeds of truth are present everywhere, for
they are the gift of the Creator, who calls all people to acknowledge him as
good and faithful Father. The Magi represent the men and woman throughout
the world who are welcomed into the house of God. Before Jesus, all
divisions of race, language and culture disappear: in that Child, all humanity
discovers its unity. The Church has the task of seeing and showing ever
more clearly the desire for God which is present in the heart of every man and
woman. This is the service of the Church, with the light that she reflects:
to draw out the desire for God present in every heart. Like the Magi,
countless people, in our own day, have a “restless heart” which continues to
seek without finding sure answers – it is the restlessness of the Holy Spirit
that stirs in hearts. They too are looking for a star to show them the
path to Bethlehem.
How many stars there are in the sky! And yet the
Magi followed a new and different star, which for them shone all the more
brightly. They had long peered into the great book of the heavens,
seeking an answer to their questions – they had restless hearts –, and at long
last the light appeared. That star changed them. It made them leave
their daily concerns behind and set out immediately on a journey. They
listened to a voice deep within, which led them to follow that light. It
was the voice of the Holy Spirit, who works in all people. The star
guided them, until they found the King of the Jews in a humble dwelling in
Bethlehem.
All this has something to say to us today. We do
well to repeat the question asked by the Magi: “Where is the child who has been
born the King of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and
have come to pay him homage” (Mt 2:2). We are impelled,
especially in an age like our own, to seek the signs which God offers us,
realizing that great effort is needed to interpret them and thus to understand
his will. We are challenged to go to Bethlehem, to find the Child
and his Mother. Let us follow the light which God offers us – that tiny
light. The hymn in the breviary poetically tells us that the Magi lumen
requirunt lumine – that tiny light. The light which
streams from the face of Christ, full of mercy and fidelity. And once we
have found him, let us worship him with all our heart, and present him with our
gifts: our freedom, our understanding and our love. True wisdom lies
concealed in the face of this Child. It is here, in the simplicity of
Bethlehem, that the life of the Church is summed up. For here is the
wellspring of that light which draws to itself every individual in the world
and guides the journey of the peoples along the path of peace.
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