Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6; Matthew 2:1-12
One hundred years ago, the first step on American soil for immigrants from Europe was not a patch of warm, welcoming earth but rather a wooden ramp at Ellis Island in New York harbor. The ramp led to the doors of the main building where processing took place.
In the century since then, at entry points all around the borders of this country, America has continued to welcome people with their dreams for life, liberty and happiness. Ellis Island closed down in in 1954; it is now a museum that documents those immigrant dreams. But immigration has not ceased.
About fifteen hundred yards off the tip of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty still raises her torch of welcome. The statue’s pedestal continues to proclaim the words of Emma Lazarus in her sonnet, The New Colossus. Her verses ring out:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
These words echo the words of Isaiah the prophet from which we just heard:
“Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem!
Your light has come . . .
Your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses . . .
The riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of the nations shall be brought to you.”
On this feast of the Epiphany we celebrate the presence of Christ, which is a light beaconing to the world. The light of Christ, like the torch on the Statue of Liberty, shines for all people to see. The light of Christ is a welcoming light for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, the outcasts, the homeless. The light of Christ shines for all people.
That is exactly what happened to the magi. They were astrologers from the East. They were not Jewish. And yet they recognized the newborn king of the Jews as their King, and so they bowed down and paid him homage, offering gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And Christ welcomed them.
The meaning of all this is that in Jesus Christ, salvation is universal; no one is excluded:
whether one be Jewish, or Catholic, or Protestant, or Buddhist, or Islamic;
whether one be white, or black, or red, or yellow, or brown;
whether one be young or old, or male or female,
salvation is for all people.
And that means that we too are to share in this mystery by doing what the infant Jesus did: welcoming those who come from afar and accepting their gifts.
We need to do this first by welcoming those who are new to our family of faith. This is one reason that nearly all of our baptisms occur during the weekend masses, when the community is gathered together. We need to welcome also those people who have moved into the house or apartment next to us. We need to welcome also people from other cities and towns, and nations. We Midwesterners tend to do this naturally. Even so, we have to work at eliminating any prejudices and fears that will keep us from welcoming every one.
Think about your own family history. For most of us here our ancestors came from Europe. Our ancestors came to this land and founded a new nation. Those first immigrants, the pilgrims, were welcomed and accepted by the native peoples who helped them to survive that first winter and establish their homes and their cities. After our nation gained its independence from other nations immigrants were welcome and began flocking to our shores. Almost every one of us is here today because our ancestors were welcomed by those who were here before them. This means that we must have the proper attitude towards immigrants and others who have the desire to move to this nation.
We need to recognize also that when we travel to other nations, when we as a country go in to “help” other nations, we are guests and we owe them the respect and dignity due them in their own home. We need to respect their customs and traditions, learning from them, and not just forcing our own American way of life upon them. We need to be gracious guests accepting the gifts they have to offer us. When we do this we will, like the magi, return home with a new vision, and a new understanding of our neighbor.
We are all here today, in this nation, because our ancestors, like the magi, followed a star. That star was a star of hope for a better life. The magi too held the hope for the better life that the newborn king had to offer. They went home, filled with the awareness of his presence, just as we leave here filled with his presence.
We are here today, in this church, present to each other. Today the gift of the magi is not gold, frankincense and myrrh. Today the gift of the magi is the gift of presence. On the first epiphany, God revealed that he wanted to include all peoples in his love. Today, on this feast of the epiphany, God reveals that we are those people whom he loves.
We are here today because we also believe that Jesus Christ is our King. We pay him homage in this celebration of the Eucharist, offering the gifts of our lives. We offer ourselves because of the blessings God has bestowed on us. We offer ourselves and in return we receive the gifts of life, liberty, and happiness that only life lived in Christ can offer. We are gathered here in the present time, in the presence of our King, Jesus Christ, because Christ has welcomed us. Christ’s excludes no one.
And neither should we.
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