CEC News and Father Riley's homily from January 5, 2020

CEC News:

… Father Riley will lead us in Holy Eucharist January 19, 2020.

…Mrs. Jane Barnett will lead us in Morning Prayer January 12 and 26.

…Our annual congregational meeting will be January 19, 2020, following the 10am service.  At the meeting the 2020 budget will be presented and we will be electing the vestry for 2020.  All members in good standing are encouraged to run for a vestry position and serve our congregation.  If you wish to run for a vestry position, please contact Faye Corson, Vestry Secretary, by January 15, 2020, so she may place your name on the ballot.

Our new creche, provided by Mrs. Allein Watson in memory of husband, Phillip Watson, Jr., will serve our congregation for many years to come. 

Father Riley's homily:

CHRISTMAS II - A - 20                   MATTHEW 2. 1-12

Today’s gospel passage is unique to Matthew. The Gentile Magi or wise men as they are most often referred to came to worship the Christ-child sometime after his birth. They were a learned class in ancient Persia. They followed the star in the East in their search for the newborn king.

The star of Bethlehem, the symbol of Epiphany, is an unequivocal sign of God’s blessing. Its light is the revelation of Christ to the Magi, as Christmas was Christ’ revelation to the shepherds.

The ancient world never forgot the night sky. Many people, particularly in the countries East of Palestine, had developed the study of the stars and the planets to a fine art. They gave each one a very particular meaning.

These students of the sky believed that the whole world was of one piece, that is, everything was interconnected, and when something important was happening on earth you could expect to see it reflected in the heavens.

Likewise, a remarkable event among the stars and planets must seem, they thought, to refer to a remarkable event on earth. Christ being born under this star fulfills the prophecy of Numbers 24.17 and Psalm 109.3 The Jewish world had been looking for such a sign that would signify messiah’s coming.

It would appear, however, that in Jerusalem, at least, the chief priests and scribes did not recognize it. They were taken by surprise, as was King Herod, when the wise men arrived in Jerusalem seeking the newborn king whose star had led them there.

Herod had to summon the Jewish leaders because he knew little about the Jewish messiah and he feared losing his throne to this newborn king. The chief priests were the political and religious leaders of the Jews, and the scribes were high cabinet officers.

They knew where messiah was to be born, but in spite of all the signs being in place, they had no idea that he had come. There was no note of joy among them after having heard the news; on the contrary, Herod was troubled by it.  Once Herod was informed of where the child was to be born, he privately called the wise men and sent them on a mission with a false premise. “Go and search carefully for the young Christ and when you have found him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship him also.”

After leaving their private audience with King Herod, the wise men once again focused their attention on the star, “which they had seen in the East.” The unity of creation and God’s plan for our redemption dwelt in its light.  When the wise men saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

The star went before them till it came and stood over where the young Christ was. When the wise men entered the house, they saw the child and his mother Mary and they fell down, worshipped him, and offered their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn king.

On the 12^th day of Christmas, St Augustine wrote, East and West are joined together. The lowly and the well born, the Jewish and the Gentile worlds are one in Him who came to be the Savior of all mankind.

Epiphany is a challenge to the way things are. What was Herod troubled about it if it was not that the coming of Christ was a challenge to his way of life? The very idea of a newborn king intimidated him. To the chief priests and scribes messiah’s coming meant the status quo would be turned up side down. What, then, would the future hold for them?

What challenge does Epiphany pose for us? Is the star still our hope for the future? For many in the world today Christ’s coming is seen as a threat to their way of life. His coming has turned the world upside down and inside out for God’s purposes run cross current to the worlds.

For others, Christ’s coming is a non-event. They simply do not recognize it. Consider our position: we are not outsiders like the Magi, but members of the faithful people who have come to believe. We know where the Christ is to be found. Have we stopped looking for him?

As St. Paul prayed for the young Christians at Ephesus that the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, might continue to give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so may we, by God’s grace, continue to receive those gifts as we come to know him and strive to make Him known.

So that with the eyes of our hearts enlightened, we may never lose sight of the hope to which we have been called, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.

God has made known to us the mystery of Christ and by it; we have been given the role of steward of this mystery for the world’s good. Like the shepherds who were the first to receive the good news of the Savior’s birth, we have inherited their role of joyfully sharing it with the world.

The sign of the star is eternal. The star of Bethlehem is the light of revelation. The star is the revelation of God’s appearing in our midst. It is the nativity of the child-king, the birth of the holy one, the coming of the Lord who makes us holy.

Not the code, not the law, not our deeds, but the Christ into whose death, we are baptized and at whose altar we are feed by the sacrament of His Body and Blood as members of one family - the Church - for in Him there is no East or West.

He alone gives us access to the God the Father. He is the Word made flesh, the vision we live by, the Hope of our calling, that one day we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share in our humanity, even Jesus Christ our Lord. “O, come let us adore him,” kneel, and lay the gift of our hearts before him. AMEN+