Epiphany of the Lord - Fr. Leo
The contrast between the magi and Herod could not be stronger. The magi prostrated themselves to give honor to the new born king. Herod, on the other hand, sought to find him and kill him. The magi humbled themselves and Herod exalted himself and tried to fend off a threat to his power. The irony is that the new born king was not a treat to his civil power, but could have brought redemption to Herod’s soul. Herod must have seen that as threatening.
The tension between the humble servant of God and the egoist set on using and abusing others is still much a part of our world. I think of Putin, a man who is about himself at the expense of his own people. On Tuesday, I read on BBC News that Pavel Antov, a meat tycoon from Russia fell out of a hotel window in India, he just turned 65 and recently denied criticizing the war in Ukraine. There is a list of about 13 others who also had “falls” out of windows or other strange deaths this past year. One from a hospital room on the tenth floor. It’s always reported as, “he fell.”
I think we can contrast Putin with our Pope Francis who prays for and calls for peace directly challenging Putin and Kiril, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He has offered to meet with them, but of course he is from the evil West.
Living in this world, what are we supposed to do? First we pray for peace and the gift of humility that makes peace possible. Secondly, we ask the Holy Spirit to dwell in us that our own egos may give way to love and service. We each have a bit of Herod and magi in us. Our contribution to world peace begins with ourselves and is worked out in our relationships with those around us. Loving our enemies, those we feel take advantage of us, is a challenge. To respect one’s self and yet love the weak requires a strong faith in God’s love for us. Thank God Jesus did this for us, and I believe with the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can do the same if, we are willing.
This week let us pray for the Ukrainian people and do all we can do to make the self-sacrifice in our lives that allows us to birth Christ’s peace into his world!