Homily preached by Father Paul Beach on The Epiphany of the Lord, January 8, 2012 On Christmas, we reflected on God giving

the world a gift: His Son our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary. Today the feast of the Epiphany - we reflect on the world giving a gift to God. In the person of three Magi, who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, our Lord receives gifts symbolic of all that humanity has. Gratitude is something that we are taught from an early age. If someone gives us something, our parents teach us to say thank you for it. To want to give something in return is a natural human tendency. If you were to walk out of this church today, and someone came up to you in the parking lot and gave you a briefcase full of a million dollars, I dare say that you would be very grateful to that person. You would hardly stop thanking them. Well, God has been generous to all of us here. We have each received gifts that are invaluable; things that no amount of money can buy: our life and breath for one. And God so freely gives them to us. The question is, how thankful are we? Its something we are all guilty of to some extent: we take these things for granted so often. Oftentimes, its not until we dont have health that we realize what a gift it is. Its not until we lose that loved one that we realize how important they were in our life. The message of our feast today, I suppose, is precisely this: that we need to give thanks to God. We need to be people who both recognize and appreciate our blessings. Certainly one of the greatest gifts that we are mindful of as Catholics is the gift of the Eucharist. Perhaps this one gift is the thing which we have come to most under-appreciate today. The presence of Jesus in such a unique and real way seems to be so often lost on us, either through our own thoughtless-ness or neglect. The Magi had to seek the presence of Jesus out. He wasnt immediately apparent to them. You and I are like modern-day Magi. We must strain our eyes to recognize His presence with us. Unlike the Magi of two thousand years ago, however, we dont have to travel to some far-distant country to find Him. He is right here, in our midst. In the Eucharist that we share, this altar becomes the Lords manger. This church: His stable. Our hearts opened to receive His very presence. While our eyes see only bread and wine, and we might become comfortable with seeing the Eucharist only with our worldly eyes - the eyes of faith are challenged to see much more: the very presence of Christ the Lord. Now you may be thinking to yourself: Fr. Paul, come on! This is simply too much for us to believe! Isnt Jesus presence in the Eucharist merely symbolic? Well, to hold that the Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus is a hallmark of our Catholic faith. Our scientific, worldly minds naturally have difficulty coming to terms with this. After all, our tendency is only to believe that which we

can place under a microscope and prove. The Eucharist doesnt fit into this category. But I propose to you: how much more difficult is it to believe that God would become a man? That He would take on our own human nature, and live among us as one of us? If Jesus were to walk into this church right now, our worldly eyes would see only a man, someone who looked very much like anyone else. The eyes of faith, however, would recognize much more. The eyes of faith would see not just a man, but the manifestation of God the Son. Belief in Jesus presence with us in the Eucharist pales in comparison to our belief in His Incarnation. If it were impossible for God to come among us in the appearance of bread and wine, how much harder would it be for us to believe that He would come among us as one of us? The witness of Jesus first followers evidences precisely our belief in His presence in the Eucharist. Their actions show that when Jesus said This is my body, this is my blood, they took Him quite seriously - seriously enough that countless numbers of early Christians were willing to risk their lives to participate in the Eucharist. Why risk your life for something that is not real? For something that is only a symbol? The Magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These symbolized all that the world had. They wanted to give to Him everything. Tradition has it that they followed a star to find the place where the child Jesus lay. They had to make a journey to find Him to offer their gifts. We imitate the Magi in their journey as we process to the altar to receive the Eucharist. This small walk of only a few steps for us is an imitation of the journey of faith made by the Magi, and at the end of it, we - like they - stand before the very presence of the Lord. What are the gifts that we are called to give Him? One of the gifts that we can give to the Lord is our reverence in how we receive Him. I thought, therefore, that this would be a good opportunity to review precisely how we receive communion. Theres the old saying familiarity breeds contempt. I wonder if this saying doesnt apply, if only in some small way, to our participation at the Eucharist. It does seem that familiarity breeds neglect. I challenge myself also in this regard. I think we can all accuse ourselves of not being as attentive as we should be to Christs presence with us in the Eucharist. Our actions can be an indication of this. We come to church - hopefully - every Sunday, for some of us more. Do our actions and the way we conduct ourselves here fully reflect our deep and abiding belief in Christs presence in the holy Eucharist? Or have we become so comfortable with the routine of our worship that we have become neglectful of a fuller awareness of Christs presence?

When it comes to our reception of communion, consider doing a few things: 1. As you approach the altar, make a small bow of the head to reverently acknowledge the presence of Christ you are about to receive. 2. If you choose to receive communion on the tongue, then open your mouth sufficiently and allow the priest or Extraordinary minister of holy communion to place the host on your tongue. If you choose to receive communion in the hand, fold your hands neatly and cradle the Eucharist. Be attentive to any particles that may remain on your hand and consume them. 3. Answer Amen. Think of it this way: you are being asked do you believe this is the Body of Christ? Our answer Amen is an affirmation; yes, I believe! 4. Consume the host immediately. There have been a number of occasions recently when I have had to follow someone back to their pew because they did not consume the host. Hopefully this will come as a shock, but it is not unheard of that the eucharist has been taken for malicious or superstitious purposes. There have even been supposedly consecrated hosts listed for sale on eBay. This is a travesty, and an offense against our Lord. We might ask ourselves the question: are these people who are maliciously taking the Eucharist more aware of Christs real presence than I? Theres a tough question. They are at least aware enough to recognize that the Eucharist is of great value. 5. After you return to your pew take a moment to quietly give thanks to God for being able to receive such a gift: His very self! Our reception of the Eucharist should espouse in us a great deal of gratitude to God. What a wonderful thing it is that at nearly any time: this morning - when we are sick and in the hospital and those other times in our lives - we can have the very presence of our Lord with us. What consolation! Therefore, as we continue to celebrate the birth of the Lord, let us resolve to follow the way He has marked out for us, and to give Him thanks for the blessings which we have received. Most especially His presence in the Eucharist. May we give to Him the gift of our reverence and gratitude!