Archived Messages
The answer to our deepest yearning is not a thing, but a person.
January 04, 2008
The answer to our deepest yearning is not a thing, but a person.
The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of the divinity of Jesus Christ. It includes three separate manifestations: to the Wise Men from the East; to the wedding guests at Cana, and to those witnessing the Baptism of Jesus. Our focus is usually on the Wise Men, or Magi—how they journey to find the newborn King of the Jews by following a star; how they humbly present their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh; how they evade Herod by taking another way home.
We today are not the same as the Magi, and yet we are not too different from them either. We no longer look for a king, but we are concerned for the state of the world and ask: “Where do we find standards to live by; what are the criteria that govern responsible cooperation in building the present and the future of our world? On whom can we rely or to whom shall we entrust ourselves? Where is the One who can offer us the possibility of satisfying our deepest desires?
Like the Magi, we will learn that the answer to our deepest yearning is not a thing, but a person. The happiness we are seeking and the happiness we have a right to enjoy has a name and a face.
With Mother Teresa of Calcutta, we may see this face in a “distressing disguise.” But through faith we recognize the face and name it: Jesus, the Christ.
(based in part on a homily by Fr. Daren Zehnle, St. Anthony of Padua parish, Effingham, IL.)