 Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit It's a team grace today. We celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany There's a lot of things that come to the forefront on this feast day I'd like to just highlight two and then draw a lesson from them So the first is just a chronology of the Holy Family So oftentimes because liturgically we kind of cram it all together People are sometimes confused what happened when and where were the Holy Family and what was going on? So we know that Joseph was originally from Nazareth So Nazareth is also in the region of Galilee's in the far north. It's like the state. That's the region of Galilee Most of our Lord's life and the vast portion of his public ministry was in Galilee Now Joseph was from Nazareth So was our lady But our lady also her family had a home in Jerusalem We suspected her her father A Joachim might have been a priest of the temple. We're not sure But we know they had a home in Jerusalem and they had a home in Nazareth And we know of course that's where the whole scene happened between Mary and Gabriel was in Nazareth Now why did the Holy Family have to go to Bethlehem? Because the emperor far away in Rome Heard about the tribal organization of Israel, but didn't realize that that tribal organization had faded Even by like me saying I'm irish-american right or someone saying they're german-american We're vaguely connected to this homeland that our forefathers foremothers knew And that's what the tribal system had become But the emperor didn't know that and he ordered a census So the Holy Family had to go to the original home of their area of their tribe So Joseph was of Judah of the house of david david city is Bethlehem So where he was born to where he served as a shepherd That was his go-to area when the philistines occupied Bethlehem it grieved the heart of the king of israel On one occasion saying how I mourn and grieve that I do not get to drink the waters of Bethlehem And his men loved him so much He did a strategic attack on Bethlehem the house of philistines In order to draw water from the wells of Bethlehem and to bring it back to the king To which david took the water and poured it out and said I am not the god of israel I am only a man and the servant of my god That was not called for you do not shed blood for a man right Powerful scenes in Bethlehem Joseph has to return to Bethlehem for the census And then when he gets there of course the ins are full And where was his extended family? Interesting the scriptures don't tell us It would have been odd for someone to go and stay at an inn Especially one that had extended family. So we know something else is happening Then we know the christ child is born Tradition tells us in a cave in fact you can visit that cave in Bethlehem to this day And then we know he's fed he's placed in a feeding trough a manger Bethlehem means the city of bread It's the city of david. He's placed in the feeding trough right already indications Of what he will become the bread of life But then what happens? Well jesus mary and joseph they're now a young family They were broke right joseph was a carpenter we say That's accurate But more broadly we would say he was more like what we call a general contractor right So joseph probably had a little bit of money But it was exhausted by having to go to Bethlehem and because of this new baby On the eighth day the lord has circumcised Circumcision would have happened in the local synagogue So they would have just taken jesus to a local synagogue there in Bethlehem to be circumcised and received his name from his father 40 days after birth however Because he's the firstborn And anyone who was the firstborn was called firstborn even if there were no other children He was always called the firstborn. It was a legal identifier Because you recall during the Passover the firstborn sons of israel were the priests But they worshiped the golden calf the priest who was taken from them And god said i would strike the firstborn sons of israel And because god was in generous and kind to his people He spared them But he reminded israel as he gave the priesthood to the levites The firstborn your firstborn sons Belonged to me So in the 40th day of the firstborn's life He had to be taken to the temple in order to be presented to god We've heard about this this was simian and anna who approached the christ child So here's this poor family who had to stay in Bethlehem They'll probably be now at this point being assisted by extended family. They have the circumcision And then they have to go now to Jerusalem It would have been a very difficult trip for them But luke tells us that they made it and the christ child was presented Then they returned back to Bethlehem and we're not sure why they did that Why didn't they go back to nazareth? Now there was a lot of speculation One is you'll recall there was a lot there were a lot of rumors in nazareth, right? Because this couple broke their chastire chase patrolsman, right? So we suspect perhaps it's the rumor mill Perhaps they just didn't have enough money, but they knew that extended family would support them in Bethlehem Perhaps there was some other reason that we're not aware of maybe joseph got a good contract, right? He had to go back for work, but we know they returned to Bethlehem That's where they stayed until the lord was about a year and a half At a year and a half years old. They have a house We're told Because the magi today visit the house The magi travel for a year and a half Oftentimes we think all the magi were there with the shepherds on the day of the lord's birth Not true This is why we remove the shepherds from the nativity because the shepherds they're gone They're adoring and praising god and announcing all that had happened But the magi didn't arrive until a year and a half later Imagine that tenacity that faith that persevered for a year and a half When I lose something in the rectory after a couple of minutes, I'm willing to call it quits, huh? These men these wise men travel for a year and a half They arrive and we are told that it's a child. That was very beautiful Is we're told when the magi adore him and praise him and offer their highest gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh We're told they adore him while he is enthroned On the lap of his mother that is highly symbolic Because it represents the queen mother. She is fulfilling her role. Remember in israel the queen was not the king's wife The queen was the king's mother and already early in his life We see not only the lord exercised his kingship, but our lady exercised her queenship So the magi come in a year and a half Now we know they made a stop at ruslan and they told harrod about the star that they had seen Now harrod as the king of the jews should have rejoiced That finally the messiah has come But harrod he wanted the power And he was not a believer He thought someone has come up with these stories and now in order to oust me from authority in order to take my throne So he's watching Now his grandfather was harrod the great Had a great was known for his blood thirst and his lust his grandson was just like him So what happens when harrod finds out to the magi found the christ child Left went home by another way What does he do? He orders the execution of all boys two years and under throughout the bethlehem region Now we're not sure how many boys died Some speculate up to around 30 Some day up to about 3 000 Normally the usual size of jewish families. I suspect a higher number And there's a beautiful story that's told not in the scriptures, but in our tradition How was john debauchers spared? He was only three months older than our lord He was spared and watch god's providence He was spared because when they saw elizabeth remember she was an old lady, right? Older lady, excuse me, okay I almost hit that land mine, okay She was an older lady remember she thought she was baron They saw elizabeth they thought oh, she doesn't have any kids and they kept going Which is how john debauchers was spared So we have what we call the holy innocence the first blood shed in defense of our lord Joseph listened to the angel whenever we see joseph we see two things the angels and obedience As i've said before joseph was god's go-to man if god needed something done. He could ask joseph. He knew joseph would do it He tells joseph take your family and go to egypt You might be asking wait a minute How did they afford that? Huh? This is a smaller family. They're not very financially comfortable at this point. How did they afford going to egypt? will the early fathers When I speak of the early fathers those are the second and third generation of our faith Who would have known the apostles some of them would have been early disciples of the lord or disciples of disciples The early fathers tell us simple enough joseph hawked the three gifts of the manjai. He just went to local pawn shop, right? gold frankincense and mur took the money and then took the holy family to egypt Now how long were they in egypt? You know, you can still visit the church in old cairo that's built over their house st. George's church Beautiful a little well where a lady used to go and draw water We suspect that they were in egypt for about six months to a year We can gauge that because of the political leadership that's identified in the gospels And then they return home And really home This is when they go to nazareth the christ child is about two or two and a half years old When they go to nazareth and then he's quiet He learns the prayers of israel from his father and mother He learns his trade as a carpenter general contractor from his father He is quiet. That's what we call our lord's hidden life We see a glimpse when he's 12 years old. That's significant. Remember in israel then and now 12 years old is when the boy first proclaims publicly the word of god Called now the bar mitzvah. That's what that is After 12 he proclaims the word of god publicly and he is considered a man By the law of moses. We see a glimpse of the lord at 12 And then we don't see him again until he's 30 What marked Our years our lord's 30th year. What happened? First of all, it would have been very odd in israel that a 30 year old man was not married There's a long explanation of that too Beautiful tradition called the asin tradition that our lord would not have cut his hair He would have not drank alcohol. He would not have had sexual relations He would have been chased. We suspect that our lord might have been an asin We know his cousin john the baptist was definitely in a scene. We're not sure about our lord We suspect but what happened in his 30th year to launch our lord's public ministry. This is very endearing We suspect by our tradition that it was the death of joseph It was the death of his father Because he was there taking care of mom and dad And when his father died he began his public ministry This is why in our tradition saint joseph is the patron saint Of a happy death a holy death. Let's imagine that when joseph died He had jesus on one side and mary on the other a patron of a holy death Now we know that joseph would have had to die Before our lord began his public ministry Why is that? Because joseph's vocation was to guard and protect the christ child He would never have been able to begin his ministry and the lord would never have been able to endure the passion If joseph would have been alive Because joseph would have defended christ would have died in his defense So it was the death of his father His earthly father that initiated his public ministry. Dear friends I've just given you a small portion of the chronology of the beautiful story Of the plan in which god has saved us the life in the ministry of our lord jesus I hope that by just his glimpse it has perhaps What your appetite to know more and I encourage you with that to dive into the scriptures Read matthew and luke only two of the four gospel writers tell us About our lord's early life try to understand what has happened. Why is this being recounted to us? Why is it significant? That's the first part? I want to give you the second part I just want to talk about why it's so important that the magi came When our lord was one and a half years old You see god at the beginning of time wanted to give his blessings to all his children But we rebelled Constantly rebelled to the point where god said, you know what? I'm just going to pick my firstborn And I'll work with them So god went to the firstborn son of noah shem And to his descendants the semites the jewish people you hear about some being anti semitic That's where it comes from shem of noah He went to the sons and daughters of shem The firstborn of noah and said i will give to israel to the semites all the blessings That one day i will return to all the nations to the gentiles That's in salvation history and the prophets especially emphasize this that when the messiah comes He will reunite the tribes when the messiah comes He will open up the gates of paradise the path to salvation to the gentiles This is what the messiah is going to do and they waited and they prophesied and they give clues We hear about bethlehem today being mentioned by mica the prophet mica And there's slow preparation and slow movement towards that But the average jew and the average rabbi in the time of our lord They've forgotten that prophecy This is why today in our shaker reading paul has to remind them The gentiles were to be a part of the plan of salvation Because many people later in the lord's life struggled As the lord began to welcome the gentiles at one point they tried to stone him to death It was not his time to die and we are told in the scriptures he passed through them But the gentile the welcoming of the gentiles that's us That's our path to salvation was very controversial But here at the beginning we see the fulfillment of the lord's ministry First he will reunite israel and then secondly he will welcome and invite the gentiles back to salvation This is why it's so significant the epiphany it's greek it means the manifestation Of god to the nations that today Even as a boy a young child The messiah is beginning to fulfill his vocation as the gentile nations come to him Pay him homage It's significant that god used the star Perhaps you might wonder well, wait a minute if they follow the star doesn't that justify astrology? No, no Astrology is vehemently denied throughout the scriptures. Why? Because dear friends, we have a loving father We don't have to read the stars or worry about the intros of animals or play in the mud or wear crystals We don't have to do such things. We are the children of god and well beloved by him Today god used the star because that's what he needed in order to speak to them The magi understood stars so god humbled himself and communicated with them in a way that they would understand But look what he did He did a coup d'etat on the astrology of old didn't he because he used their very means What they understood in order to reveal his son Dear friends, do you understand that in our lives No matter how far we think we are Or if we are heart-hearted or far from away or from god or from his grace Do we realize that no matter where we are god continues to send small stars to each of us Seeds of his revelation that we might know how much he loves us Desires fellowship with us how much he has been seeking us out Long before we ever thought about looking for him Today on this high feast of the epiphany Look at the god who loves you who sends you stars So that you might not ever lose him that you might always know how to find him and that by finding him Your salvation the salvation of the gentiles might continue