Feast of the Epiphany

Saturday January 7, 2006

It’s All About Crossing Borders And Boundaries

Several years ago, I traveled to Eastern Europe on a guided tour through Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Czechoslovakia. With the possible exception of my pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1965, this trip remains one of the most memorable of my life. To think that I would live to see the collapse of Soviet Communism and the destruction of the iron curtain was nothing short of miraculous.

As we celebrated the Eucharist in Prague, it occurred to me that we would have been arrested and jailed for doing the same just ten years earlier. Though still in the early stages of social and economic recovery, the spirit of freedom was in the air. The bland, colorless buildings were slowly giving way to newly restored plazas with crenellated facades overlooking lively sidewalk cafes with the sound of classical and contemporary music that had been muted for decades.

Our visits to the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Berkenau were overwhelming. There is nothing that can compare with the sense of shame I felt as I walked through the dank prison cells once stuffed with human beings and then to walk through the gas chambers and stand at the door of huge ovens that disposed of the remains of millions of human beings whose only sin was that they were Jews.

Our tour ended in Vienna but one last stop in Czechoslovakia just before crossing the Austrian border gave us a final pause to ponder. Though rich landscaped green meadows had replaced the barriers separating the east and the west, the remnants of mine fields and barbed wire and barricades were our parting reminders of how precious is our freedom.

Approximately eight years ago, Maureen approached me with a request to present her case and cause on behalf of an organization called, “Healing the Children.” Similar to other outreach programs such as “Doctors Without Borders,” Healing the Children reaches out to severely handicapped children across the world whose families have no means to alleviate the deformities resulting from birth defects or genetic diseases.

Maureen and her cadre of volunteers solicit doctors willing to perform corrective surgery, host families to welcome the children and a close relative, and of course, generous people who are able to undertake the cost of bringing the children to the United States for the corrective surgery.

Carlos, the recipient of prostheses for his forearms and feet was one of many beneficiaries of “Healing the Children” and visited with the students of St. Joseph School in Mendham to demonstrate how he had mastered soccer with his new arms and legs. It was a moving experience to watch him kick the ball around the sanctuary of the Church into the cheering congregation and a moving testimony to Maureen and her healing team.

Several weeks ago, Sergio told me his trip to Peru where he assisted volunteer dentists traveling to hidden villages along the Amazon tending to the dental needs of people who rarely if ever see a dentist. Sergio is organizing a trip to New Orleans in February to assist in the rebuilding of homes destroyed by Katrina.

Then of course, there was Laura, a Methodist neighbor who at the age of 72 told me she wanted me to introduce her to Mother Theresa and who eventually met her on her own and spent three months every year for three years working alongside Mother Theresa in the streets of Calcutta. She washed the dying so that before they died, they would know that someone loved them.

These are only a few stories about people who followed a star, crossing over borders and boundaries to bring the healing presence of God to the poorest of the poor across the globe.

Epiphany is indeed about following the star that leads to places we’ve never been before. It is about breaking down barriers that separate warring nations and barricades that imprison people physically and emotionally.

Isaiah speaks about the light that was to shine over Jerusalem They were to become a people of the light that would dispel the darkness of fear and hatred, attracting citizens of every race and nation to the ‘City of Peace.’

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul speaks of his stewardship of God’s grace given to him for the service of the gentiles – people beyond the borders and boundaries of Israel who were to be equal beneficiaries of God’s mercy.

In his very dramatic story of the three astrologers, Matthew makes it clear that Jesus is for everyone a servant-king who unlike the rulers of this earth would lead others on safe paths to salvation.

These dramatic stories about Maureen, Sergio and Laura are only examples of many stars – people whose faith has moved them to follow the star crossing borders and boundaries, taking seriously their stewardship of God’s grace and themselves becoming living testimonies of God’s relentless desire to gather all humanity into the embrace of divine love.

But there area other stars known to you and me – people who bring the mercy of God to others in soup kitchens and in shelters for the homeless and advocates of justice who speak for those who have no voice.

Matthew’s Gospel is a celebration of the enfleshment of God in Christ in whom there is no difference between Jew or Greek; male or female; black or white; Arab or African; Japanese or Guatemalan. All are one and when we finally come to the realization that our global village is precisely that, then perhaps we will come to terms of peace without weapons of war and open up our storehouse of food, sit down at table and break the bread and share the Godly wisdom that enables us to see one another as brothers and sisters invested in the good of all humanity.

The ‘star’ is there but it is not in the heavens. It is in the concrete words of the believer. Each of us may come to the light by different routes and perhaps even by different stars. For some of us, our parents were or are the stars. For others, it may be a teacher or a spouse; an aunt or uncle; a friend or mentor. Even a child can be the star that leads us to Christ.

The gifts we offer are not gold, frankincense and myrrh but our works of justice and charity.

When we have taken this feast to heart as individuals and as a Church, “wise men” will continue to come from afar in pursuit of the star and we will indeed be recognized as God with us, Emmanuel.

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