SERMON BY SAINT PIERRE CHRYSOLOGUE FOR EPIPHANY
Epiphany reveals God in man
The Mystery of the Incarnation of the Lord itself brings with it ever-recognizable marks of the Divinity. However, the solemnity of the Epiphany discovers and reveals to us in many ways that God came in a human body; so our mortal condition, always shrouded in obscurity, does not risk losing by its ignorance the richness it has been able to grasp and possess through grace.
For he who willed to be born for us did not wish to be unknown to us, and that is why he reveals himself in such a way that this great mystery of divine goodness does not become the occasion of great error.
Today, the magi, looking for the one who would shine among the stars, find him wandering in the cradle. Today, the magi are astonished to discover glorious in his swaddling clothes the one who had long been hidden in the sky where he remained obscure.
Today, the Magi gaze in deep amazement at what they see here: heaven on earth, earth in heaven; man in God, God in man; and the One whom the whole world cannot contain, enclosed in the body of a toddler! ~ And as soon as they see, they proclaim that they believe without question, by offering their symbolic gifts: by incense, they confess God; by gold, the king; by myrrh, his future death. ~
This is how the pagans, who were last, become first; for it is then that the coming of the pagans to belief is inaugurated by the faith of the Magi. ~
Today, Christ, who will wash away the sin of the world, has entered the Jordan. John himself testifies that he has come for this purpose: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world. Today, the servant takes hold of the Lord; the man, of God; John, of Christ; he takes hold to receive forgiveness, not to give it. Today, as the Prophet says: The voice of the Lord dominates the waters. What does this voice say? This is my beloved Son; in him I have put all my love. ~
Today, the Holy Spirit flies over the waters in the guise of a dove. Just as another had announced to Noah that the world’s flood was receding, so, on seeing this dove, we learned that the world’s inescapable sinking had ceased. It did not bring an olive branch, as did the dove of old, but poured all the richness of a new anointing on the head of our leader, in fulfillment of the Prophet’s prediction: God, your God, has anointed you with joy, like no other of your kind. ~
Today, Christ begins the signs of heaven by turning water into wine. ~ But the water was to be changed for the sacrament of blood, when Christ would pour out cups of wine to those who drank from the vessel of his body, so that this prophecy would be fulfilled: The cup that gives me drunkenness, it is incomparable!
Response
R/ Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world.
Behold, says the Lord, I raise up my servant:
and I will put away ungodliness from this land.
Jesus came with the power of the Spirit
and his fame spread around.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he said,
for he has anointed me.
Oraison
Lord, we pray you, enlighten our hearts with your sovereign light: we will then find the strength to move forward in a dark world to reach the land of the fading day.
