Epiphany: Offering What We Have

 

We live in anxious times.  Just when we thought the pandemic was cooling down, it starts to heat up. And the coronavirus isn’t the only reason for worry: we saw more natural disasters in BC last year than in a typical decade.

On top of all that, we have the opioid crisis, growing homelessness, refugees drowning, and growing political tensions at home and abroad.

It makes you feel a bit helpless, doesn’t it? What can we do in the face of so much calamity?

Today’s feast of the Epiphany contains at least one answer: do what you can. Offer what you have.

The wise men aren’t well-prepared for a newborn. Everyone’s seen the old internet joke that says if there’d been three wise women, they’d have made a casserole and brought practical gifts.

But what did the wise men do? They gave what they had.

Their example offers us a way to respond to any and every crisis: we do what we can, with what we have.

There’s even a name for this: Christian stewardship.

Christian stewardship “offers us a way to re-focus our energy and provides an opportunity to face today’s challenges.” (See the fine reflection of the International Catholic Stewardship Council here.)

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that stewardship is all about money; that’s a particular danger on the Epiphany when the word treasure appears in the Gospel.

Yet “a conversion of the heart is needed before a conversion of the wallet or purse can happen.”

We’ll never be Christian stewards if we don’t experience the joy of the wise men, whose hearts opened wide when they reached their destination, who knelt in wonder when they saw the child Jesus and Mary.

It was the Holy Spirit who invited them to open their treasure chests in an act of homage that will be recalled until the end of time.

And it is the Holy Spirit who will help us discover what we can do to respond to the needs we see all around us.

We offer our gifts of time, talent, and treasure not simply to those in need but to God himself. Prayerfully, with the Spirit’s guidance, we ask him “what should I do?”

Over the years, we have talked about stewardship many times in the parish. But this feast of the Lord’s Epiphany can inspire us to think about what’s most precious to us, and how we are called to share it.

Surely the most precious of all our gifts is our faith. We are in church today because we believe in the mystery of Christ’s birth, the Word made flesh.

We believe that the ancient prophecies have been fulfilled, and that the world no longer needs to fear the darkness; the light has come.

Isn’t that the first treasure of which we are all stewards? Aren’t we called to take our faith out of its box and share it with others, especially those who most need the hope it offers in these difficult times?

In less than three weeks, Alpha will begin online.

If your heart needs to hear a Gospel message of hope, please sign up. Perhaps more importantly, ask the Holy Spirit to point you to the friends, neighbours, and family members for whom Alpha could bring light and peace.

Charity, as they say, begins at home. But today’s feast also reminds us of the global picture. All nations are called to Christ’s light and all people matter to us. We see this clearly in the psalm, where the tribute offered to God is given to the needy, to the poor, to the abandoned, and to the weak.

And so it is that the parish pastoral council and the parish finance council has decided that Christ the Redeemer will again sponsor a large refugee family, this time from Eritrea in Africa.

We’ll share details in the coming weeks, but for now I can only rejoice that our parish community can make this commitment thanks to its deep spirit of stewardship and charity.

There are many needs besides Alpha at home and refugees abroad. So this Epiphany let’s ask ourselves “what else is in my treasure chest? What more can I do with the time, talent, and treasure that God has given me?”

In a tough time, we do what we can, with what we have.