Epiphany: "The Gold We Bring"

Note: This homily will appear on the Mt. St. Mary Seminary Web Site on Monday (www.mtsm.org). If this homily sounds familiar to readers of the Blue Collar Preacher blog, it's because it is a re-make of the one I preached at St. Al's last year. I invite you to read the new and improved version. Another Epiphany homily for the current year will appear here by the end of this week.

Hanneken Jewelers is located just down the street
in a small shopping plaza on Harrison Avenue.
Regina Bakery is on one side, a butcher shop on the other.

Now, for us folks here on the West Side of Cincinnati,
it’s perfectly normal
to come upon a fine jewelry store
tucked between a bakery and a butcher shop

And, if you think about it from God’s point of view,
that’s a perfect location for a jewelry store.
It’s location speaks a theological message.
It’s telling us that the treasure of life
is found right alongside everyday things
like day-old bread and Cincinnati goetta.

We tend to be practical, down-to-earth people
on this side of town.
Diamond rings and golden necklaces are wonderful and nice…but,
ask any Westsider, he or she will tell you
that their true value is found
in the love and the sacrifice they represent.

So, on this Feast of the Epiphany,
as you and I listen to a gospel passage
that tells of the wonderful and expensive gifts
placed at the feet of Mary,
most of us here are apt to judge the value of those gifts
not by their beauty alone
but by the love they represent.

So, what sort of gold
do you and I bring to honor the King?

I’m not referring to the offering in your offering envelope.
I’m referring to the offering of your life.
Is it a gold-quality life that you bring…to honor the King?

Isn’t that why we’re here?
We’re here to make an offering of our life to God.
And, being the Westsiders,
we want to offer something
that means something.

In the words of “We Three Kings,”
its “gold we bring to honor the King.”

But how do we do that?
Jut how do we go about choosing the right ring?
The flawless diamond?
The perfect gem?

How cab we expect offer a suitable gift
to the Lord our God here at Mass today?

Hold that thought a moment
and let’s go back to Hanneken Jewelry store for minute.

I stopped in at Hanneken’s a couple of days ago.
I got to talking with a sales clerk named Judy.
She’s only worked at Hanneken’s since August
but she already had lots of stories to tell.

A few months ago a young man came into the store.
He asked to see their selection of engagement rings.

Well, he ended up staying in the store for quite some time.
He studied the every ring in the store.
He weighed each one in his hand,
held each ring to the light.
He spent hours in that store
just looking at the rings.

As the clerk related this story,
I noticed the price tag on some of those rings
and I said,
“I hope the guy had good credit.”

The clerk smiled and said,
“Actually, he paid with a check.”

“A personal check, eh?”

She nodded.
“I remember it well,” she said.
“His hand shook as he signed the check.”

What a lucky guy!
To know a love so deep that it makes your hands shake!

On this Feast of the Epiphany,
when we reach out to receive the Body of Christ,
will our palms be sweating with anticipation?
Might our hands be shaking a bit at the thought of the Love we’ve been given?

If so, what a gift it would be.
The gift of love to honor the King.