The Epiphany: Sharing Our Gifts with Christ

Welcome to episode five of the Christ by the Sea Catholic Collaborative podcast for the parishes of St. Anthony of Padua in Cohasset and St. Mary of the Assumption in Hull. Stay tuned to find out how you can go along with us to the March for Life. But first, the Church commemorates the Epiphany this weekend, and here's Fr. Scott.

One of my favorite Christmas songs of all time is the Little Drummer Boy. In it, A poor little boy considers what gift he might bring to the new born Jesus. As he considers his options, he acknowledges that he's just a poor little boy and yet. He also realizes that he has a drum and he knows how to play it.

And so the poor little boy resolves to go to the newborn Jesus and to play his drum for him, to play it the best that he can. Now some have joked and created online memes wondering whether Mother Mary would be pleased with a drum solo at this particular moment. Having just given birth to Jesus, and now trying to settle the infant down for sleep.

But I happen to think that Mother Mary would be thrilled with this gift of the little drummer boy. Because he considered his resources, and he gave the best that he could. Others would argue that there is no little drummer boy in the biblical accounts of Jesus's birth. They are right. There is no little drummer boy in those accounts in Matthew's gospel or Luke's gospel.

And yet, if we look to other gospel people, we find people like the little drummer boy. For example, let's look at another little boy. In John chapter 6, he has five barley loaves and two fish. There is an enormous crowd of over 5, 000 people that need to be fed, and the little boy's gift of five barley loaves and two fish hardly seems to be enough.

And yet, he offers it. It is in taking the little boy's gift that Jesus accomplishes a miracle, performs a miracle, feeding the 5, 000 plus people who are there with lots of leftovers. The little boy of John, chapter 6. Reminds me of the little drummer boy. Consider the widow and the widow's mite, the one whose gift was held up for praise by Jesus himself, even though her gift seemed insignificant in comparison to the gifts that others were making.

It was because her gift was a sacrificial gift that Jesus held it up for praise. When I think of the widow and the widow's mite, I think of the little drummer boy. Today, as we gather for the celebration of Mass on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, we consider others who brought gifts to the newborn infant.

Those mysterious figures from the East, the Magi, arriving with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the gifts that they were able to offer. They would have been extravagant gifts, costing a lot of money. But even beyond their worth, these gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, Have been given some symbolic or spiritual meaning gold representing the kingship of Jesus Christ.

The kingship we celebrate at the end of every November at the end of every liturgical year. When we celebrate the solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, king of the universe, we consider the frankincense, which has become symbolic of. Spiritually, represented by the priesthood of Jesus Christ. And finally, we consider the myrrh, which symbolically, spiritually, is a prefigurement, is a foreshadowing of the death of Jesus and the anointing of his dead body.

These gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh have often overshadowed a fourth gift, and that is The purpose for the magi coming to the infant. Yes, they brought the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but we hear that they came to do him homage, to give him honor, to do so publicly. This is the fourth gift, as we consider the gift of the little drummer boy in that classic Christmas song, as we consider the gifts brought by the magi to the newborn babe of Mary.

We can't help but think about what gift we might bring to the Lord. As we do so, we have to consider our resources and acknowledge that all that we have comes from God. Now, some have jokingly wondered if the magi were women, what would the gifts have been? Well, they've said that they would have stopped and asked for directions.

They would have arrived on time. They would have brought a casserole and some extra diapers. They would have tidied up the stable. But alas, we have the biblical text and the bringing of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Today and leading up through February 11th, all of the preachers in our two parishes are going to explore the Sunday readings with an eye towards stewardship.

And towards the Grateful Discipleship Initiative, in which we're asking every parishioner to take stock of their gifts and talents, to take account of their time, their talent, and their treasure, and to make a return to the Lord, to make a free, intentional, generous, and grateful gift to the Lord. This Grateful Discipleship Initiative will culminate on the weekend of February 10th and 11th when we celebrate Discipleship Weekend, which also aligns with Mardi Gras, the celebration on that doorstep of Lent.

And on that weekend of February 10th and 11th, we'll be able to celebrate so many commitments from parishioners, commitments of time, talent. and treasure. Even as we continue in this celebration of the Mass, we make a gift to the Lord. We offer simple gifts of bread and wine, and He returns a gift of Himself.

He returns the gift of His Body and Blood. However, we offer much more than simple bread and wine in this celebration of the Mass. We make an offering of ourselves. We offer our very lives with the bread and the wine. And in the Offertory, we make a gift of our treasure to the Lord, and all of this is united with the bread and the wine.

And the Lord blesses them and returns them to us as we continue this celebration of the Mass and as we begin the process of Grateful Discipleship. We consider all those people I've talked about todaythe little drummer boy, the little boy in John chapter 6, the widow and the widow's mite, her sacrificial gift, the gifts of the magi, the gold, the frankincense, the myrrh, and their homage, their worship, their honor, their public acknowledgment of the newborn king.

And we prepare to make a return to the Lord. As we prepare for that. I go back to the image from the beginning of the homily, to that little drummer boy. He took stock of the circumstance. He took stock of what he had. He wanted to do something for the Lord, and he knew what he could do, and he did it the best that he could do it.

I know what I'll do. I'll play for my drum for him. A rum pum pum pum, I'll play my best for him, a rum pum pum pum, me and my drum. On January 21st, join us for a Holy Hour for Life at St. Anne Church in Hull. The Holy Hour for Life begins at 2pm. This is a beautiful opportunity to come together as a community to pray for the protection of life as we recognize the dignity and worth of every human made in the image of God.

Well, the National March for Life is coming up and Father Scott is going to be going and you can go along with him. The bus is going to leave for Washington, D. C. on Thursday, January 18th at 10 p. m. The cost is 75. That includes the bus fare, a gratuity for the driver, a LifeVest ticket, and a boxed lunch.

And, of course, you'll be Uh, returning, um, in the evening of the 19th, you'll be back by midnight. Now, the first thing that will happen is you'll arrive on Friday, the 19th, seven o'clock at the life fest rally. And mass will be celebrated by Cardinal O'Malley and the sisters for life. It really is a beautiful experience.

If you've never gone to a March for life. You really pray about participating this year, Father Scott would love to have you along on the trip. Now, the Catholic Church, of course, is famous for its pro life position. We hold the sanctity of life in the highest regard, and we have an unwavering belief that every human life is valuable.

That means especially those most defenseless, the unborn child in the mother's womb, or the person who's very old and infirmed. We don't want to live in a society where euthanasia becomes the norm. We want to protect life every second, from conception to natural death, and we do that because we believe life is a gift from God.

Every person is created in his image. All human beings, regardless of their age. Race, condition, or any other status are deserving of respect and protection. We look in the Bible in the creation story, God breathes life into Adam. He created life. He forbade the taking of life in the Ten Commandments. So, as a result of this, of course, the Church teaches that all human life must be protected and respected.

Pope Benedict XVI said, The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself. This is true of life from the moment of conception until its natural end. He went on to say, abortion, consequentially, cannot be a human right. And Pope Francis has been very strong on the pro life issue.

He said, Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world's rejection. And when abortion was made legal by the Supreme Court nationally in the 1970s, the Church didn't give up its belief in the dignity of human life.

Of course, the Church believed that human life should be protected by law, but the right to life is not granted by the state or any human institution. The Church believes it's inherent in the nature of the human person given by God. We must respect and protect the most vulnerable members of our society, including the unborn, the elderly, and the disabled.

Now, some might say, the Supreme Court decision has been overturned. Why should we continue to march for life? Well, the battle will always go on. We must continue to give a witness to life. In every prayer, every rosary, Every attendee at every pro life demonstration is a public witness in this battle to transform our culture into a culture of life.

So once again, consider going down to the March for Life in DC, leaving at 10 o'clock on Thursday, January 18th, that's 10 in the evening, arriving at 7 a. m. the next morning to be part of a mass with Cardinal O'Malley and the Sisters for Life. There'll be a lunch as part of your 75. Um, you have, uh, the tip, the trip down there, gratuity for the driver and all of that stuff.

So we're taking care of a lot of people in doing this and we're, we're celebrating as a community, I believe in the dignity of human life. Thanks for listening to the Christ by the Sea Catholic collaborative podcast. You can follow us on Apple podcast or Spotify or on our website cbts.parishpodcast.com.

This has been a production of the Parish Podcast Project.