Show Off

Epiphany of the Lord

Being a show-off is not a good thing.  Doing something just to grab attention to yourself for some talent that you have is not something for which people usually praise you.  But today is the exception to the rule.  Today, the Lord is a show-off, or rather, is shown off, as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.  In fact, the very word epiphany comes from two Greek words (epi and phanos) which is most commonly translated as to reveal or to manifest, but could also be translated as to show off.  

The Epiphany celebrates three times that God showed Himself off.  We’re all familiar with the first one: when Jesus revealed Himself to the Magi, the three Wise Men, who came from the East and presented Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  This is what we usually associate with this celebration.  But the Epiphany also celebrates when Jesus manifested Himself at the Wedding at Cana, where He turned water into wine, as well as the manifestation of Jesus in His Baptism in the Jordan River.  That last aspect our Western Church focuses on in a special way next Sunday on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, but in the Eastern Church, where this feast originated, all three were celebrated.

But notice that when Jesus shows off, it is not a matter of bragging, as is often the case when we show off.  When Jesus shows off, something else points to Him and makes His presence known.  When we talk about Jesus showing off to the Wise Men, it was really the star that pointed out the newborn King of the Jews.  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph didn’t go through the streets proclaiming Jesus as the new monarch of Israel.  The Magi had to follow the star, and when it finally came to rest, they recognized Jesus as the King of Kings, though He was in such a lowly circumstance.  When we talk about Jesus showing off at His Baptism, it is not Jesus who says, “I am the Beloved Son of God; listen to me!”  Instead, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove over Jesus, and the voice of God the Father is heard from the heavens declaring that Jesus is the Beloved Son of God and that we ought to listen to Him.  When we talk about Jesus showing off at the Wedding at Cana, it is not Jesus who says, “look what I can do!”  It is Mary, the Mother of God, who tells the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”  When Jesus reveals who He is, He never does so on His own to draw attention to Himself.  Rather, He lets His heavenly Father and his Blessed Mother make Him known to others.  Jesus is not an attention junkie.

The question for us is whether or not we make Jesus known.  If Jesus doesn’t really bring attention to Himself, but lets others draw people into knowing who He is, then it is our responsibility to show off Jesus.  We are called to be like the star, or the voice of the Father, or the Blessed Mother, in helping others know who Jesus is.  We are called to be the evangelists, the ones who spread the Good News about who Jesus is.  We are called to help others to know that their mundane life, full of suffering and sorrow, is not all there is, but that God has so much more planned for them, even if none of their earthly circumstances change.  An unemployed person without Jesus can become bitter, despondent, and melancholic because nothing is going right for that person in helping him or her to provide for self or family.  An unemployed person with Jesus still may not have a job, but knows that God is in charge, and that, if the person continues to turn to God and offer those sufferings to Him, that something will happen for the betterment of that person.  A sick person without Jesus simply has a lack of good health that may or may not change based upon what medicine can offer.  A sick person with Jesus still does not have good health, but sees that sickness as a way to offer up suffering to God who can make it beneficial to eternal salvation.  Having Jesus makes all the difference in the world, and it is our call by our baptism to share Jesus with others so that they have hope in the midst of suffering.

One way that we show off Jesus is by talking about Him with other people.  That may seem odd for us Catholics.  It may seem very Protestant.  But the first disciples were not so driven to build a church building; they were driven to show off Jesus by talking about Him to others and sharing the wonderful things He had done in their lives.  When they showed Jesus off, others wanted that joy, that new outlook on life, and they joined the Church.  Whether it was Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free, when people heard about this Jesus who conquered sin and death and gave people freedom to live a truly happy life, they wanted it.

Pope Bl. Paul VI, Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis have all encouraged us to participate in the New Evangelization.  One way that we, as a parish, are going to participate in this together is by participating in faith-sharing small groups this Lent.   Next week we are going to have a sheet to fill out which will give our contact information and in which interest group we would prefer to share our faith.  The groups will be for 6-10 people, so they won’t be too large for you introverts, but will be large enough for extraverts to be able to share.  It will focus us on the love of God and the difference that love makes.  After Lent is over, there will be more opportunities for different kinds of faith-sharing groups to meet.  And the whole point is that we get in the practice of showing off Jesus to those we know, so that when God calls us to, we can share that faith with others whom we may not know as well.  

When Jesus shows off it is not about vainglory or bragging.  Jesus allows others to point Him out so that they can find happiness and joy.  May we show off Jesus by what we do and what we say.