Jeremiah 31: 7–14 / Psalm 84: 1–8 / Ephesians 1: 3–6, 15–19a / Matthew 2: 13–15, 19–23
This
is the homily prepared for St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene
Tucker for Sunday, January 3, 2021.
“THE WIND BLOWS, BUT THE
LIGHT OF THE CANDLE REMAINS”
(Homily text: Matthew 2: 13–15,
19-23)
In my
childhood, we lived for awhile in North Platte, Nebraska. We’d moved there from
the eastern part of the state, and one of the differences in the two places
that sticks in my memory to this day was the fierceness of the cold, bitter and
unrelenting winter winds, which blew out of the northwest. I guess it didn’t
help that our house was located on the northwest side of town, and, to add to
the situation, there were very few trees or other buildings to slow down or
block that wind. The wind blew, uprooting the many tumbleweeds that grew in
that part of the country. As a reminder of the wind’s power, those weeds would
spend a long time trapped against the fences where the wind had driven them for
quite awhile after the wind had subsided a bit.
Our Gospel
text appointed for this morning relates the coldness of the threatening winds
of the time in which our Lord Jesus Christ came to take up our human condition.
In the specific set of circumstances that Matthew relates to us in his Gospel
account, we read this morning the account of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt
to escape the cold and threatening wind of King Herod the Great’s intent to kill
the Christ child.
(At this
juncture, it might be worthwhile remembering what we know about Herod, who
ruled the Holy Land as a puppet king under Roman rule from 37 – 4 B.C.
Josephus, the first century historian, tells us a lot about Herod’s ways, for Herod
dealt with any threat to his position and power in ruthless fashion, even to
the point of dealing harshly with his own immediate family. So the slaughter of
the baby boys in Bethlehem [1],
all those two years old and younger, fits quite easily with Herod’s ways.)
In order to
preserve the light of God that Jesus’ advent into the world indicated, the Holy
Family fled to Egypt. When Herod was dead, they were informed that it was safe
to return, which they did, settling in Nazareth, a town in Galilee in the northern
part of the Holy Land.[2]
The cold
and threatening winds which conspired to snuff out God’s light, made known in
Jesus Christ, didn’t abate with Herod the Great’s, or his son’s, intent.
As Jesus’
earthly ministry unfolded, other breezes would blow, originating from the chief
priests, the Pharisees and the Scribes. These conspired to snuff out God’s
light in the events that unfolded on Good Friday.
But God’s
candle, Jesus Christ, continued to shine, as God raised Him from the dead on
Easter Sunday morning.
Now, in the
fulness of time, you and I bear the light of Christ to a darkened world, a
world in which fierce and cold winds threaten to extinguish that light. In our
own time this year, we’ve endured the closure of our parish due to the COVID-19
virus, first for ten weeks in Lent and Eastertide, and now again from late
November into the present. How do we keep the light of Christ shining in such a
difficult time? One way is to maintain the faith once delivered to the saints,
that same light that people of faith have maintained throughout the centuries.
We do this by maintaining our study of the Word, and our participation in the
sacramental life of the Church (remember that drive-thru communion is available
every Sunday!). These are two ways we keep filling the reservoir of faith that
allows the light to shine brightly from the lamp that each one of us is called
to carry by virtue of our baptisms.
But we also
bear that light by pushing back against the darkness, and by shielding people
who’ve been harmed by the massive closures and shutdowns that have come about
due to the viral outbreak. (Allow me to say, at this juncture, that I remain
adamantly opposed to such closures and shutdowns, for quite a number of
reasons.) The side effects of these disruptions to normal life have resulted in
hardship, hunger, an increase in domestic violence, increases in suicide and
depression, and perhaps sometime soon, massive numbers of evictions of renters
who cannot pay rent. We step forward into the breach for those who cannot feed
themselves (our Little Free Pantry has seen an enormous increase in donations
from the community, and withdrawals from it, in recent days), and we offer
financial support to the local food pantry, to the Community Soup Kitchen
(which offers a free, hot meal to anyone in need), and to other needs in the
local community and beyond.
Whenever
the flame begins to waver as the cold winds of the world around us begin to
pick up, we are to shield the light that our individual candles emanates, pushing
back the darkness, and we lift it high so that its light will shine further
into the hopelessness and darkness that surrounds us.
AMEN.
[1] The killing of the babies is remembered on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, observed on December 28th each year.
[2] One of Herod’s sons, Herod Archelaus, reigned in the southern part of the Holy Land (Judea, Samaria and Idumea) following the death of his father. He ruled from 4 B.C – 6 A.D. Because it was possible that Archelaus harbored the same intent toward Jesus that his father had shown, the family went north into Galilee, beyond Archelaus’ reach.
