In this homily given on the Solemnity of the Epiphany (January 7 2024), Fr Mathias suggests that Herod's response to the coming of Jesus the newborn king may have been rooted in a fear that Jesus was a threat to his kingship. Even though we don't know if this was the case with Herod, the dynamic of fear in the heart that sees Jesus a threat is precisely what prevents people from not submitting to his loving reign. In the event of the Epiphany, God is revealing to the world that in his Son the newborn King, that God is not a threat to us. He's only a threat to that which threatens us: selfishness, brokenness, illness, sin, and death. While we know this intellectually, Jesus continually reveals to us structures of unbelief in our hearts in which we see him as a threat. Recognizing such fear-based thinking, Father Mathias exhorts everyone to be like the Magi and open up the treasures of their hearts and lay our fears at his feet so that Jesus can grant us little epiphanies (revelations) of his love so he can save us from our fear.
In this homily given on the Solemnity of the Epiphany (January 7 2024), Fr Mathias suggests that Herod's response to the coming of Jesus the newborn king may have been rooted in a fear that Jesus was a threat to his kingship. Even though we don't know if this was the case with Herod, the dynamic of fear in the heart that sees Jesus a threat is precisely what prevents people from not submitting to his loving reign. In the event of the Epiphany, God is revealing to the world that in his Son the newborn King, that God is not a threat to us. He's only a threat to that which threatens us: selfishness, brokenness, illness, sin, and death. While we know this intellectually, Jesus continually reveals to us structures of unbelief in our hearts in which we see him as a threat. Recognizing such fear-based thinking, Father Mathias exhorts everyone to be like the Magi and open up the treasures of their hearts and lay our fears at his feet so that Jesus can grant us little epiphanies (revelations) of his love so he can save us from our fear.