Baby Jesus: Persecuted Light

Audio of Homily #18

 

 (As usual, it was a packed church with about 800+ in attendance at the 10am Mass.)

A partridge bird in a pear tree was a secret code for Jesus on the Cross.

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TEXT OF HOMILY

Baby Jesus: The Persecuted Light Revealed to the Nations

Feast of the Epiphany

January 4, 2015

:)    On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: A partridge in a pair tree.  On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pair tree. 

Most of us are familiar with this popular Christmas carol.  It is called “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.  The author is unknown, but its composition is attributed to Jesuit priests in 16^th Century when it was illegal to be Catholic in England.  The rights of the Church were suppressed by an oppressive political leadership.  Many martyrs rose during this time of persecution against the Church.

The song is meant to be a “catechism song” that helped the baptized not forget 12 truths of the Holy Faith.  It was in secret code under a time of persecution, silence, poverty and exile.

The 12 drummers drumming presented the 12 main points from the Apostles’ Creed which is the short creed of what we believe.

The 11 pipers piping represented the 11 faithful Apostles, which excluded Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.

The 10 lords-a-leaping represented the 10 Commandments.

The 9 ladies dancing represented the 9 choirs of angels.

The 8 maids-a-milking represented the 8 Beatitudes.

The 7 swans-a-swimming represented the 7 Sacraments of the Church.

The 6 geese-a-laying represented the 6 precepts of the Church at the time.

The 5 golden rings represented the first 5 books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch).

The 4 calling birds represented the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

The 3 French hens represented the 3 theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.

The 2 turtle doves were the 2 parts of the Sacred Scriptures: The Old and New Testaments.

A partridge was a bird that pretended to be injured in order to protect her young.  This represented Jesus who was injured and died for us.  A pear (p-e-a-r) is a delicious fruit to eat, so the pear tree symbolized the Cross. The partridge bird in a pear tree secretly represented Jesus on the Cross.

My “true love gave to me,” referred to God being “my true love”.  "Me" referred to us, the baptized to whom this secret catechism and coded message was directed.

The point is this: In times of persecution where Christians are persecuted, marginalized and even killed, we must always keep our Faith in Jesus, the Light revealed to the Nations, alive in the great darkness of our world.

Today, we come to twelve days after Christmas and celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of the Light of the Newborn Christ as the Messiah to the nations.  As it is written in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the pagans shall come “bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord”.  The magi represented the pagan nations – those seeking God with a sincere heart (and we know people like that) – and how those who do not yet know Christ can discover Jesus and worship him as the Son of God.  

And, already at the beginning of the Baby Jesus’s life, this innocent baby is persecuted and exiled, just like the English Catholics of the 16^th Century (who heard the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”).  And after Jesus’ circumcision in the Temple, while the Holy Family fled to Egypt, King Herod killed the Holy Innocent Babies two years and younger.

Today, in the 20^th and 21^st Centuries, the holy Church founded by Christ of which we are family members, is also persecuted around the world and has produced more martyrs than all the previous 20 centuries combined. 

Christianity is the MOST persecuted religion on the planet with one Christian killed every 11 minutes.  The Western mainstream media, and even secular and religious leaders, remain silent about this injustice of their basic human rights to religious freedom.

The Church is particularly persecuted in North Africa, in the Middle East, and in South East Asia.  In Communist China, the true Church is underground.  In the Middle East, Christian families had the letter “N” painted on their homes, which means that they are followers of the Nazarene.  (It was meant to shame Christians.)

During the rise of the ISIS in the Middle East, I cannot bear to relay (to you) the horrors against little children that were targeted just because of their faith in Jesus that was handed on to them by their parents.  Catholic bishops from this area have said that their entire dioceses have disappeared.  These persecuted Christians right now live in tents in refugee camps by the thousands.  And do you know what these persecuted Christian refugees from Iraq and Syria have written on their tents, even in this difficult time?  They wrote the words on their tents: ”Jesus is the Light of the World!”

And closer to home, we may not be outright killed or beheaded like our brothers and sisters around the world, whom we are bound to assist materially and spiritually, but we can also undergo our own persecutions and exiles for Jesus in our lives every day.  In our own everyday lives, our little acts of being marginalized for Jesus because we (quote-unquote) “look religious” in public or bring our faith in society or wear a crucifix around our neck, let us bear this for Jesus.

One way to promote social justice and identify with the Holy Innocents killed by King Herod in his vain search for the Baby Jesus is to participate in the Annual Walk for Life in San Francisco, which will take place later this month on Saturday, January 24.  Let the Church raise its voice in defense of the innocent and the voiceless!  The protection of human life is the pre-eminent civil rights issue of our day.

Another way is to help alleviate the needs of the innocent – those who are like the Baby Jesus the Light of the Nations – is to support organizations, such as LAAM, which stands for Life Abortion Alternatives Ministries, which help provide diapers and baby formula to those in need.  Or perhaps you can offer spiritual and material support to young mothers that you may know or mothers who have many children.  

There is also a program called Project Rachel you can support in a very non-judgmental way to help heal those who have had abortions and who are in need of healing.  Silent No More and Priests for Life are two organizations that offer helpful information to raise awareness and assist those hurting from abortion.  All of these are ways to put our faith into action and celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany where Our Lord Jesus Christ has been manifested as the light of the nations during these 12 days of Christmas.

Let us always, whether in 16^am Century England, or in times of global persecution of the Church today in the 21^st Century, always keep our Faith in Jesus, the Light revealed to the Nations, alive in the darkness of our world, so that the words of the Responsorial Psalm may come to fulfillment: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Amen.