St Ignatius Loyola proposed to meditate on the Gospel by imagining being present in the scene we contemplate. If we applied this recommendation to the beginning of the chapter 5 of St Matthew, which we have for this Sunday, we could feel very important, as the passage tells us about crowds of the people following our Blessed Lord. Imagining the multitude of people could help us appreciate that we are part of something substantial, something important. However it is not the number of followers that makes it substantial and important but the One who sat down on the hill and who opened his mouth there to speak. It is Jesus Christ who makes our following substantial and important.
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! A few days ago I was having a constructive dialogue with some theologians on the size of Christian population in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine changed the policy which shifted Christianity from being illegal and persecuted to welcome, and soon dominant, religion in the Roman Empire. The figure is between 5 and 10 %. To put it in a more familiar perspective, Australia has got now around 60% Christians including 25% Catholics. If we compared it to the number of Christians in the early centuries of the Church we could say that we’ve got numbers now, that we’ve got crowds now. The early Christians didn’t have this advantage. They didn’t have the numbers to impress the wider society. However they did impress the society, particularly the leaders, who eventually lent them their public acknowledgment and support. To find out the secret for those early Christians to stand out in their society I would like to recall some words from the Book of Prophet Zephaniah we had in our first reading. The prophet spoke the words: “In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people who will seek refuge in the name of the Lord. They will do no wrong, will tell no lies.” St Paul in our second reading taken from the First Letter to the Corinthians contextualized it when he wrote: “Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the world, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning.”
            My Dear Fellow believers! Our strength is in the Lord. Our contribution to the wider society is our commitment and faithfulness to the Lord, the source of our strength. That’s why after proclaiming the Beatitudes Jesus revealed to his disciples their role in his mission: “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world” as we will hear next Sunday. To preserve our unique saltiness, which is down-to-earth, and our unique brightness which is the reflection of divinity, our Blessed Lord has given us those Eight Beatitudes, the supreme blessedness, the supreme happiness.
            I would like to conclude this homily with the very first blessing or happiness, Jesus spoke of. It was also the refrain of our responsorial Psalm: “Happy the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!” In the Scriptures the poor are those who need help, who are dependent on God. The world tells us that we will be happy when we provide ourselves with everything and don’t need anything from anyone. Jesus however proposes us to find our happiness in poverty, in being totally dependent on the fatherly love of our God.
            If you want to spend some time today to contemplate the gospel passage I would like to encourage you to follow the method of St Ignatius and imagine yourself among the closest disciples of Jesus. We know that at the time of proclaiming the Beatitudes Jesus had only four disciples: Andrew and Peter, James and John. Four people don’t make an impressive crowd but four people can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Do you desire that?

When at Melbourne Cup a jockey falls off the horse it is a tragedy. It is a major catastrophe for those who put their money on the horse and its rider. It is not the reason to celebrate at all.  However January 25th is dedicated to celebrating such a fall. In fact, it was a very significant falling off the horse. A young Jewish man called Saul was travelling to the city of Damascus. On the way Jesus Christ appeared to him. Then Saul fell off the horse. He not only fell but he also lost his sight. Instead of the triumphant entry to the city he was quietly guided there. For the Christians who were expecting imprisonment, the blind enemy was a good reason to celebrate. But the celebration which has lasted for 2000 years focuses on something else. The grievous enemy of the disciples of the Lord was rid of not by disposal but by his conversion. The early Christians lost their enemy but they had gained a brother and even more than a brother. They gained a passionate evangelizer. The man was to become an instrument of the Lord to take the Good News to the peripheries of the world.
For a catholic order known as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate January 25 is also the day which marks a different fall. The grace of God which overpowered the zealous persecutor of Christians fell on a few priests in the Southern France. It soaked them so much that it reached their hearts, minds and wills. Like Saul they couldn’t continue the way they lived before.  They felt compelled to embrace the program Jesus Christ reveled at the beginning of his public ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor.” The Spirit who so powerfully descended, fell on Jesus when John the Baptist immersed the Lord in the Jordan River, descended, fell on those priests from France, which was still recovering from the turmoil of the French Revolution. Eugene and his first companions fell to living a community life. For us Oblates January 25 is truly a celebration of a fall, when our first fathers fell to living a community life. They did so not because they were looking for a cozy  house and a friendly network of single-minded people. They fell to living a community life because they wanted to evangelize. They wanted to create a living cell of the Church in the midst of their local Church so that their passion for evangelizing could spread onto others. They realized that evangelizing is not about brilliant preachers and inspiring talks but it is all about a united community which undertakes upon itself the mission of Jesus.
Some years later Eugene wrote to the Oblate novices and seminarians about that January 25, 1816. He recalled the beginnings in order so that they could see themselves part of that story:
 
Tomorrow I celebrate the anniversary of the day, sixteen years ago, I left my mother’s house to go and set up house at the Mission. Father Tempier had taken possession of it some days before. Our lodging had none of the splendour of the mansion at Billens, and whatever deprivations you may be subject to, ours were greater still. My camp-bed was placed in the small passageway which leads to the library: it was then a large room used as a bedroom for Father Tempier and for one other whose name we no longer mention amongst us. It was also our community room. One lamp was all our lighting and, when it was time for bed, it was placed in the doorway to give light to all three of us.
The table that adorned our refectory was one plank laid alongside another, on top of two old barrels. We have never enjoyed the blessing of such poverty since the time we took the vow. Without question, it was a foreshadowing of the state of perfection that we now live so imperfectly. I highlight this wholly voluntary deprivation deliberately (it would have been easy to put a stop to it and to have everything that was needed brought from my mother’s house) so as to draw the lesson that God in his goodness was directing us even then, and really without us having yet given it a thought, towards the evangelical counsels which we were to profess later on. It is through experiencing them that we learnt their value.
 I assure you we lost none of our merriment; on the contrary, as this new way of life was in quite striking contrast with that we had just left, we often found ourselves having a hearty laugh over it. I owed this tribute to the memory of our first day of common life. How happy I would be to live it now with you!

The Providence incorporated the beginning of the Oblate Congregation into the day dedicated to the fall of Saul, the future Paul, the great missionary of the nations. St Eugene and his first companions shared the same passion for proclaiming the God News of the Son of God who died for salvation of people, who was raised to life for salvation of people, and who has been glorified at the right hand of the Father for salvation of people.

How small was the area where Our Blessed Lord made his way to in the Gospel passage for this Sunday, and where, in fact, he spent most of his time following the Baptism in the Jordan. How small was the group of the disciples Our Blessed Lord started forming when he called Andrew and Simon, James and John to follow him. Isn't astonishing that God who created the whole of Universe, who holds the whole of creation in being, chose such an insignificant end of the Promised Land for his public ministry? It is a pretty part of the Holy Land located on the shores of the Lake of Galilee but it wasn't playing any particular role in the political and social establishment. Jesus chose not the influential people to instil his Good News into but he chose the remote countryside and the people ignored by the mighty of the world. Among the ignored the Mighty God ministered and revealed himself.
Those little people were walking in darkness and in the land of the deep shadow as Isaiah prophesied. The ancient territory of Zebulon and Naphtali was unique in the whole of the land God promised his people as it was surround by pagan nations. These people were constantly exposed to the influence of their neighbours who didn't follow faith and commitment to the one, true God.
Looking at our own situation here in Australia we can detect similar context. We are surrounded by those whose worldview doesn't correspond with the Devine Revelation we, Christians, treasure and pass on to others. We could complain that in terms of growing in faith, the Down Under isn't the desirable environment. However as we listen to and accept the Word of God this Sunday let's recognize our situation in relation to where Jesus began his ministry. The Lord went to the people who were most in danger of losing their faith.
My Dear Sisters and Brothers. Do not complain that it is not easy to be a follower of the Lord in Australia. Instead look at this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit as a field asking for laborers to proclaim the Good News of salvation to those whose life is lived in ignorance of what God has accomplished for them in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The calling of the first four disciples wasn’t a beginning of a new trade of specialized promoters of the new religion. In fact Jesus first message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand” found its fulfillment in the repentance, or better to say in METANOIA, which happened to Andrew and Simon, James and John. What was an indication that they had undergone that repentance that METANOIA, Jesus was proclaiming? Let’s listen to how Matthew speaks about that moment: Andrew and Simon “left their nets at once and followed him.” Similarly Jams and John: “at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.” Their repentance, their METANOIA, was about Jesus Christ whom they accepted as the core, the center of their existence. St Matthew doesn’t tell us how much their life improved after that invitation they got from the young teacher but the author of the Gospel gives us the image of the four fishermen who with the sense of urgency followed Jesus. In a couple of years those men would go beyond their land of Zebulon and Naphtali to the countries and people where paganism was predominant. They would not lose their faith there. On the contrary they would be the protagonists of evangelization. They would be the ones telling others not about rules, regulations and ideas but about the person of the young teacher who called them from their boats in Galilee and who later underwent suffering, death, Resurrection and Ascension.
If the Providence has placed us in this secular society of Oz it wasn’t to inspire us to build fences and walls to keep us safe from the atheistic environment. We are sent to these sisters and brothers of ours who have no idea of the Good News which is the person of the Son of God, Jesus Christ and the invitation extended to all to enter into a life changing relationship with him.
I pray my Dear Fellow Believers that each one of us can see believing as the result of the encounter with Jesus Christ who approached us first. Then we followed and ended up where strong witness is much needed right now.

            People are surprised when they find out that I have never seen the Passion movie directed by Mel Gibson. They grow even more surprised when, after an advertising session they usually give me, I still decline to see the film.
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! The four Evangelists who wrote the Gospel were very discreet describing the details of the way of the cross our Blessed Lord undertook, and the crucifixion itself. Their account of Jesus suffering and death is so modest that the Christians in Europe who were unfamiliar with this kind of death created the crucifix which is still widespread across the world. The crucifix, most likely you have got in your place too, depicts the nails piercing Jesus’ hands whether now we know that nails had to go through the wrists to support the body on the cross. We may ask why the ones who followed Jesus as his disciples in the Holy Land didn’t give the next generations some blood soaked stories of the Saviour’s Holy Week. I believe that is was because their world was already soaked with blood. Their fellow believers were ripped apart at the spectacles for the depraved public of the Roman Empire. The Evangelists didn’t want to publish a script of Jesus final days which would fit into that blood thirsty atmosphere. If I haven’t seen the Passion movie it has been because I am aware that this blood thirsty atmosphere is still present in our world. Only last year ninety thousands of Christians were killed because of their faith. Ninety thousands of women, children and men who professed their faith in Jesus Christ were martyred. Their life and death witness suffice me more than I can imagine.
            I also believe that the Evangelists didn’t write a horror story because the people of God from the time of Exodus were sacrificing Passover lambs every year in an act of faith in the Messiah who would come into this world with such love for the people that his death was inevitable, people would take advantage of such love. We know that they did. St John the Baptist, who upon seeing Jesus, said: “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world” was given an insight into what was to come. John the Baptist who leaped for joy in the womb of his mother Elizabeth when the Blessed Virgin Mary visited her cousin carrying the Saviour of the world under her heart, once again recognized the fulfilment of the ancient Passover rituals taking place. He sensed the divine love emanating from Jesus which could have no other ending but being taken advantage of.
            My Dear Friends! Jesus didn’t die because he wanted to die. He died because he loved in the way only God can love. In the opening prayer of this Eucharist we prayed: “Almighty ever living God bestow your peace on our times.” The peace we keep praying for is Jesus Christ, who is our peace. As we partake in this Mass at the beginning of the Ordinary Time, which brings back the green color to our celebrations, the color of hope, we will hear again from the priest the words John the Baptist uttered that day when he saw Jesus Christ near the Jordan River: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world, Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” Let us receive the Lord, let us long for him, let us love him for the love he bears for us. His love is perpetuated at every Mass when our Blessed Lord sacrifices for us. He doesn't give us a bloody spectacle which could compete with the production of Mel Gibson but he does give us his love in a very concrete way: his Body and Blood under the species of bread and wine. It was love which led him to do this, may love be the reason we receive this sacrifice, modest in appearance but powerful in its mystery.

            A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a Frenchman beatified by Pope Benedict: Charles de Foucauld, who intrigued by the witness of some Catholics he knew, started praying: “My God, if you exist, allow me to know you!”
            My Dear Sisters and Brothers! The Great Solemnity of Epiphany captures this restlessness of the human heart searching for God. Blessed Charles hasn’t been the only one asking the big question: “Does God exist?” What we celebrate today is the answer to that question.
In the Cambridge Dictionary epiphany is defined as “a moment when you feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you.” The same dictionary also identifies epiphany as “a powerful religious experience.” That day in the late October 1886 when Charles de Foucauld entered the church of St Augustine in Paris and ended up going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation meets the criteria set up by the Cambridge Dictionary as does the visit of the Magi to the Infant Jesus. The Wise Men understood, while they were still in their home country, far away from Bethlehem, that the New Born King of the Jews was very important to them. That’s why they set out for such a long journey. This Child of the Virgin Mary had become the centre of their Universe. The Wise Men, who watched stars and planets, had become like the planets of the Solar System which orbit the Sun. After they saw the star in the East their life trajectory was in relation to the Saviour. St Matthew gives us the story of those men following the star but ultimately the star they followed was the One whom the Bible calls the Rising Star, Jesus Christ. The Rising Star, Jesus Christ is the reason for the arrival to Bethlehem and the reason for them returning to their own country by a different way. They arrived to Bethlehem because the Child was very important to them. They longed to see him. They returned home by a different way because the Child was very important to them. They wanted to protect him. It was their powerful religious experience. But some may ask: “How does it help those who still search for God?” Dear Friends, let’s return to our second reading from the Letter to the Ephesians. St Paul speaks about the mystery “that has been revealed through the Spirit.” Epiphany for us Christians, is the revelation or manifestation of God. What we celebrate today is that God makes the first move to address our unbelief. It was God who gave the sign to the Wise Men first. They made their journey to the City of David because it was revealed to them. God who has become man for us and for our salvation, doesn’t play hide and go seek with us. But as he revealed his Nativity to the shepherds and the Magi, he also reveals himself to us. Should we feel sorry for ourselves that there is no shining star in the sky to help our lack of faith? Not at all. We have been given the Rising Star, Jesus Christ, who revealed himself to Charles de Faucould when a random priest he met at St Augustin church invited him to go to the Reconciliation instead of having a dispute on the existence of God. In that church in Paris there is still a little plaque saying “ici” which means “right here.”
As we contemplate the Matthew passage for this Solemnity of Epiphany we can detect that the Magi were given a revelation of God, that God made his first move which than moved them. However the Magi are not the only people in the story who were given such a revelation. King Herod, his royal court and all the VIPs in Jerusalem were given a divine revelation through the ministry of the Wise Men. God who revealed his Nativity to the Magi directed the star in such a way that the Magi brought the news of the newborn Saviour to Jerusalem. That news kept the Wise Men going but as we remember it didn’t move Herod and his people out of their comfortable living at all. They said No to what was revealed to them because it would challenge their own lifestyle. They didn’t want to be another planet orbiting Jesus. They remained self-focused.
As we are concluding the Christmastide, there is still one day to go, let us ask ourselves whether we are humble enough to appreciate the ways God reveals himself to us. Let us also ask ourselves what or who hinders us from becoming a planet orbiting Jesus Christ, a planet which can tell others that Jesus Christ, our Rising Star is the centre not only our life but the whole Universe. Amen.

Today half (or more) asleep Mass participants, recovering from the exuberant last night celebrations, hear as the very first words of the Holy Scriptures proclaimed on the very first day of the New Year: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face and bring you peace.”
Blessed New Year to you my Dear Sisters and Brothers! The words which I have just quoted are taken from the Book of Numbers, one of the first five Books of the Bible. The words, which we can take as the gift for the coming 365 days of 2017, were the blessing which God the Almighty Father wanted to impart to his people who were still in the desert after leaving the Egyptian slavery. The people were still far away from the Promised Land. In fact most of them would never enter it. But God wanted to bless his people in the most profound and, at the same time, the most intimate way. To do so he chose not Moses who was allowed to speak to the Almighty face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend, but the Almighty chose Aaron. The man, an ordinary man, was to originate the priestly family among the people of God and to perpetuate the experience of God’s closeness and tenderness by blessing the people of God. The Aaron’s blessing, which has been preserved in our Catholic Liturgy too, centres not on prosperity, longevity or lack of trouble but on the privilege which was originally granted only to Moses: to see God face to face. It wasn’t simply human wishing but it was God’s promise. For centuries the descendants of Aaron were blessing their compatriots in this way. For centuries the men and women of Israel treasured, contemplated and longed for the fulfilment of that blessing. The Bible tells us that when Moses was returning to the people after talking to God his face was shining so much that he had to cover it with a veil as the people were frightened to look in his face which reflected the glory of God. They were like people attempting to stare at the sun, it was blinding them. But they still treasured God’s promise to see his countenance. As most of them never entered the Holy Land as all those who heard Aaron blessing them for the first time never saw God’s countenance. Centuries passed until one night some illumination brightened the sky, there weren’t fireworks though, but the glory of God as an angel appeared to the shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem. They were as frightened as the people watching Moses’ face were. But the angel as a good evangeliser directed them to the place where a child was born. There the poor shepherds, who didn’t have a good reputation, were the first, after Mary and Joseph of course, to experience the fulfilment of the Aaron’s blessing. God’s face shone on them. God uncovered his face before them. That moment has been immortalised by Christian artists who depicted the Mother of God giving the first benediction, extending her new born Son Jesus Christ before the shepherds like our priests do when they take a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament to bless people.
The first day of January is observed as the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. The Holy Mother of God stands in our midst at the beginning of the New Year journey, even if some of us are not sure whether it is still a NYE party or already a Church service, and she extends to us her arms with the Holy Child, the God who blesses and keeps us; the God who let his face shine on us and who is gracious to us; the God who has uncovered his face and who has brought us peace.
            Happy New Year brightened by the countenance of our Saviour Jesus Christ.