My friends in Christ, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany, and for this unique Christmas-season celebration, Sacred Scripture places great emphasis on the theme of “light.” The Prophet Isaiah, for example, offers incredible consolation for Jerusalem; “rise in splendor…. Your light has come,” and “nations shall walk by your light.” And of course, the famous story from the Gospel narrative of Saint Matthew: the Magi finding the Christ Child by the mysterious light of a mysterious star. In his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul tells of the great mystery of Christ being made known to him by revelation – the mystery of Christ, as it were, brought to light. Light, indeed, is a most important theme in Sacred Scripture; after all, light was the very first thing that God created when Creation began: “Let there be light.” So, light is an important biblical theme – not only in the literal sense…but in the allegorical sense as well. Discover where the imagery of light is employed through Sacred Scripture; it symbolizes sight…insight…wisdom. Ultimately, it symbolizes the glory of God in all of its blessed and holy perfection. From the Book of Revelation: the souls of the just will live with God in the new Jerusalem forever and ever, and there, “night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light.” Even the very name of our celebration today – “Epiphany” – is an allusion to this theme of light; generally-speaking, the word “epiphany” means “moment of sudden insight or revelation.” I already mentioned how light, in Sacred Scripture, symbolizes insight; this day celebrates the insight of the Magi and the story of their encounter with the Christ Child; and I propose that this day also celebrates our own insight, our own story, our own precious encounter with Jesus. Because the entire story of that first Christmas (and our annual celebration of Christmas) is not only the story of the Incarnation – the human birth of the divine Lord. It is also the story of a soul – our souls – and our own yearning for and pilgrim’s journey toward Christ the Lord. Because the Magi sought the Christ Child from hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of miles away…having traversed afar through field and fountain, moor and mountain. And we…we, too, seek the Lord – through the passage of time, the living of life, with days, months, years, our whole lives devoted in faith and prayer – constantly seeking the Lord while He may be found. The Magi suffered the hardship of difficult travel over all kinds of terrain; we, too, suffer hardships – hardships of spiritual anguish, confusion, loss, doubt, and despair. But despite the hardships which the Magi surely suffered, they persevered, and they found the splendor of the Lord shining for all the world to see; and we, too, when we persevere, are given new hope and are truly blessed to behold the splendor of the Lord shining for all our souls to see. This story of our souls sometimes arrives at the happy ending of our souls finding the Lord right where the Lord wills to be found: in our hearts; in our lives of faith, celebrated in the Church; in our lives of faith, lived out and put into practice through our moral living out there in the world. But sometimes, the story of the soul arrives at dark places, where a soul seeking desperately to satisfy that profound longing for something – for that great and mysterious we-know-not-what, which is the object of our every wish and desire – finds instead not God but in fact anything but God. We know the usual suspects, of course – the common snares that trap souls looking to fill God-shaped holes in empty lives with things that are not God: drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography – all vices that quickly devolve from mere “bad habits” to full-blown addictions. People look to other things, too, of course – more “normal” things which, though normal, are nonetheless made into idols and thus become not something that we control but rather what controls us: video games, social media, television – activities and gadgetry that distract us with artificial bliss as we while away our lives by ignoring the one and only thing that can ever possibly fill that God-shaped hole in our lives: God. But the story of our souls hopefully will always be the story of the Magi: a constant yearning to seek the Lord Himself – Christ above all else…Christ and no other…Christ and Him alone. It is Christ Whom the Magi sought, Whom the Magi found. And the Magi certainly could have left well enough alone. They easily could have abandoned themselves completely to the distractions of their own wealthy, comfortable lives. After all, why traverse afar, through all kinds of dreadful terrain, in all kinds of climate and weather – why do all of that…just to find some random Child in some small po-dunk town in a desert when they already had all that they could ever possibly want – being kings and all, wealthy and comfortable? And yet…they did it anyway. Because for all of their wealth and comfort, they knew that they had a great yearning for something – for the great and mysterious weknow-not-what; and they knew that the God-shaped hole in their lives can only be filled with God. And that is the story of the soul, of our souls. And note that God willed to be found by the Magi, by the shepherds, by all of us…in the little town of Bethlehem – a Jewish word meaning “the house of bread.” A house of bread for the Bread of Life. A house of bread for Him Who gives of Himself to us in the Eucharist. Such wondrous providence! What a marvel for us that the story of the Magi, the story of our souls, should feature our holy yearning, our constant seeking, to have the God-shaped hole in our lives be filled with God…that this yearning would be satisfied, our seeking come to the end…at the house of bread…in the Eucharist. For the Eucharist is Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is God – the one, true God Whom we seek and Who alone satisfies our holy yearning. If we truly do desire for our every longing for happiness to be fulfilled, then seek the Lord; and if we truly do seek the Lord, then look no further than the Eucharist, the Bread of Life: Christ the Lord – born for us on Christmas day; glorified by the angels and the heavenly host; received by the shepherds; found by the Magi and – hopefully! – our own souls. Seek the Lord, behold the Lord, and give yourselves again – pledge yourselves anew – only to the Lord and to Him alone. And just as the Magi offered Him those famous gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, so we offer Him gifts of the gold of our sacred love for Him, the frankincense of our constant prayers to Him, the myrrh of our sorrows and sufferings for Him – the gold of love for the grace and mercy that He has given us, the frankincense of prayer for the joys and bliss of life everlasting which He has prepared for us, and the myrrh of the sorrow for sins committed and the sufferings endured, for the greater glory of God. For the story of our souls – our own pilgrim’s journey of faith here on Earth – really only has but one happy ending: our own happiness (the fulfillment of our deepest desire), which can only be had in Christ the Lord and in Him alone. “Seek the Lord,” therefore, “while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” Strive to have that God-shaped hole filled with God alone. And may it be that this, our holy endeavor, will be richly rewarded with life eternal in halls of heavenly realms where the angels sing glory and the saints rejoice…where our souls finally will find rest…and where God alone, forever and ever, is given praise. Praised by Jesus Christ, now and forever