Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
Br. Lary Pierce, OHC
RCL - Epiphany A - Sunday 06 January 2008
Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
Today is the feast of the Epiphany. An Epiphany is a showing forth or a manifestation. Today we celebrate God’s showing forth God’s glory to the whole world, not just to Bethlehem or to Israel. To many the story of the Three Wise Men is just a myth. If you belong to the Joseph Campbell School of Theology, myths are pretty important in that they teach great truths. One of the commentators I read said that only an artist could effectively teach the meaning of this story, and I expect that each of us has seen many great paintings of the Adoration of the Magi. The question this brings up for me is where have I seen paintings in which the glory of God has shown forth.
I have seen many of them. I think that paintings can teach great truths and, they can elucidate great mysteries. To illustrate this I remember two paintings from Mt. Calvary. Both of them are by nineteenth century Mexican artists. One of them hangs in the galleria. It is a symbolic representation of the Godhead. It contains four faces arranged in a diamond shaped pattern. They are the Father, with a beard, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the fourth face, at the bottom of the diamond is the Virgin Mary. They all have the same face. I find it a strange and interesting painting. The second used to be in the refectory picture depicts a Capuchin friar adoring a mystical vision of the Virgin and Child. Again, they all have the same face. I think the teaching here has to do with the spiritual identity of God and the believer, that is the reality of the image and likeness of God in the soul of the believer. These are images that invite a good deal of meditation.
Today’s gospel reminds me of an art show I once attended in Toronto. I worked at St. Mathias’ Church. Br. Richard Vaggione was the priest in charge. A well known artist was a member of that parish. She didn’t come to church much, maybe two or three times a year, and I do not remember her name; let’s call her “Jane.” Jane did in her own way love St. Mathias; she said it was just like a little English country church. I remember one pleasant summer day she came to the Church bazaar a donated a bunch of posters she had made for a movie. She said, “I suppose these will be more valuable if I sign them.” She did, and I bought one for ten or twenty dollars. I had in my room for a long time. I think I left it at Mt. Calvary when I left there in 1994.
Jane was the first woman to have a retrospective art show at the Ontario Art Gallery. She asked Richard to bless the show before it opened. I wanted to see the show so I asked Richard if I could come along and he had me to carry the Holy Water bucket for aspurges. As we entered the art gallery he remarked that the blessing would take care of any demonic element that might be present. One of the first pictures we saw was a sort of comic strip which displayed Jane and her boy friend being very naughty. There were lots of paintings. One of them was of Hildegard of Bingen. It was an impressionistic sort of painting which showed Hildegard peering through a lot of greenery. Interestingly the Hildegard’s face was Jane’s face, the same one as in the comic strip. The third picture I remember showed the Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt. Joseph on foot leads a donkey on which Mary holding the infant Jesus is seated. There is an angel over head guiding and protecting the Holy Family on their journey. The angel has Jane’s face. I think that Jane was saying something about the image and likeness of God in her inner being. Maybe Jane Identified with Hildegard of Bingen. Maybe she saw herself as an angel guardian of the Holy Family. I think the glory of God glowed in her art. They say that all great art is ambiguous.
So what does this have to do with the Magi? I think that each of us is a Magus. Sometimes I think that God gives me the wisdom to see God’s glory shining forth in creation. I saw God’s glory shining in Jane, in her paintings, and in her asking Richard to bless her show. I see God’s glory right here in our monastery. I see it in our ministry of hospitality, especially to people who come here the busy, crowded cities nearby. I see it in Jim’s work with the homeless, in Bernard’s spiritual direction, in Randy’s bookstore and in his chili. I think that each of us is one of the Magi or a journey which takes us far from home to our true home, which is God.
One more profound truth of this myth, if it is a myth, is that in the course of our journey each of us encounters evil, just as the Magi encountered Herod the Great. Herod was just about as evil as human beings get. One Roman wit remarked after he rather be Herod’s pig than his son. Herod killed at least three of his sons. The thought was that since at least officially Herod did not eat pork, he might not kill his pig. Be like the Magi, when you encounter evil, recognize it; do not change course. Follow your star to see the glory of God, then heed God’s warning; go home a different way. I think that God does speak through myths and through art, and sometimes the message is not mysterious at all.
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