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The Epiphany of the Lord, Year B, January 7, 2018, by Fr. Kevin Anderson

You know we live in a society that does not want to be uncomfortable.  We don’t want to face anything painful.  But the truth is that every one of us has faced issues of pain . . . whether that be emotional pain, spiritual pain or physical pain.  Sometimes we even have a wound or a “trigger point” from that pain.

 

And often we have a scar from our experience of being wounded [Reveal poster size letters of S – C – A – R].  It could be an actual physical scar on your body.  But it could also be an emotional scar, such as not being able to trust a new relationship, or a new friend. Maybe it’s a cycle of depression that occurs at a certain time each year.  Or a spiritual scar wondering if God has forgotten about you. 

 

Not only can individuals have a scar but a family can have a scar, even a large group of people can have one also.  Now, I am not referring to the emotional scar that we Minnesotans feel after losing 4 Super Bowls . . . as some folks are already negative about the Vikings playoff hopes.  I am talking about something deeper.  Like the scar that our country has treated people with dark skin, going back to slavery in the 1800’s.  Or the scar we felt after the horrendous hurricanes of late, with so many lives lost and homes destroyed.     

 

Well there are many things occurring in our country today, that could be considered . . . painful, wounding or leaving a scar.  Yet, the US Catholic Bishops have asked all the parishes in the whole country to look at one scar we carry . . . i.e. our attitude towards those people from other countries who want to live here in the USA.    

 

Here is a quote from Our Sunday Visitor, “With a massive overhaul to the nation’s immigration policies underway, leaders and organizations within the Church have reiterated that immigrants are our brothers and sisters, deserving dignity, compassion and support.”

 

Specifically the Bishops want us to grapple with the decision to terminate the provision that children who were born in the USA, but have parents who are illegal immigrants.  The provision is called DACA (Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals).  It is scheduled to end in March unless Congress passes legislation to preserve it.  The decision to terminate this provision was met with outrage by our nation’s bishops.   

 

As Bishop Don Kettler wrote to us priests about the issue recently, he wrote, “An estimated 800,000 young people have received and benefited from the DACA program.  The program protects youth who were brought to this country by undocumented parents.  For most of these young people, the US is the only home they’ve known.  They contribute positively in so many ways to our communities and our parishes.”

 

So what do we do?

 

That’s where this feast day comes in.  The astrologers from the East.  They were foreigners themselves.  And later on in Matthew’s gospel, we hear how the Holy Family migrated to Egypt.   The magi (and notice the scripture does not say that their were three of them, or even call them kings.  They were magi, noble people.  They had questions and concerns about life and finding a king.  They may even have had scars that they carried.  Well they trusted God.  That is to put on a big “T” [Replace the letter “C” in Scar to a “T,” hence Star] in their lives and the scar becomes a star.

 

I know that for myself when I think back to the wounds that I have carried (as awful as they were) I learned from them and grew.  In some ways, those painful areas of my life have become my best teachers.  Things that I thought would “kill me” were actually areas for growth.  The scar changed.

 

Think back to our country and issues of scarring.  Our treatment of blacks has led to an end of slavery has led folks to stand up and fight for Civil Rights and the dignity of all people.  With the scar of hurricanes, people got involved, donating and pitching in to help one another.

 

Well we have another opportunity to turn a scar into a star.  The US Catholic Bishops have asked that we fill out a postcard to be sent to legislators in support of extending the DREAM Act legislation.”

 

Again, from Bishop Kettler, “The DREAM Act would allow these young people to continue to work and study here, and to be protected from deportation and separation from their families.  It would give qualifying immigrants ‘conditional permanent resident status’ and a path to full lawful permanent residence and eventual citizenship.”

 

We are in a messy time and many of us don’t know what the best direction is.  But dignity, compassion and support to immigrants are core principals from Catholic Social Teaching (which included the teachings of Jesus, down to the ages of Catholic Doctrines right up to the full support of Pope Francis.)

 

Maybe this is a time again, like the wise men, that we can follow the star . . . to trust God and to change the scars we have into something else.

 

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