I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people

In the days of idols, and to this very day, people pray to the things their hands have made. The idols of old were made of stone, metal, and precious stones. Yet those idols bore nothing for mankind, other than their resemblance to us.

The idols people worship today bear nothing for us. Money cannot buy happiness as the old saying goes. Sex cannot buy relationships. War cannot buy peace. Government cannot assure justice.

The fact is this. Nothing wrought by man can substitute for God. Nothing can fulfill our longing for what is transcendent, what is eternal —“ except for God.

Throughout the centuries people have run about carving idols, worshiping trees, the thunder, the sun and moon, and doing all sorts of things, not because they were primitive or ignorant, but rather because they needed to fulfill the desire of their heart —“ the built-in desire for God.

If God were cruel He would have left us to wonderment only. He would have left us alone in our attempt to figure it all out. But we are blessed and graced because God is good and loving.

In His loving kindness God deigned to come among us and to reveal Himself to us.

We now know God. We begin our prayers and every homily with an acknowledgment of His revelation to us, the Sign of the Cross. We pray in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Today’s Solemnity is a commemoration and celebration of God revealing His identity to us. Today God shows Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

God’s revelation to Isaiah told of the One who was to come:

Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased

In Jesus that prophesy was fulfilled. God, in the person of the Son, came to dwell with us. He showed us what God is like. He taught us how to live God’s way —“ which is very foreign to the way you, I, and the rest of the world live. He told us that God demands repentance. That God heals and that God sets us free from our captivity to the old idols.

Brothers and sisters,

Not only did God show Himself, He set no requirement as to the —kind of people— who could come to Him.

Peter and the other Apostles were devout Jews. God quickly stepped in, to reveal to Peter and the rest, that God is for everyone. Peter goes to meet the gentile Cornelius and his family. He is sent there through God’s message and promptings. When Peter realizes what he has encountered he plainly states:

—In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.—

The Orthodox refer to this Solemnity as the Theophany; the revelation of the Holy Trinity, God —“ Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

After Jesus was baptized,
he came up from the water and behold,
the heavens were opened for him,
and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and coming upon him.
And a voice came from the heavens, saying,
—This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.—

Humanity hears the voice of the Father. Humanity sees the Holy Ghost descending in the form of a dove. Humanity meets the Son.

How blessed we are. How fortunate for us. How loving the God we proclaim and teach.

God in His fullness has been shown to us. Not a mysterious God only known through prophets. Not a god that we have fashioned. Not a God hidden in the mists of time, unrevealed, unknown.

We have God in plain sight.

As the Christmas season draws to a close take this opportunity to rejoice and celebrate. Take this opportunity to renew your commitment to the only living and true God. There is no other God. There is no other form of God.

Here is God revealed. Reform, repent, be reborn, know and love Him, do His will, follow all that He has taught.

Amen.