Happy New Year 2010! We begin a new decade of the Third Millennium.  Where did the years go? The talking heads of the media have given us many words of analysis. The first years of the 2000's have been momentous.

The attack of 2001, the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the election of an African-American President, the death of Pope John Paul II, the scandal of clergy abuse of children, the decade of three bishops for the diocese of Oakland, the building of a new cathedral, a new pastor for this parish, the retrofitting of our parish buildings - all of these things have affected our world: international, national, and local. During this decade the internet and mobile phones have revolutionized the way we do business and socialize. Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and fires have ravaged parts of our world. It has been a time of great change. Some of these changes will affect us for years.

This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. The visit of the Three Wise Men symbolizes the revelation of Jesus to the whole world. The light of Christ has shone in the darkness. It did not stop shining during the past decade, even on the cloudiest days. But it may take the wisdom of the Wise Men to discern where God was, when God sometimes seemed to be hiding.

The Wise Men followed a star. They did not give up until they found what they were looking for. We have to imitate their perseverance. Our star is faith. We have to hold fast to our faith through the dark times. We have to keep going. Faith does not take away the problems. It does help us walk through them.

It is difficult enough to keep believing when things go wrong in the secular world. It is even more difficult to hold on to faith when things in the Church go bad.  The Body of Christ bears many scars from things that went wrong in the past. The splintering of the Church into many denominations is one such scar. We will be praying for the healing of those wounds during the Church Unity Octave starting January 18. The body of Christ on the Cross bore many scars. Many who had followed Jesus ran away when Christ's broken body was on view. The testimony of Mark's Gospel, however, remains. The centurion, looking on the crucified Jesus and seeing the way he died, was still able to say: This man was the Son of God.

St. Paul tells us that the God's wisdom is foolishness to human beings. The wisdom of the Wise Men sees light in darkness. We who look on the tragedies of the world with eyes of faith still see God's unquenched love and providential plan. We do not always see where God is leading us or what God is doing. We continue to walk in faith, confident that we will find Christ at our destination.

We thank the Lord for the gift of that faith, for the treasure of that wisdom.