WASHINGTON, D.C. – His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, was the principal celebrant and homilist at noon Mass in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday, January 8, 2017, the Feast of the Epiphany.
On a day when Christians worldwide commemorate the visitation of the Magi to the Christ Child, Archbishop Broglio was just home from his own travels: a pastoral visit over Advent and the Christmas season with U.S. Military personnel and their families in Bulgaria, Romania, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Reflecting on his long trip, Archbishop Broglio observed that answering God’s call to salvation is itself a journey.
Archbishop Broglio said:
“The Solemnity of the Epiphany obliges us to consider our participation in the journey or pilgrimage of faith, to evaluate our gifts and their use, and to recognize that the call to holiness, so well depicted in a dome of this basilica, is for all.”
Archbishop Broglio noted that for Catholics in the United States, the Feast of the Epiphany marks the beginning of the annual National Migration Week, a time for the Church to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking. The theme for National Migration Week 2017, observed Jan. 8-14, draws attention to Pope Francis’ call to create a culture of encounter, and in doing so to look beyond our own needs and wants to those of others around us.
Archbishop Broglio said:
“I know that my grandparents left Northern Italy at the end of the 19th Century in the search for a better life. Men, women, and children still search for that today. Let us never forget that the Christ Child was obliged to flee, His banner will be the cross, He is a sign of contradiction. We cannot forsake that role, despite the pressure of modern secularism, the dictatorship of relativism, or the temptation to indifference. Bethlehem becomes the new Zion, the universal city of all peoples…
“From the intimacy of Christ and the Church is born the mission of the disciples, which is, among other things, to create unity between people, languages, and races. It is the Word that creates unity between believers of all times. We can gather, because we share the same belief that inspired our ancestors, or because the Lord has called us to Himself—like the Magi of old. In any event, we have been baptized and nourished in that faith.”
Read the full text of Archbishop Broglio’s homily here.
Listen to the homily here.
