January 4, 2026

Dear Parishioners,

Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, our second reading today on this Feast of the Epiphany, says this: “The mystery was made known to me by revelation” (Ephesians 3:3). That line doesn’t seem like a big deal. Or, if it’s a big deal, it’s because of what Paul says following it, that the revelation is that “the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body.” Let me start by providing the conventional wisdom on why this is a big deal, and then give you my own personal take on why this is a big deal different from the conventional wisdom.

The conventional wisdom says Paul’s revelation about the Gentiles being coheirs is a big deal because this was a radical shift in the Israelite mentality. Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews, non-Israelites) were not only not different and unwelcomed into the nation of Israel, they were seen as enemies and threats. There was no effort to evangelize Gentiles; that is, to try to convert non-Jews to Judaism. If anything, Israelites tried to keep the Gentiles at a distance, for fear that they would corrupt the pure practice of the faith. The Old Testament is filled with warnings and lessons about how this happened. Israel was destroyed when it strayed from God, and it strayed from God because the Jews followed the ways of the pagans. Thus, the pagans needed to be kept at bay.

Saint Paul changes all this (or, I guess you could say Christ does…and Paul follows Christ). Gentiles are to be welcomed. More so, Gentiles are needed. The Gentile ethos brings an important reality and purifying element to Israel. The Gentiles, who love the world and enjoy life, break Israel out of their provincial, unhealthy, and repressed mindset. For, you see, there was a constant pall over ancient Israel. The faith wasn’t really uplifting and cheerful. Bloody sacrifices in the temple, stonings, fierce religious authorities all made Judaism a pretty bleak religion. This is why Jesus was such a shock to the system. He was happy, free, peaceful, and optimistic. The prophets of the Old Testament constantly testified to this—that the hills will leap for joy and the radiance of the people will shine anew. They prophesied about this light because they were living in such darkness. The Gentiles were able to help bring some light into Israel.

Now, the Gentiles weren’t perfect themselves and needed corralling by the Israelites/St. Paul. They perhaps loved the world and enjoyed life a little too much, forgetting that there is something better in store ahead of them. Christianity was able to harness that Gentile joy and vitality. Be that as it may, the Gentiles still brought a beautiful element to the faith. Look at the three magi. They bring gifts—gold, frankincense, myrrh. These were nice things. They didn’t bring something drab and depressing.

At any rate, that was a long introduction and way of saying that this is why Paul’s line about the mystery being made known that the Gentiles are coheirs is thought to be a big deal. Paul introduced a totally revolutionary concept that Israel wasn’t perfect and needed Gentile influence.

We could stop there, but what strikes me as the big deal about Paul’s line is that Paul is acknowledging that to him personally this truth was made known by God. How do truths become known? Thomas Aquinas, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and other great thinkers all “discovered” truths, it could be argued, by their mental capacity. They reasoned through ideas, worked out equations, experimented and eliminated fallacies. It was through some effort.

But with Paul it was something different. Paul was a great thinker, make no mistake, and he did figure a lot of things out through his own mental and spiritual capacities. But this was a truth that was revealed to him by God. He didn’t figure this one out on his own. Just like Moses received the Ten Commandments from God and didn’t make them up based off common sense or intuition of the natural law, Paul was given this teaching directly from heaven.

That tells me how special St. Paul was. He wasn’t just a random guy who happened to be standing at the right place at the right time. More than having a great brain, Paul had a great heart. God entrusted God’s mystery to Paul. God’s mystery is something very sacred, very personal, very intimate to God. Just like you wouldn’t give away your “secret” to any random person, God wouldn’t give it to someone who didn’t have a heart capacity to receive the secret and reciprocate in love. Paul could do this. Like Moses, Paul was more than a charismatic or capable leader. Paul was a great lover, a true saint. He received God’s heart and then did God’s work, bringing people into communion with the Father.

This is profound because it sets a model for us. If the Gentiles are coheirs, then we are coheirs too. We too can receive the mystery. God wants to communicate his heart, his secret, to us.

There is so much more to know about God, so much more to know about ourselves and the human condition. We’ve learned a lot in 2,000 years, but we’ve barely scratched the surface. The floodgates of heaven are ready to open and reveal more of the heart of God. The question is, who can receive it? Are our hearts ready for this? Do we desire to be loved by God and love him in return?

I pray we are. That is my desire for this new year, for myself and for you and for the leaders in our Church. I pray that we may have loving and authentic hearts, more than capable brains. I pray that we can receive the mystery that God desires to reveal to us and allow that light to break open anew all over the world.

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Happy New Year. I hope you all have enjoyed your holiday break and feel refreshed to start the new year. I pray that 2026 is a good and happy year for you all.

At the Masses this weekend you will find blessed chalk and a handout at the church exits. It has been a tradition in the Catholic Church on the Epiphany to bless homes. The home blessing can be done as follows: Using the blessed chalk, mark the current year and the initials of the Maji above the outside doorways of your home. Place a cross between each of the letters. It should look something like this: 20+C+M+B+XX (XX =last two digits of current year). After completing the above markings, pray the following prayer: May all who come to our home this year rejoice to find Christ living among us; and may we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, that same Jesus who is Lord of all people, forever and ever. Amen. The legendary names of the three Maji are: Casper, Melchior, and Balthasar. The initials C+M+B also stand for the Latin words, “Christus Mansionem Benedicat” which means: “May Christ bless this dwelling.” The markings over the doors should be left all year round as a sign that yours is a Christian home. May you enjoy peace in your home throughout the year.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James Wallace