Feast of Epiphany

Feast of Epiphany

The light that shone in the night at Christmas illuminating the Bethlehem Grotto, (where Mary, Joseph and the shepherds remained in silent adoration), shines out today and is manifested to all. This is called Epiphany which is a mystery of light, symbolically suggested by the star that guided the Magi on their journey (The word Epiphany comes from Greek epiphania, means manifestation, appearance). The true source of light, however, the “sun that rises from on high” (see Lk 1: 78), is Christ. 

Who are Magi? Did you know there were originally 6 Kings, not 3? Only three reached Bethlehem. The 4th went to the USA, the 5th to China, and the 6th to the Philippines. They were: BURGER KING, CHOWKING, and TAPA KING. * * * Joking aside, the Gospel tradition says only they were three, and they were regarded as wisemen; Melcior, Gaspar, and Balthasar. Three originated from different places/traditions/languages; Melchior (old man from the east), Kaspar (young and beardless from Persia) and Balthazar (black-skinned from Africa). Magi were not Jews; they were priests of an Eastern religion who consulted the stars (Zoroastrian priests). They were followers of some kind of pagan religion. Before they set out on their journey to Bethlehem to worship Jesus, they were star-readers but they went on an interior journey. The wise men’s journey of a thousand miles could have taken three months is really a symbol of the inward journey they made in their hearts, a journey from paganism to belief in Jesus as the Savior of the world. 

1. Searching Jesus: These wise men who set out towards the unknown were, in any event, men with a restless heart. Men are driven by a restless quest for God and the salvation of the world. They were filled with expectation, not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in society. They were looking for something greater. They were no doubt learned men, quite knowledgeable about the heavens and probably possessed of a fine philosophical formation. But they desired more than simply knowledge about things. They wanted above all else to know what is essential. They wanted to know if God exists, and where and how he exists. Whether he is concerned about us and how we can encounter him. Nor did they want just to know. Their outward pilgrimage was an expression of their inward journey, the inner pilgrimage of their hearts. They were men who sought God and were ultimately on the way towards him. They were seekers after God. Scientists became spiritual persons, philosophers became persons of faith. 

Faith’s inner pilgrimage towards God occurs above all in prayer. Saint Augustine once said that prayer is ultimately nothing more than the realization and radicalization of our yearning for God. Instead of “yearning”, we could also translate the word as “restlessness” and say that prayer would detach us from our false security. The religious, as a pilgrim of God, must be above all a man of prayer. He must be in constant inner contact with God; his soul must be open wide to God. 

2. Offering Jesus: Magi are the people did not go to Jesus with empty hands. Something they carry; gold, incense and Myrrh. The magi open their treasure chests and offer the child their gifts. They offered Jesus their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These things were used (in Arabia Saudi, Somalia) primarily in the cult but also for magical practices, at wedding ceremonies, for cosmetic purposes, and as seasoning or medication. These costly gifts have an allegorical/symbolic meaning: gold honors Jesus’ kingship, incense his divinity, myrrh his sacred humanity that was to experience death and burial. Their worship recognized the divinity of Jesus. 

3. Worshipping Jesus: Why did the magi from the east go to visit Child Jesus? Because he is a king, and messiah of the Jews. They want to adore the Lord. It was enough for them to predict and know He is the Messiah. We need to worship the Lord who is at the manger. 

Verse 11 is the high point of the legend; they prostrated and worshipped him. there is another catchword “pay homage/worship”. Προσκυνέω: What is meant is veneration in the form of falling on one’s face that according to Greek understanding is due to gods, and according to Near Eastern understanding is also befitting superior persons, especially kings. Matthew has a conscious and pointed usage. Proskynesis is directed almost exclusively to Jesus, and it is done by supplicants and disciples especially to the exalted one (προσκυνέω designates the appropriate attitude toward the risen Lord. The proskynesis of the magi directs the readers’ attention to the majesty of Christ, the son of David (1:1), the Son of God (cf. 1:21; 2:15), and the Immanuel Jesus. It makes the Gentile magi and their own attitude toward the Lord Christ.

The Wise Men followed the star, and thus came to Jesus, to the great Light which enlightens everyone coming into this world (cf. Jn 1:9). As pilgrims of faith, the Wise Men themselves became stars shining in the firmament of history and they show us the way. The saints are God’s true constellations, which light up the nights of this world. Saint Paul, told his faithful that they must shine like stars in the world (cf. Phil 2:15).

Your renewal can be seen as a journey guided by the light of a “star”, the star of faith. “Open wide your hearts to God!”, I said to them, and today I repeat to all of you, “Let yourselves be surprised by Christ!... Open the doors of your freedom to his merciful love! Share your joys and pains with Christ, and let him enlighten your minds with his light and touch your hearts with his grace” 

If you live with Christ, bound to him anew in this sacrament, then you too will become wise men. Then you will become stars which go before men and women, pointing out to them the right path in life. I am here now praying for you, that the Lord may fill you with the light of faith and love. That that restlessness of God for man may seize you, so that all may experience his closeness and receive the gift of his joy. We are praying for you, that the Lord may always grant you the courage and humility of faith. We ask Mary, who showed to the Wise Men the new King of the world (cf. Mt 2:11), as a loving mother, to show Jesus Christ also to you and to help you to be guided along the way which leads to him. Amen.

The shepherds, together with Mary and Joseph, represent that “remnant of Israel”, the poor, the anawim, to whom the Good News was proclaimed. Finally, Christ’s brightness shines out, reaching the Magi who are the first-fruits of the pagan peoples. Like the shepherds, who as the first visitors to the newborn Child in the manger, embodied the poor of Israel and more generally those humble souls who live in deep interior closeness to Jesus, so the men from the East embody the world of the peoples, the Church of the Gentiles – the men and women who in every age set out on the way which leads to the Child of Bethlehem, to offer him homage as the Son of God and to bow down before him. 

The Magi worshipped a simple Child in the arms of his Mother Mary, because in him they recognized the source of the twofold light that had guided them: the light of the star and the light of the Scriptures. In him they recognized the King of the Jews, the glory of Israel, but also the King of all the peoples.

This is the mystery of the Church and her missionary dimension are also revealed in the liturgical context of the Epiphany. 

What do the disciples of Christ must do?:  trained by him to live in the way of the Beatitudes, they must attract all people to God through a witness of love: “In the same way, your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your deeds and give praise to your heavenly Father” (Mt 5: 16).  The Church is holy, but made up of men and women with their limitations and errors. It is Christ, Christ alone, who in giving us the Holy Spirit is able to transform our misery and constantly renew us. He is the light of the peoples, the lumen gentium, who has chosen to illumine the world through his Church (LG)