Epiphany

My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord:

New Star Appears in the Sky … Visitors From Afar Seek Infant King …Judean Monarch Deeply Troubled … Travelers Warned to Return by Another Road.

Any of these could serve as headlines if today’s news reporters were to relate the events recorded in the first twelve verses of chapter two of St. Matthew’s Gospel. And in conventional journalistic style, the first two verses provide us with a strong lead-in – giving us the basic facts and telling us who, what, when, where, and why.

But still we may wonder, just who were these “wise men from the east” led by a star in search of a child “born to be king of the Jews?” Identified in Greek as “magoi,” they may have been astrologers who came from Babylon, Persia, or Arabia. A sign in the heavens initiated their quest for meaning – a quest that led these wise and learned men to the one who would be “greater than Solomon” (Matthew 12:42). By all accounts, they were Gentiles and, according to St. Matthew’s Gospel, were the first to pay homage to the child king.

The Church’s celebration of the Magi’s visit ushers in the Feast of the Epiphany, a Greek term that means “manifestation” or “appearance.” Originally it referred to that period of time following the birth of Jesus in which word was getting around that this newborn baby was, in fact, the Messiah—the Promised One. 

This Feast day truly points us to God’s love for the entire world as revealed or manifested in Christ Jesus and foreshadows Jesus’ command to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19). Epiphany invites everyone to receive God’s precious gift of love as made known to us in God’s beloved Son, Jesus.

It does not seem possible to the people of that Age that this lowly carpenter's son might be the King of Kings. The stories of the Wise Men, John's baptism of Jesus, and Jesus' first miracle when he changed water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana are all epiphanies – occasions when people's eyes were suddenly and unexpectedly opened to see the reality they might otherwise have missed. God has a way of breaking in with a whole new perception of truth and reality. God will not permit us to hang onto fixed, unassailable opinions.

Epiphany is not just something that happened once-and-for-all a long time ago. Epiphanies are sent to us all the time if we are alert to see them. They break through long-held assumptions, challenge too-quickly-made judgments, and open doors that we thought we had slammed shut a long time ago. 

After finding the newborn king, the Magi are warned in a dream not to return to Herod but to return home by another road. As they returned home, one wonders – Did they share the Good News with those they encountered? What unexpected opportunities or “other roads” does God reveal to us? How do we share the Good News of God’s love for all people? Jesus Himself traveled by another road. Though He was a king, He chose the path of a humble servant and, by His suffering and death on a cross and His glorious resurrection, prepared a highway for us where “the redeemed shall walk” (Isaiah 35:9). 

St. Columba, the sixth century Irish monk and missionary who founded the Iona community, authored this beautiful prayer: 

Lord, be a bright flame before me,
Be a guiding star above me,
Be a smooth path below me,
Be a kindly shepherd behind me,
Today and for evermore. Amen.

Let us follow Jesus and arise and shine, for our light has come!

I avail myself of the opportunity to express my sentiments of profound fatherly affection and with every best wish during the Christmas Season, I remain

Yours sincerely in Christ,
 
Reverend Father Robert T. Cooper
Pastor