FEAST OF EPIPHANY

Mathew 2:1-12 (Visit of the Magi)

We continue the celebration of Christmas with the celebration of the Solemnity of the Epiphany. This is one of the most important celebrations of the Church year. The Feast of the Epiphany is the oldest in the Liturgical Calendar after Easter and Pentecost and Epiphany was celebrated long before even Christmas itself came to be regarded as a feast. Greek Orthodox churches place a greater emphasis on the Epiphany than on the Nativity.

The word Epiphany literally means manifestation and refers to the appearance or making known of Christ. Of course, in the beginning the feast was about the several manifestations of Christ: his first coming into the world, his being made known to the Shepherds, his manifestation to the Wise Men from the East, and it included even the Father announcing who he was at his Baptism by John, as well as the demonstration of his power in his First Miracle at the Marriage Feast of Cana. But as the Feast of Christmas and the other feasts gradually came to be separated over time, the Epiphany centred on the manifestation of Christ to the Magi —in other words to the Gentiles.

The three wise men - kings! traditionally known as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh! What courage and perseverance those strangers showed, to brave the dangers of travel, skepticism, and political intrigue. But they found what they were looking for. That star gave trustworthy guidance and now triumphantly shone as guard over the lowly dwelling wherein rested the child who possessed all meaning. They fell to their knees in homage, for their learning had made them humble, and their wisdom led them to recognize the Divine in the fragile flesh of a child.

In the story of the Magi, Matthew wants us to recognize in Jesus the new Solomon, whose reputation for wisdom was legendary. He too received a visitor from the East, the Queen of Sheba, who was said to have been “breathless” as she marveled at his wisdom and wealth (1 Kings 10:1-13).
This Epiphany story is, therefore, a celebration of the wisdom represented by Jesus--in his person and in his message. It is an unpretentious wisdom, because it is embodied in a tiny child, but it is in fact the only wisdom that will ultimately survive.

Jesus offers a radically different kind of wisdom, which declares that all forms of power must be in the service of love and that true success should be measured in terms of who has been liberated by unselfish love from the bondage of fear, guilt, low self-esteem and the like. Our real power is our freedom, and it is very tempting to use that freedom to dominate and control others.

True wisdom consists in letting God guide us. The magi let God lead them. And their journey was not merely a journey by land but it was also a journey of faith. And God revealed himself to them in the person of the Child Jesus.

In one way or another the same thing has happened to each one of us. God leads us on a journey of faith and he reveals himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. But this doesn’t just happen once. It happens again and again in our lives. There are a whole series of Epiphanies awaiting us if we only co-operate with God and let him lead us.

Some times what we started off as certainty and firmness of faith can with the vicissitudes of life easily fade away into disinterest and laxity. The magi also lost the star when they entered the palace. What we need then is re-conversion, what we need to do is to look for that star once more.

Hidden under one form or another there is always a star glittering out there in the darkness. If we constantly look for that star and follow where God leads us again and again we will encounter Christ in all sorts of different disguises until one day we meet him face to face and the door is ultimately opened for us to live with him forever.

Why did Herod try to destroy Jesus while the Magi, the wise kings worshipped him? The difference can be summed up in one word: humility. Herod lacked humility; the Magi had it. We don't know what happened to the Magi, but we do know where Herod's lack of humility landed him.
He spent his life trying to keep everything under his control. He became a very suspicious man: he ended up murdering his own wife and three of his sons, because he thought they were plotting against him. In fact, his whole life was a series of violent, horrible crimes. His tyrannical fear of losing control eventually made him universally hated, even by his closest collaborators. As he lay dying, he ordered a thousand of his best servants and ministers to be led into a stadium and slaughtered, because he wanted to be sure there was mourning and sadness in his kingdom upon his death.
Joseph Stalin, the equally bloody tyrant of early Soviet Russia, followed a similar path. He climbed the ladder of success by lying, double-crossing, and murdering. And once he had reached the top, he systematically eliminated all potential rivals. But soon he began to think everyone was a potential rival. He sent his best friends to concentration camps in Siberia. He became so suspicious of plots against him that he slept in a different corner of his house every night. He too died a fearful, miserable, half-crazed man.
These are extreme cases. But they show us the truth: you and I are not God. God is God. We are not meant to control everything; we are meant to humbly follow Christ, to trust him, to kneel before him, like the Magi, and say with our lives, "Thy will be done, not mine; thy Kingdom come; not mine." Only then will our lives become as fulfilling as we know they should be.
The Wise Men offer gifts to Jesus because they recognize that the humble wisdom of Jesus eclipses all forms of merely human wisdom.

We are called to live in such a way that our Christianity shines through every aspect of our lives. We come before the Lord to worship Him in Word and Eucharist. We serve the Lord’s presence in others, and reach out to those who have needs by working in the various ministries of our parish .

Our Christianity was not given to us to be kept hidden. Our faith is a gift we are entrusted with for others. Actually, there is no such thing as a secret Christian. Christ was manifested to all people. There is no secret involved. We should be showoffs for the Lord. The feast of Epiphany is God's work of Gospel globalization revealing his Son to all peoples of all nations and races. God needs modern "stars" that will bring our sisters and brothers to Christ, Savior of all peoples and nations. By the good example of our lives let’s be the "magi" for our world today.