In celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany, may the story of the magi be our story as well.

  

EPIPHANY 2021

“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews saying, ‘we saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.’”

In celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany, may the story of the magi be our story as well.  We are today’s magi who come to discover and encounter the Christ child.

The magi symbolize what is restless in the human spirt seeking for a greater depth of meaning and purpose in life.  They left behind what was comfortable and safe and took considerable risk in traveling to another country in search of the Lord.  The magi speak to our restless human spirit seeking to discover the spiritual meaning and longing for that which ultimately satisfies us.

May each of us be in touch with our restless human spirit that is looking for something more in our spiritual journey.  How is the Lord calling us to move beyond our comfort zone and follow a star that will lead us to that deeper relationship with Jesus that we seek?  The grace of Epiphany invites to come to know Jesus in a deeper relationship.

My hunch is that the Lord is placing a star in our life on this Epiphany day that we are to follow.  That star may not be in the sky but possibly be the star that is in the heart of someone you are called to love and to help and to serve.  That star may be in the hearts of the poor who we are called to reach out to.

As a parish community, that star may be in the ways the Lord is calling to collaborate with St Joseph’s so that each parish community can help each other discover the Lord more fully in our lives.

We are also left wondering why we as a Church have failed to be the star that brings more people into our pews.  We all know many former Catholics even family members who no longer belong to the Church.

 

And so, we ask for the grace of seeing the star that the Lord places in our lives that will lead us to a deeper relationship with Him.  Again, this star may not be found in the sky but in the people or the circumstances that are part of your life in the here and the now.

Please note the sharp contrast between the Magi and King Herod in the Epiphany Gospel.   Herod sees the promised child as a threat. He's afraid the coming baby will crimp his style, will challenge his power and lower his status.

The Magi see the promised child as wonderful gift. They've humbled themselves to travel a great distance to a strange culture that speaks a different language, in order to embrace this baby who fulfills God's love.

Herod’s selfishness fueled by his fears leads to his downfall. The Magi's worship of the Christ child leads to the salvation of all the nations. Today more than 2 billion people call themselves Christians, in some way the result of the humility and the seeking spirit of the Magi.

We see the hostility of King Herod to the notion that he would have a rival to his kingship.  Moved by jealousy, he hatched a murderous plot that was foiled by the non-cooperation of the magi.

Before we simply reject the treachery of Herod, we need to acknowledge that there is a Herod within each of us that keeps from following Christ more fully.  What are the demons within us that make more self-centered than Christ-centered?  How radically do I share with those in need?  What keeps me from listening more fully to another’s point of view?  Do I make time for God in the way that I live?

Yes, we all need to confess that we are sinners, and there is a bit of King Herod in all of us.  But thanks be to God, the Bethlehem infant has come to be our Savior and Lord.  We seek the grace of allowing ourselves to be loved by the Christ child.

In our discipleship of the Lord Jesus, we are the magi – seeking to encounter the Lord Jesus more fully in our lives.  In one perspective we are the magi seeking to discover the Lord.  From another perspective we ask who the magi are we are meant to encounter.  Who are the magi?  They may the strangers whom we meet this coming year who have followed a star in search of the Christ child that is within each of us.  May we welcome that strangers with the hospitality that the magi received at the Bethlehem crib.

In celebrating the Feast of the epiphany, we celebrate the Good News of the birth of Jesus breaking out beyond the boundaries of Israel and being made known to all the peoples of the world – to every tribe, and tongue and people and nation.  So, we celebrate the Savior who comes to the Gentiles.  This is symbolized by the three wise men, who came from the East to welcome and worship Him.

It’s revealed that there no outsiders at the Bethlehem crib.  There was no racism.  All were welcome.  Jesus welcomed everyone – the ox and the ass, the shepherds and magi, poor and rich, the Jews and Gentiles.  He came for us all.  He would reject no one, as he would accept the unique gifts of each.

The magi did not come to the Bethlehem empty handed.  The Gospel tells us:  they opened their treasures.  Like the magi, each of us has a treasure to offer the Christ.  The prayerful question we should ask ourselves this Sunday is:  What is it?  What do we have to give?

The magi presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the Christ child.  What gifts do we offer the Christ child?  In our spirit of stewardship, we offer our gifts of time, talent, and treasure.

Notice well, the magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they departed for their country by another way.  Of course, they would return by another route.  Their lives have been changed by their encounter with Jesus.  May we too with God’s grace have our lives changed by our encounter with Jesus.  We cannot go back to our old way of living -- with our fears, our anxieties, our addictions, our grudges, our pettiness.  We are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

A final thought: in the Christmas mystery it is not just the magi who are seekers.  God is a seeker.  We are sought by a God who has become one of us and who hunts us down with His love.  In the Epiphany mystery, we need to allow ourselves to be found by the love of the Christ child.

Have a Blessed Epiphany Day.