The holidays are over; and we're getting back to our daily routines. And perhaps we have made a resolution or two for the New Year.
I made one resolution for 2020: to look for epiphanies in God’s universe. Now you may be wondering: what is that? Let me explain. Epiphany is from a Greek word meaning “revelation.” Specifically, the word has come to mean a manifestation of the divine. The nineteenth century Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins phrased it best: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” Sunrises and sunsets, landscapes and waterscapes, furry and feathered creatures and compassionate people—all these and more are a manifestation of the divine. For beneath all appearances lies the reality of an awesome creator God who sustains this multi-faceted universe. That’s one of the great insights St. Francis of Assisi captured in his poem “The Canticle of the Creatures.” Francis saw God's "fingerprints" in all creation.
Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, the revelation of the child Jesus to the magi. These magi were non-Jews, perhaps astrologers or spice traders, who traveled from far away, guided by a sudden illumination of wisdom – a mysterious star -- to pay homage to this Jewish child named Jesus. Yes, Jesus is for all people, all times, the way, the truth and the life.
The Word of God from Isaiah takes us back to the 6th century before Jesus (the 500s), when the Jews lost everything they thought would continue forever: Jerusalem, the Temple, the monarchy. And yet despite this catastrophe, the author here speaks of a new Jerusalem. A divine light will emanate from this new Jerusalem and all people, Jews as well as non-Jews, will acknowledge and walk in this dazzling light.
Christians of course see Jesus as this light who illumines darkness, the light who shows human beings their purpose in life: we are born to manifest the glory or presence of God through who we are, through our time, talents and treasure.
The letter of Paul to the Christian community at Ephesus in Turkey speaks about our future: we are coheirs to God’s promise of eternal life, co-workers in bringing about the kingdom of God, a kingdom of justice, peace, truth and freedom.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, we have all the ingredients of a mystery novel (surely John le Carre could have made a spy novel out of these characters): exotic visitors, a wicked king, court intrigue, a mysterious star, precious gifts and a child, the eternal Word of God made flesh.
Yes, this child in a manger – a feeding trough –will grow into an adult, a suffering Messiah through whose death and resurrection we have eternal life. God will “deify” us—we shall be like God for we shall see God as God is!
The magi here gave homage to the Christ child with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Gold can symbolize royalty, or divinity, the things of God (and the coin of this Child’s heavenly realm are the virtues of compassion, forgiveness and peace). Frankincense with its wonderful fragrance and medicinal magic can symbolize healing (and this Child came to heal our wounds and bridge the chasms that separate us from God and one another). And myrrh or ointment can symbolize a burial embalmment (and this Child through his death/resurrection makes us co-heirs to God’s promise of eternal life).
As we do today in our liturgy of thanks, we bring our gifts of bread and wine to this sacrificial meal table so that God can transform them into the real presence of Jesus Christ.
Now who is this child to whom the magi give their homage? Who is this Jesus to whom we pledge our ultimate allegiance as a worldwide Catholic faith community?
The early Christian community saw Jesus as the fulfillment of the hopes of ancient Israel. They named him the Messiah, the anointed one.
The more they reflected on who he was, the more they saw Jesus as both the fulfillment and the foundation of their hopes. So they called him the eternal Word. The Gospel according to John captures this magnificently in the prologue: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Yes, Jesus is the foundation and fulfillment of our hopes as well.
This Jesus was a real historical person, flesh and blood like ourselves. He experienced, as we do, fatigue, hunger, satisfaction, joy, friendship, disappointment and loneliness.
He was a rabbi, a teacher, a prophet proclaiming that the kingdom of God was breaking into our midst.
He worked signs and wonders that signaled that good ultimately will triumph over evil; he possessed authority to forgive wrongdoings; he promised eternal life.
He had a unique relationship with the God of Ancient Israel; in fact, he is one with God, truly divine yet truly human; but he was crucified and then raised up from the dead; and he is gloriously alive in our midst today especially in the sacramental life of this Catholic faith community.
Jesus taught not only that the kingdom of God was breaking into our midst; but that you and I can share in this kingdom by living a life of discipleship.
How? By recognizing who we are (mere creatures absolutely dependent upon an all good Creator God); by realizing we have a purpose in life; by seeing in Jesus the eternal Word made flesh, the face of God; by encountering the living Christ here and now in word and sacrament; by going forth and reaching out compassionately to the people around us; and by being always ready to let go of our earthly life, in the mystery of death, so that we can have friendship with God forever.
And lastly, Jesus showed us that God is our Father, a compassionate God, always near us at the start of each day to guide us on our journey to our heavenly home.
So on this the feast of the Epiphany or manifestation of God’s presence among us in the Christ child, I invite all of us to rededicate ourselves to Jesus Christ and to ask him to grace us anew at the beginning of this new year, so that we might manifest ever more clearly the divine in our daily lives through our faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity and faithfulness.
And may we in 2020 be ever more attuned to those epiphanies all around us: the manifestations of the divine in all of God’s creations. Amen.
