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| Adoration of the Magi by Rubens |
Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, the revelation of the child Jesus to the magi. These were non-Jews, 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, our way, our truth and our life.
The Word of God from Isaiah takes us back to the 6th century before Jesus, when the Jews lost everything they thought would continue forever. Yet the author speaks of a new Jerusalem. A divine light will emanate and people will acknowledge and walk by this dazzling light. Christians of course see Jesus as this light who shows human beings their purpose: to manifest the glory/presence of God.
The letter of Paul to the Ephesians speaks about our future: we are coheirs to God’s promise of eternal life, co-workers in bringing about the kingdom of God.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, we have all the ingredients of a great mystery novel: exotic visitors, a wicked king, a mysterious star, precious gifts and a new child. The Word of God became flesh so that God can transform our earthly self into an indescribable, heavenly self.
Yes, this child in a manger – a feeding trough –will become an adult, a suffering Messiah, who through his death/resurrection we have eternal life. And He will “deify” us—we shall be like God and we shall see God as God is!
The magi gave homage to the Christ child with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
In our liturgy of thanks, we bring our gifts of bread and wine, and yes, our very selves, to this sacrificial meal so that God can transform them into the real presence of Jesus Christ.
Now who is this Jesus to whom we pledge our ultimate allegiance as a worldwide 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: The Word was with God and the Word was God.
Yes, Jesus is the foundation and fulfillment of our hopes as well. He was a real historical person. He experienced, as we do, joy, fatigue, friendship, disappointment and loneliness.
He was a prophet proclaiming that good ultimately will triumph over evil.
He is one with God, truly divine yet truly human; he is gloriously alive in our midst today especially in the sacramental life of our 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 bringing this kingdom forth by living a life of discipleship.
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, I invite all of us to rededicate ourselves to Jesus, 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.
