The Epiphany of the Lord
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany literally means manifestation. It is the feast of the manifestation, the revelation, presentation of Jesus to the world. If this is true, then, is it not truly amazing that the magi saw a mere child and recognized the Divine? Today gospel says that “ they prostrated themselves and did him homage.” If I was one of them, I probably would have been disappointed that the spectacular star had led me only to a mere child. Perhaps, that is why, they, unlike me, are known as three wise magi.
In many ways, I find that the feast of the Epiphany is a very Catholic feast (even though there was not Christianity or Catholicism at the original epiphany). Catholics are familiar with a very similar concept - the sacrament. A sacrament is the “outward sign of an inward reality.” In other words, the divine reality is hidden within human or created realities. Thus, God came to us as a little baby. Similarly, marriage is a sacrament for Catholics because we believe that when two human being pledge their love for each other, it is God’s immense love that is manifested.
I would like to approach today’s feast from the Catholic perspective - from the perspective of a sacrament. Here are my three points for reflection:
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The World Manifests God. The signature line of Christmas is, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” This means that the world has been touched by God like never before. God made this very earth God’s home. God came as a baby, grew among us, loved us, did good, died for us and opened heaven’s doors for us. Our earth has been hallowed like never before. This earth and everything in is sanctified by the child who was born in it, walked on it and gave his everything to it. To the eyes that see, nature and creatures, people and events, goodness and sadness, life and death, all reveal God. Just as a little child and just as a cross both the reveal the divine so does our world reveal God. In our times, the sacredness of the world is brought into sharp focus by Pope Francis in Laudato Si. He says in this encyclical, “…our common home [earth] is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us….” “…This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. The feast of the Epiphany invites us to approach the earth as the magi approached the manger.
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The Human Person: An Epiphany! The Christmas story is the story of God becoming human. And this is important. God did not become a tree, an animal, or a thing. God became a human person. Perhaps, God became human because human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. In other words, the human person is the first sacrament of God. The world is God’s creation; but the human person is a sacrament. This makes the Christmas story very significant. But there is a tragedy in the story. After waiting for centuries, many people who awaited the coming of the Messiah, missed it! They missed it because they were not looking at the human person. They certainly were not looking at the poor, defenseless, powerless and uninfluential human persons. Would God be found in Herod’s palace? Would God be found in the High Priests home? Would God be found in the Temple of Jerusalem? In reality, God was lying defenseless in a manger! God was hanging powerless on the cross. Only those who could look at every human person as a sacrament, saw God in a child and on the cross– the shepherds, the wise men, Jesus mother, the centurion. The lesson simply is this – that we approach every human person as the magi approached the manger.
- Every Eucharist An Epiphany. As we reflect on the feast of the Epiphany as a sacrament, we realize that we are in the midst of a sacrament right now. God is speaking with us in human words. In a few moments we will bring a little bread and and little wine and place them on the altar. Why do we do that? The reason is very simple - because that is what God in Jesus taught us. God taught us to find God in a little baby; God taught us to find God in a mangled body on the cross; and, God taught us to find God in the breaking of the bread. Before Jesus died, he taught us to gather together in his name, to share a meal in his name and to do this in his memory. “This is my body,” he said, and “This is my blood.” We Catholics who think sacramentally find it possible to believe that the bread and wine is a sacrament. Just as the baby was indeed God, just as the body on the cross was God, the bread and wine is also the real presence of the same God. Every Eucharist is an Epiphany. Let us approach this bread and wine in the same way that the wise magi approached the manger.
Like the wise men, let us hurry toward the altar. God awaits us here!
- Fr. Satish Joseph