The Epiphany of the Lord
I am saying this on a humorous yet serious note – Advent makes a real, hardcore, and uncompromising demand on children. Children have been taught that to receive their cherished gifts they must behave well. And they do! Miraculously, children remain single-mindedly focused during Advent. Like the star that guided the magi, children’s life is guided by “the gifts.” The month before Christmas is God’s gift to parents!
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. Just like Advent makes a serious demand on children, epiphany makes a serious demand on us. Like children during Advent, Epiphany invites us to stay focused for the rest of the liturgical year. I would like to reflect on Epiphany more than as a single event where three wise men/kings brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Here are three demands that Epiphany makes on us:
- “Your light has come!” On the most basic level, Epiphany is God’s revelation to the world. On Epiphany, Jesus was revealed to the whole world as her Savior! As Isaiah says in today’s first, reading, “You light has come!” (Is 10:1). Isaiah, further prophecies, “Nations shall walk by your light!” (Is 60:3). Jesus is the light! On the feast of the Epiphany, Jesus, the “light” was revealed to the whole world. It is as if the whole world was in darkness and a lone candle was burning. That light was Jesus. How is Jesus the light? In a very dark world, Jesus revealed God to the world. Human beings set their eyes on God. Human being saw God’s face. Human beings touched God. Human beings experienced God’s love. But that was not all. As Epiphany revealed God, it also revealed our own selves. Jesus revealed who God created human beings to be; what God created the world to be. He showed us our real selves, our true identity, our true worth. Redemption and salvation lay in coming to Jesus like the magi did. Tragically, how different that story must be told today! Since then, Jesus was rejected. Human beings killed her Savoir. Since then, we have had the dark ages, the religious wars, the World Wars, the Holocaust, more wars, and at this very moment, a world that is on the verge of falling apart. “Rise up in splendor Jerusalem. Your light has come.” The little baby, whom the magi came to worship is still the light! Humanity and the world must come to Christ – the light of the world. I said earlier that Advent makes a serious demand on children. Similarly, Epiphany makes a serious demand on us. At a time when darkness envelops us, like the magi, let us come to Christ. Let us stand in His light!
- What is Our Star? Let me switch to a more personal and individual sentiment for a moment. From and personal perspective, the Feast of the Epiphany is about existence, about life-pilgrimage, of life’s meaning and purpose, about our ultimate destiny. Epiphany leads us to reflect upon our existence and our life in this world. This life that we are living right now, is the only life we will live on the earth. If a star guided the magi to the manger, what is guiding us through life? Let me ask this – what guided our Advent and Christmas seasons? From a broader perspective, if we look at our life, our existence, what is our star? Where are we heading? If we keep going in the same direction we are going, where are we likely to end up? This week, reflect on your “star!” Like children during Advent, let us remain focused. Make sure of one thing – that your star is guiding you to Jesus.
- Epiphany Catholics. In this third point, I would like to revert back to the broader implication of Epiphany. The feast of Epiphany is a global feast with universal implications. On the one hand, Epiphany is a celebration of God’s revelation to the whole world. Conversely, it is also a celebration of the world coming to Christ. It is global feast. It is a universal feast. It is feast of unity in diversity. These days, like Herod, people practice, what I call, the “politics of difference” - people who exploit our religious, national, racial, ethnic, and social differences for selfish gain. The post-Epiphany world is not an us-and-them world. The post-Epiphany world is an us-and-our world. All the world belongs to God and God belongs to all the world. To this effect, Epiphany is a counter-cultural celebration! I am inviting us as a parish community to shun the politics of difference. Rather, let us be Epiphany Catholics!
On this altar lies the light of the world. To Him we come to do homage. Let us be in His light. Let us follow His star. Let us us be Epiphany Catholics.
- Fr. Satish Joseph