Epiphany celebrates the “manifestation” of Jesus Christ – the moment when He is first revealed to the nations beyond the border of Israel. The events surrounding Jesus’ birth took place in relative secrecy, but through a marvel of divine providence foreigners, 3 magi or kings, arrive from the east to adore the newborn king.
This feast inspires within me a sense of gratitude for a few important reasons. Number one, the fact that God had led these foreigners to Christ offers us a clear indication that God’s salvation was not going to be based on physical descent, but on those who search for it. Most of us who are Catholic or Christian do not come from a Jewish background, so this manifestation of Christ to foreigners is something even more important for us.
The second reason for gratitude has to do with the way the magi were led to Jesus. The magi were guided by divine providence through means of creation. In their hearts they desired to honor and adore God, and God led them to Himself through the means they would understand – the rising of a star – and he protected them by the means of a dream, warning them not to return to Herod. The magi were also led to Jesus through the means of revelation, as they learned that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem based on a revelation through the prophets of Israel. This indicates that God can guide us in divine providence through the strangest and darkest of moments in our life, and through the strangest of situations, when we seek to know Him, understand and fulfill His will, and are ready to follow His lead even without knowing every step along the way. If those desires are there within us, God will respond, and can make our crooked ways straight. This offers me much encouragement, knowing that the Lord wants to guide us, He wants us to find Him, He wants to reveal Himself to us more and more, He wants us to be close to Him, and that the light of our faith can still dispel the darkness that sometimes seems to envelop our world.
Finally, in a time of neo-paganism, I cannot close without a word about the role of creation in today’s Gospel. This passage of the magi finding Christ by means of the rising star indicates the purpose of creation – it is meant to manifest and lead us to Jesus Christ. Once He has been found there is no longer a need to look to creation for life’s deepest meaning. Many Christians revert to astrology, palm-reading, tarot cards, etc… hoping to find answers. This is a certain sign of a crisis of faith, where the light of faith has either not been nurtured, or it has become so weak that it risks being extinguished completely. How big an issue is this? I know it is a big issue here in Italy, where nearly 20% of Italians consult astrologers or some form of divinization each year! We see in today’s Gospel that creation served its highest purpose as a sign meant to lead man to the knowledge and revelation of Jesus Christ. Creation is still present to us, and speaks or reminds us of God even today, but as Christians we understand creation to be only a sign pointing to something greater than itself. It is a marvelous reflection of Almighty God who has finally spoken to us and revealed everything He wanted to say with one Word – the Word of God who is none other than Jesus Christ.
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