Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-6; Matthew 2:1-12
Today is the Feast of the Lord’s Epiphany when we remember the Magi who came from faraway lands to worship the baby Jesus. The feast which is popularly called the Feast of the Three Kings brings the Christmas season to an end. If we listened carefully the gospel of today, we would notice that there is no mention at all about the Three Kings after whom the feast is called even if we know that the names of these three kings are Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar. Rather, the gospel refers to them as Magi. “When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea…behold, magi, came from the east to Jerusalem and asked: 'where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews?’” (vv. 1-2).
The gospel calls them magi and not kings. Who are the magi? The magi are astrologers, people who studied astrology which is about the stars and other heavenly bodies especially its movements and meaning, just like the horoscope of today. By common belief, they were known before as Three Kings because of the misinterpretation of the messianic prophecy in Psalm 72:10-11 which says: “The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage and all nations shall serve him. They thought that they were the ones already, so they call them the Three kings because of the three places mentioned in this chapter of the Psalm.
Sometimes they are also called ‘wise men’ because of their ability to recognize the Star and their readiness to follow it. They decided to take the risk of finding the new born Jesus. Can we really look for God the way these men did. May be, this time not by leaving for an unknown land but by following “The Star” faithfully and meticulously. The Star was a blinking particle of light not so bright but it led them to the abode of the Light of the world. This Star could mean for us, our faith commitment, our Bible, our fellowship and everything that will lead us to Christ. Can we take the risk involved in finding Christ because the road is not easy but full of thorns?
The word ‘Epiphany’ on the other hand comes from the Greek term “epiphanein” which means “manifestation.” In other words, Epiphany is first and foremost the Feast of God’s revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, to the world. Today, God is revealing and manifesting Himself this time not to the Jews but to Gentiles whom He guided to the birthplace of Christ through a star. Jesus is Savior not only of Israelites, the chosen people, but also to everybody. And in this sense, I am sure that the Magi represent all the other peoples of the world. As you listened to our gospel, it is a very nice story, taken from the gospel of St. Matthew (2:1-12), about how God guided the three wise men to the Baby Jesus by means of a special star. How nice it would be for each of us to have a star to follow in the right direction. While someone has actually said that all of us have stars to follow, our stars today are not moving across the heavens but are right down here on earth with us.
They came guided by a star. Being nature worshippers who had no Scriptures, God revealed Himself to them through the means available to them in their own religion. Through the stars they were able to learn of the birth of Jesus and find their way to him. They came as pagans, they worshipped Jesus as pagans, and they went back home as pagans. They did not convert either to Judaism or to Christianity. Their worship was acceptable to God and God directed them in their journey home through a dream. This shows that God does have a relationship with people of other religions who are neither Jews nor Christians.
Epiphany can therefore be understood to be the feast of all nations. It celebrates the manifestation of Christ, the true light to all nations. The Epiphany therefore, tore down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. Even though the mission of Jesus, at first, was apparently directed to the Jews, nevertheless He reached out to all peoples – Jews, Gentiles, sinners, tax collectors, etc.
He was born in a manger with no walls, no windows and no doors; and so, anybody, shepherd or king, Gentiles or Jews, cows or angels, and all people from the East to the West can just walk in to worship the new born king. Christian love must be universal and must not be exclusive, thus, every Christian house must be open to all the peoples who are in need. Not only for those who are in need of material help but also for those who are sad and lonely and those who have no one to listen to them. If Christ is really in our hearts, let the “kings from the East” who are looking for the God of Peace, “come in” and find peace in our love.
The Lord reveals Himself to us in so many ways even during this our day and time. The Lord is not wanting in letting us know His message and His presence. It is we who are lacking in docility and obedience to His will. We know what is right and what is wrong, but often we follow our - and not His - will, and this often leads to misery, and even disaster. Today’s gospel tells us that the Magi from the East followed the star until it came and stopped over the place where the Child Jesus and His mother were. They entered the house and upon seeing the Child, they prostrated themselves and did Him homage. They offered Him gifts: Gold (for a king); frankincense (for God) and myrrh (used for embalming someone who has died).
Sometimes we read newspapers, listen to the news on the radio, watch current events on television and we wonder where God is, in this world of ours. In the long daily litany of pain, sorrow, suffering, dishonesty, death, greed…where is God? The celebration of Epiphany which reveals, shows, and makes known, should teach us the enduring insight, from the earliest days of Israel to our own modern Christianity, that God is not remote from us; God is actively involved…God cares…God is concerned. So where’s God?
God is present in the epiphanies of our life each day. Perhaps we often think of these epiphanies only in way one – the good and nice events of our day. I stand on a beach and watch a perfect sunset and say to myself “yes, there is God”. I receive a gift of forgiveness from a friend and say to myself “yes, there is God”. However, as believers we know that God comes to us, the essence of God is revealed, also in the mystery of the crib and the cross. The depth of God’s being is made visible in the vulnerability of a child and in the perfect weakness of a man on a cross. We find God in the sacrament of everyday life. We encounter God in trials, sufferings, joys, triumphs, hopes, fears, defeats and successes that come to us each day.....when our best efforts at work go unappreciated, God is present when we make an “A” in a difficult class at school; God is present when our child is born; God is present when a parent dies; God is present when we reach into our pocket and give to the poor; God is present when we hug our child; when we work to correct an injustice; when we pray with a friend in the hospital, God is present. On those mornings when we wake up, sit on the edge of the bed, rub our eyes, think of the problems we face, worry whether our life has any real meaning, and wonder if there is even really a God…God is present.
The epiphanies of life are not just about us. God is present in the way we serve our neighbor. God is forever the beggar outside our gate, the victim left on the side of the road and the voice of those who have no one to plead for their needs. We are not just called to be sensitive to God’s presence within our own lives but also to extend God’s presence through our care for others. Each of us is called to be a living epiphany and a sacrament of God’s love to the world around us.
Our stars are people and places and things that show us the way, that inspire us, that attract us. And we have sometimes made people our stars. Nowadays we call famous singers or sports people or actors, stars. Young people make heroes out of these stars. They imitate their speech, their dress and their ideas. In the same way we follow the religious heroes we call saints. We take their names and we try to follow their examples. They are our stars that guide us to Jesus and God.
Sometimes a good example can be a star. It pulls us and draws us. A good idea can be a star. Perhaps we get it from something we hear or read. Sometimes even sickness and pain can be a star: it makes us useless for awhile and gives us time to think. The Bible is also a star. Even King Herod brought the three wise men into contact with the Bible. The Bible is an excellent guide for people looking for Jesus even if the Bible is not enough, and we need people who will explain it. This is where many of us make a mistake: We go around with the Bible which, it is sad to say, so many use not to lead us to the meaning of Jesus’ words, but to convince us of their own interpretation. We should never forget that Jesus did not give us the New Testament. It was the Christian community that accepted his word and transmitted part of it to us through the Bible. Without the Christian community, we would have no gospels today and we still need the church’s help to understand them.
But, of course, Jesus Christ is our guiding star to God. He is our way, our truth and our life. Of course, there is also such thing as following the wrong star. We do that when we look down and not up. Perhaps we can explain that with a little example. On a clear night, we can see stars reflected in ponds of water. No matter how dirty the water is, we see the stars down there. Since it is usually easier to reach down than to reach up, many people reach down into muddy water for their stars and then they find out that those were no real stars down there. People who reach down and not up for their stars are people whose star in life is: money, sex, drink, power, popularity, personality, bad company or patronage association. They follow these and perhaps end up in a swamp where there are also reflections of stars – but not real stars.
If we look at the stories of Jesus’ birth, two special groups of people came to visit the new-born babe: the shepherds and the magi. The church seems to have no special feast to commemorate the visit of the shepherds but we have this special feast of Epiphany today to celebrate the visit of the magi. Why is that? It is because the visit of the magi is an eye-opener. The shepherds learnt of the birth of Jesus through a direct revelation from angels appearing in the midnight sky. This is direct and supernatural revelation. Many of us have no problem with that. The magi, on the other hand, learnt of the birth of Jesus by observing a star. The star did not say anything to them. They had to interpret this natural sign of the star to know what it meant and where it led. If we remember that the magi or the three wise men were nature worshippers, people who divined God’s will by reading the movements of the stars and other heavenly bodies, then we can see how the visit of the magi challenges some of our popular beliefs.
According to Matthew, the wise men searched for the new-born Child. Searching requires courage and perseverance. I see a challenge here from the friends of the wise men. They must have mocked and laughed at them: “Following a star? What on earth for? We’re too busy with making a living to care about a star.” Nonetheless, the magi pursued their goal.
Applying this to practical life, it takes courage to be faithful to one’s religious conviction and moral integrity. The story is told of a taxi driver from a domestic airport, who found a clutch bag left behind by a foreigner-passenger at the back seat of his cab some time ago. The bag contained N25,000 in cash, some dollar bills, visa, and other important documents. The honest driver surrendered the bag to the lost-and-found counter at the airport its content intact. Although this man was needy and could have thought that this was an opportunity to make a living, he decided to return what didn’t belong to him. Indeed, it takes courage to be an upright Christian when the temptation to make a fast buck is strong. In married life, it takes heroic courage, too, to remain a faithful husband or wife in a milieu where infidelity and broken marriages abound.
Another lesson we can learn from the magi is that they did not only worship and present gifts to Christ but also obeyed the directive of the angel who warned them in a dream never to return to Herod. Herod for us symbolizes everything against the Spirit of Christ, especially sin. As the Magi never went back to Herod who asked them to return, we must also, never go back to those sins asking us to return. As we enter a new year, turn a new leaf and let men know that you really encountered Christ at Christmas.
How do we react to the Mercy of God and to his generosities! How did the angels react? They worship God and sang, the hymn, “glory to God in the highest.” How did the shepherds react? With joy, they left everything; travelled to the manger in Bethlehem to visit with the holy family. How did Simeon and Anna react? Simeon sang the Nunc dimitis. Anna spoke about the uniqueness of Christ's blessings to everyone (Luke 2). How did Herod and his cronies react? They sought to kill Christ, rather than worship him. How did the magi, the astrologers, in today’s Gospel react (Matt 2:1-12). They saw the star, and came all the way from the East, amidst challenges on the way- outside Bethlehem,--- to do him homage, to worship Christ, to praise him, to adore him, “Lord let every nation adore.” The magi adored Christ, submitted themselves to Christ, worshiped Christ, and knelt before Christ, along with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh!
So, how we, you and I, react to this available love and saving mercy of God, when we gather at worship, when we are at home, in schools, in our various places of work, offices and positions of authority, is crucial! Like the Magi, it does not matter where you are, what you do. God can speak to us. He speaks to you. He manifests Himself to us in and through various events, professions and occupations. All that he requires of us- put differently, are (the gifts of) disposition, the fear of the Lord, the willingness, love and mercy for one another, our openness and readiness to embrace Christ. You can be an attorney, a priests, a religious, a nurse, a doctor, a secretary, a receptionist, a broker, a plumber, a factory worker, a church volunteer, a student, employed or unemployed, a bank teller, a football coach, a husband, housewife, a Jew or Gentile with deep faith.
Epiphany means that we have to manifest Christ to people, to evangelize by our own good example and live the Christian values even to a hostile environment. It means that as we receive this faith, this love of God, we share with our neighbors divine mercies, adore the Lord,- like the three magi, who saw the star, and came to do him homage! Guided by the light of those around us, we ourselves become lights to others. We give our minds to God when we affirm the value of life, proclaim the worth of humanity and distinguish correctly right from wrong. We give our hearts to God when we love with patience, depth and consistency. We give our souls to God when we pray with intensity, act with charity, stand up for justice, rejoice in good times and in bad. We give our bodies to God when we respect the bodies of others, bind up the wounds of hurting, feed the hungry, clothed the naked, give shelter to the homeless and lay down our lives for the sake of others.
May we all see and hear and feel the epiphanies of God in our lives this day and in each day to come. Let us pray that we too may become stars to other people because the best stars we can give are ourselves through our words and examples. In that way, we may become light to them and lamp in their path.
No comments:
Post a Comment