Dear Brothers and Sisters,
People today use the expression, ‘I had an epiphany the other day’ when I saw how gifted my life is or how blessed I am with my children or something similar. The solemnity today is not an epiphany but the Epiphany. It is a fact, not a feeling. It is the single most important event human eyes have ever seen. God becomes a baby, a human being for us. This is the cause of our hope and our salvation. Epiphany means manifestation, Christ was shown to the gentiles, to the world.
God wants to guide us with a star to Bethlehem, where Christ is, where he was adored by the kings and can be adored by us. Their names are Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar. They represent in some traditions the three known continents at the time, Europe, Asia, and Africa. They can intercede for us so don’t hesitate to ask them for a new job if the current one prevents you from being able to worship or be with your family, or for anything important.
What is the star that guides us today? I would agree with St. Paul who says that salvation comes from the foolishness of the preaching. The message is not wise nor eloquent; it is very simple: a dead man rose, he loves you profoundly, he’s God and he has the power to help you and also to grow in you. The apostles were mere fishermen. Probably most of them did not know how to read or write and yet they preached this good news and changed the world.
This preaching gave life, and it did not judge the other. They announced what they had heard, what they had seen and what they had experienced. They did not preach themselves. Probably more than what they said was how they lived. Their lives and words were the manifestation of God to the world, and millions of others have followed them for 2,000 years.
The kings were warned in a dream not to return to Herod who wanted to kill the newborn king. The gospel says that they went home a different way. It could also mean that they went home totally different from the way they came. They were changed men. This is conversion which can also happen to us. Before we hated, had resentments, couldn’t love and now we can love, forgive, be chaste, accept the one with many weaknesses, etc. I can be a different person and you can also when we have this encounter with Christ. You can even love the one who despises you. We all need to convert and see that often we are going in the wrong direction. By following his star, you are able to see Christ in the other, in your spouse, your kids, your brother who took the inheritance.
Imagine if the kings came all that way and didn’t enter the mess that they saw in the manger. Perhaps they thought he would be in a palace. But the recognized the humility of God, the power of God in weakness. We also need to enter the difficulties of life either in marriage or as a priest or a single person. Ask the kings for the ability to love like Christ and to make him known to those around us.