Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 8, 2023 - The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord - ABC [This feast was traditionally celebrated on Jan. 6; in the USA it is now on the Sunday after Jan. 1]
[Isa 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matt 2:1-12,4]Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. [Isaiah] When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." [Matthew]
Our brothers and sisters of the Eastern and Orthodox churches celebrate the feast of the Epiphany as their "Christmas Day." The word, epiphany, means a revelation. The emphasis is not so much the birth of Jesus as it is the revelation of that event to the world in the phenomenon of a star and the Magi. (It is tradition alone that says there were three.) There is also the element of danger coming from Herod. Jesus began his human journey in danger and stayed in it until his resurrection! The story contains more than enough images to keep human imagination going.
By now, many of us have put away the nativity set with the figures of the Magi and their gifts. Not so to our Eastern rite brethren. I have a dear friend who is a Maronite Christian and she reminded me that the Epiphany is a holy day of obligation for them, just as Christmas Day is for our western Latin rite.
Whether it is the Magi or the shepherds or the choir of angels, the important thing is to reveal the truth of God becoming flesh and making his dwelling among us. AMEN