The actions of the Magi reflect the manifestation of Jesus as the Christ, as savior of all peoples. How do we make Christ manifest in the world today?
A homily from Epiphany based on readings from
Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72, Ephesians 3:2-3z,5-6, and Matthew 2:1-12.
These readings are available at the USCCB website.
For some reason, I have a line from a movie stuck in my head. The movie is Hook, that remake of the Peter Pan story, and the line comes from Captain Hook’s evil sidekick, Mr. Smee. At one point Smee says, “I’ve just had an [epiphany]. Lightning has just struck my brain.”[1] Ouch. That must hurt. What does that have to do with today’s feast? Very little. But just like the movie line, it is possible to live out today’s feast without fully appreciating its depth. Worse yet, we can miss its calling to us. It is easy to think of Epiphany as the coming of the wise men, the song “We Three Kings” written in real life. How sweet! They give the baby a gift! Epiphany is so much more than that. Epiphany is much more than marking your door lintel using blessed chalk. All these things are fine, but Epiphany is no less than the manifestation of Jesus as Lord. First comes the star, God does that. Then comes the Magi, their response makes the feast and invites us to do likewise. We must become an Epiphany – we must manifest Christ to the world.
The actions of the Magi reflect the manifestation of Jesus as the Christ, as savior of all peoples. This raises the questions, “How do we make Christ manifest in the world today?”
Let’s start with epiphany, the word itself, with a lower case “e”. It has nothing to do with kings or gifts. It has to do with a manifestation, with one thing that makes another thing clear. In the Catholic Church, we recognize three events as Epiphanies, manifestations of Jesus Christ as Lord, epiphany with an upper case “E”. They are the Magi from today’s gospel, Jesus’s baptism, and the miracle at Cana in Galilee. The Magi show us the Christ as Lord and king to all nations, the baptism shows us Christ as Trinity, and at Cana we see him doing at the Blessed Virgin Mary’s request what only God could do. Each of these show us who Jesus really is. Each of these are manifestations of God. Each of these are Epiphanies.
There is a reason why we focus on the Magi when we celebrate the Epiphany. Along with being the first, their story speaks directly to the entire world. The “magi from the east” were not Jews. The point of that phrase is to let us know that the magi were outsiders, gentiles, not a part of the line of promise. They, most directly speak to us here today; after all, very few of us come from Jewish heritage. (Actually, in a way we all do, but more on that in a minute).
So let’s look at today’s gospel in two parts. First. the star, and then the magi.
Scholars have written a lot on the star…or the comet…or the supernova…or the alignment of planets. I don’t study the stars, especially not first century stars. All the arguments make a certain amount of sense. Who knows who is right, if any? I also don’t think that it matters very much, exactly how God manifested the identity of Jesus. What mattered is that he did it. God out of love for us reveals himself to us through sacred scripture[2], and through the natural world. It is just like Father prayed at the beginning of Mass, “O God, who on this day revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations by the guidance of a star.”
God reveals his Only Begotten Son by the guidance of a star, and yet we do not read of massive lines of people waiting to worship and adore the One True God. God made manifest; people do nothing. That brings us to the next part of the gospel, the Magi who both noticed and acted.
I said earlier that the magi were outsiders. What do we make of that? Simply that Jesus is sent to the entire world, not just to the children of Israel. He is sent to all of us. Everyone. Everywhere. God promised Abraham that he would be a blessing to the nations. In the magi, we see this promise being fulfilled. Through Jesus, the Jew; through Jesus Our Lord, the promise of God comes to all of us, Jew and Gentile alike. Just like some of the finest grapes in France were once grafted onto the roots of Texas grapes that had been planted there, so too are we grafted into the chosen family of God.
The magi “saw his star at its rising”. How is it that the magi were aware? Simple – because they were paying attention. Magi are like that. It is what they do. Magi were astronomers seeking to understand the heavens. They observed the star at its rising and thought that it might have earthly significance – little did they know how much!
The magi travelled to find the newborn king. Once they noticed, they took action. They even went so far at to try and find him. They left the comfort of their homes, and at great expense went off in search of the reason for this star, to give the newborn king homage.
The magi found Jesus and they treated him like a god – they prostrated themselves before the child, and they gave him incense. They treated him as king, giving him gold. They gave him myrrh which signifies his death. Those were also the tools of their ancient trade. They gave him what they had. In a way they laid their livelihood at the feet of Jesus. It wasn’t the gold or the frankincense or the myrrh, but it is the one who is proclaimed by them. These gifts proclaim Jesus as Lord God and king!
The magi challenge us to be more attentive to God acting in our lives and in the world around us. The magi challenge us to take decisive action in response to God. The magi challenge us to place everything we are and everything we have at the service of Jesus.
Epiphanies can continue. The presence and workings of Jesus Christ in the world can continue to be made manifest. That is our job, to make Christ clear to others. It our job to make sure that the world comes to recognize the truth and the glory of Jesus that was revealed to the magi and to us as well. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow the presence and the reign of Jesus Christ can become more and more clear.
We should all have an epiphany. We should all be an epiphany. Let us, with the help of Jesus, each become an epiphany – a manifestation of Christ in today’s world!
Let us, with the help of Jesus, each become an epiphany – a manifestation of Christ in today’s world!
[1] Actually, the first line is “I’ve just had an apostrophe”. ‘Bangarang!’: Relive These Memorable Lines From ‘Hook’ And Never Grow Up (uproxx.com)
[2] Cf II Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1965, §2 Dei verbum (vatican.va)