Today, in the midst of the Christmas season, celebrating the coming of our Lord, the birth
of our Lord at Bethlehem, and having reflected much on His final coming at the end of time,
we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany. Now, some might look at that word and say,
whoa, wow, one of those high up Greek words that we don't even know what it means. And
it is a Greek word. And actually, it's a compound word. It comes from two words, epi, which
is over and about, and the rest of the Greek word is epi.
And the rest of the Greek word is epi. And the rest of the Greek word is epi. And the
rest of it is manifestation. The word means manifestation. We celebrate here the manifestation
of our Lord, not only to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, all other people who were not
Jews, known as Gentiles in ancient days. And we see this is what is recounted to us now
in these three magi.
What the term really means here in ancient languages, both the Greek and the Hebrew,
really means those who are wise, those who are philosophers. They were well-educated
men, from which the word magic and all its derivative words come from. They derive from
that word. But these were not sorcerers. They were not casting spells or telling fortunes
or anything like that. They were simple. They were not sorcerers. They were not sorcerers.
They were not sorcerers. They were not sorcerers. They were not sorcerers. They were not sorcerers.
They were not sorcerers. They were not sorcerers. They were simply very wise, very well-studied
men who came from a country east of Jerusalem. And being well-educated, they understood
the meaning of certain stars. They were well familiar with, evidently familiar with even
Hebrew scripture. In fact, some of the fathers tell us that these three were actually descendants
him, though they were not Jews. And they see a particular star that in and of itself, of
course the star, light, the light that comes from the star, it casts light, it's revealing
something here, casting light. But it also, the way it casts light also signifies royalty.
So they understood when they saw this particular star, which evidently only they saw. No one
else seems to have seen it, though they spoke of it when they arrived at Jerusalem. We have
seen his star in the east, meaning from where they were east of Jerusalem to the east. They
saw his star, but nobody else seems to have seen it. They don't know what the star is.
They don't seem to know.
But the kings,
these three wise men knew and understood. It meant through whatever Hebrew scriptures
they understood the birth of a king. Where is he, they ask, when they arrive in Jerusalem,
born the king of the Jews? Which is what, of course, then through Herod, troubled Herod
and the people with him.
Because they were afraid about what Herod was about to do next. He was very proud and
very jealous of his kingdom, to the point that he actually killed two of his own sons
to make sure nothing would happen, that they couldn't take his kingdom from him. So he
was a very jealous king. And very proud, and so Herod was troubled, a king of the Jews,
That's why he asks all the high priests, etc., he has them come and he asks them,
where then is this child to be born?
And they quote the prophet Micah,
who tells them, Bethlehem of Judea, Bethlehem.
This is what is revealed by the star and to the three magi coming to adore this king.
And they did not hesitate to say, so we have come to give him homage.
Now Herod, of course, sends them on to Jerusalem, to Bethlehem,
go and search diligently for the child that I too may adore.
We clearly had no intention of adoring our Lord.
But that is another episode that occurs after this one, what he does.
But in any case, he sends them on.
And when they go back out, the star appears again.
It is leading them directly to the true king, the true messiah, the anointed one.
And this is what is revealed to us today.
That child in the manger in Bethlehem, while in appearance, yes, a man, and he is man,
he is one of us, but he is all of us.
He is also God.
He is also our God.
And this is why these three, who were not Jews,
but must have had some familiarity with Hebrew scriptures,
understood he was the true king.
That is why they came to do him homage.
And when they arrive at where our Lord was staying,
note it also says they rejoiced.
With great rejoicing.
They were, well, here it is translated, they were overjoyed.
Again, the Greek words used here, or Aramaic, or Hebrew from Saint Matthew,
but they all mean essentially the same thing.
They rejoiced with exceeding joy.
They are exceedingly joyful.
The star has brought them to their goal, the true king,
to whom they have come to adore.
Now, adoration, what we call in theology Latria,
is that adoration, that's the homage due to God alone.
So they understood he was God, somehow.
This was all revealed to them.
And they did him homage.
And then they give him their gifts.
Very significant gifts.
Frankincense, gold frankincense and rubies.
Gold representing our Lord's royalty, his king.
Frankincense representing his priesthood,
the one who offers the incense in worship.
They recognize his kingship and his priesthood.
And the myrrh, which is a rather bitter herb,
it was used for burial, actually.
So this represents the burial of our Lord
to take place after his passion and death.
And so they recognize here
the three-fold role that our Lord has
as the Messiah, the anointed one.
King, priest, prophet.
Those are the three.
This is what was revealed to them.
And this is what they came to acknowledge.
That this child, up to this point,
it was known only to the Jews in the neighboring area.
This child was now born the king.
The true king.
Not just king of the Jews.
Of course, it would take some time before everyone fully understood that.
Even his disciples.
But not just king of the Jews, but king of all of us.
Because he is our God and savior.
And he became one of us.
He is man.
God and man.
That is why this feast
was, in the old liturgy,
was a higher feast, actually, than Christmas.
It had second place after Easter.
Precisely because this now,
we were celebrating this manifestation of our Lord
to everyone.
And that he was king to all of us.
King, priest, and prophet to all of us.
It reminds us
that his humanity and his Godhead go together.
The helpless little babe in the manger,
the man who suffered and died on the cross for us,
is also our God.
He is that link
between our
infinite humanity
and the infinite Godhead.
He is, in a word,
the son of God
and the son of Mary.
And where do they find the child?
Where do the three magi find the child?
With Mary, his mother.
Again, we cannot
stress enough,
this child
is son of God,
son of Mary.
Son of God,
God, divine,
son of Mary,
man.
An awesome mystery,
here now,
revealed not only to the Jews,
but to the Gentiles,
to everyone.
And then ultimately also,
we also reflect on his baptism,
in which his divinity was revealed once again
as the second person of the Blessed Trinity.
And we see the Holy Spirit coming down over his head,
and the voice of the Father declaring,
this is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.
Listen to him.
And then thirdly,
the wedding feast at Cana.
At which our Lord worked his first public miracle.
And note, at the intercession of
Mary, his mother,
the Queen Mother.
We see all of these come together
and converge on this great feast,
this great solemnity,
where we recognize,
as revealed to these three magi,
wise men,
and to all of us,
our King,
our Savior,
our God,
who has become one of us.
And this is how he carries out then the redemption,
our redemption,
our salvation.
By nature being the Son of God,
becoming also,
truly,
the Son of Mary.
And there we too find him,
in the arms of his mother, Mary,
whom he will give us as our mother.
Let us then too,
run to find him.
And let us too,
do him homage.
Praise be Jesus and Mary.