Jan. 5, 2020 – The Epiphany Of The Lord
(Is 60: 1-6; Eph 3:2-6; Mt 2:1-12)
This prophecy in Isaiah was written around the end of the exile in Babylon when the first Israelites returned, finding their beloved city Jerusalem devastated. Isaiah tells the people to rise up, to let their light shine, to raise their eyes and look around them to see what the Lord is already doing. God’s glory is so powerful that the divine light will shine forth from the people themselves. Even foreign nations and kings will walk by the light that flows forth from Jerusalem. The story of the magi, the three wise men, who traveled from the East to pay homage to Jesus as the King of the Jews, is part of our Christmas tradition. When the three magi entered the house in which they found Mary and Jesus, they opened their treasures, and offered the Lord three gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh – thereby acknowledging him as true Lord, true Man, and true King. “We offer the Lord gold when we shine in his sight with the light of heavenly wisdom. We offer Him frankincense when we send up pure prayer before him, and myrrh when, mortifying our flesh with its vices and passions by self-control, we carry the cross behind Jesus.” (Saint Bruno of Segni) The Psalm teaches us all kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him. For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when they have no one to help them. The feast of Epiphany stresses the revelation of the Christ to the Gentiles, as represented by the wise men (three kings). Paul is reminding the members of the largely Gentile Church in Ephesus that Jews and Gentiles have been mystically incorporated into the one body of Christ, made members of each other by this special grace. The Catholic Church is universal, the effect of the desire of God to unite every human heart to himself and simultaneously us all with each other in one worldwide family of God. Paul’s stewardship not only announces this mystery to others, but he is immersed in it himself, transformed by grace. The Gospel opens with reference to two kings: King Herod in Jerusalem, and the newborn king of the Jews in Bethlehem. Herod is a tyrannical a ruler, obsessed with power; so threatened by possible rivals that he even put family members to death. The infant King in contrast has no display of wealth or power. He is found not in a palace but in a stable with his mother in the small village of Bethlehem.