Epiphany's Due

The “Wise Men from the east,” Pope Benedict XVI writes, “mark a ‘new beginning.’” In them, we find “the journeying of humanity toward Christ.”  I would amplify on these words.  In the Madi we find the journeying of humanity to God marked through Christ alone.  Certainly the Magi did not undertake this journey in and of themselves.  They were directed.  They were guided by the light of a star which itself is Christ's light.  The Child whom they come to worship is the same Child who has made their journey possible and the surprise of it all is that in the face of this Child is the face of God.

Again, the Pope:  “this implies that the entire cosmos speaks of Christ, even though its language is not yet fully intelligible to man in his present state.”  Imagine that.  These Magi from the East about whom we know so very little are part and parcel of the great move of creation back to the Father through the advent of His Son.  As Paul speaks: “all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).  The Magi themselves are drawn into the mystery of Christ incarnate by the Christ and the witness of the Spirit -- the testament to what Christ is come to do -- namely, to bring all of creation made through Him now back to Him after sin and death took from Him all that is His.

We tend to focus, perhaps too much, on the gifts and their prophetic character.  We need to focus more on the Magi as they fit into the plan of God, drawn as they were in this journey to God that comes through His Son.  We are part of that same movement -- not as the fruit of our own religious desire and seeking but in response to the Light of Christ and the Spirit working through that Light to draw all people unto Himself and reconcile His lost creation to the Word through whom all things were made.

This year Epiphany falls on a Sunday and we can give it its due.  Not as some borrowed day transferred to Sunday or forgotten festival in the middle of the week but the fullness of the Christmas miracle manifest now for Gentiles -- and last time I checked, that was me and most of you.

A blessed Epiphany to you all!