Homily for the Feast of the Epiphany

 

Is 60:1-6

Ps 72

Eph 3:2-6

Mt 2:1-12

 

Despite custom and tradition, the Feast of Epiphany has nothing to do with Kings. 

 

We just heard in the gospel,  “behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.”  There was no number given. They were not named.  But, human nature being what it is designated them as three and named them. The number came from the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh backed by the assumption that it was one gift per magus, the singular of magi.  Kasper, Melchior, and Balthazar?  Sounds like a law firm advertising on late-night TV.  However they were never named in the Gospels. They are anonymous just as we are.  They are the root of some interesting traditions that vary by country and ethnicity and are significant for what they represent.

 

I don’t know if the custom continues back home in Northeastern PA, but when I was an altar boy almost seventy years ago, some of us got a day out of school to accompany the priest as he blessed the homes of parishioners. This was true in the Polish, Slovak, and Lithuanian churches in town.  It was not done at St. Vincent’s, the Irish church. But then, they did not eat pierogi on Christmas Eve either.  Pity.

 

After the blessing Father used chalk to inscribe the initials, K, M, and B with a cross between each letter and the number of the current year on the lintel. And the homeowner generally handed over a few cookies to nibble on in the car.  How we got through those seasons without developing diabetes remains a mystery.  Many other traditions have grown up around the Feast of the Epiphany.  But they have little to do with reality or the meaning of Jesus’ birth.

 

The word epiphany derives from two Greek roots: pheinein: to show and epi:  forth. Thus Epiphany means to show forth, to reveal, to manifest.  One formal definition of an epiphany is, "a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something, a comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization." 

 

The intuitive realization of Jesus as Messiah is the perfect description for this feast.  That intuition was symbolized by the star not by the magi. who were not kings.  The word ‘king’ for the magi as well as their names came into use only in the sixth century. 

 

In the end the number of magi, whether they had royal status, and their names are irrelevant distractions.  The Magi are important because they represent the first Gentiles to worship Jesus. They were the first gentiles to realize and comprehend that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah

 

There are more epiphanies of Jesus scattered throughout the Gospels.  Most important to realize on this feast are the multiple personal epiphanies of Jesus scattered throughout our lives if we are willing and able to recognize them in faith.

 

We just heard in the gospel,  "When King Herod heard of this he was greatly troubled and all Jerusalem with him."  Herod's jealousy, duplicity, and rage bring us closer to the reality of Christmas than do the lyrics of  "O Little Town of Bethlehem."   We see the first shadow of the cross in Herod's evil desires. "Go and search diligently for the child.  When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage."  Fortunately the magi, worthy of their titles as wise men, did not believe the crazed megalomaniac and changed their return route.  Their failure to return with the information sent Herod over the edge into a murderous rampage of male children under the age of two. 

 

Once we wash away the treacle, set aside the sloppy sentimentality, and forever dissociate the word ‘magic’ from Christmas, we can begin to understand the true meaning of Christmas.  We can begin to understand that what we call the "Christmas story." did not end when the magi returned home, wherever that might have been. 

 

What general society calls the Christmas story describes the beginning of the Christ-event,  an event that is the total arc of Jesus’ life, from incarnation and birth, through his hidden life, his teaching, his passion, death, resurrection and ascension.  We cannot afford to dissociate Jesus’ birth from the rest of His life. The wood of the manger in Bethlehem led to the wood of the cross on Calvary. We cannot and must never, separate the wood of the manger from the wood of the cross. Understanding that is part of a true epiphany.

 

The late Dag Hammarskjöld summarized the reality of Epiphany and the entire liturgical year in a haiku written in the small personal journal  found following his murder in the Belgian Congo.  Published under the name Markings, it has never been out of print despite the lapse of over five decades.

 

Using only seventeen words he reminded us that Christmas does not stand alone.

 

"On Christmas Eve, Good Friday

was foretold them

in a trumpet fanfare."

 

The trumpet fanfares and Gloria in Excelsis Deo of Christmas have meaning only when we experience the silence of Good Friday and the shock of the empty tomb that lead to the Alleluias we will sing in April.    

 

______________________________

 

Tertianship in Australia in 2011 was a highlight of my life.  Except for the long retreat the ultimate highlight those eight months was the five-week "experiment" in Port Lincoln, South Australia.  I was the only priest in the parish for sixty miles while the pastor was away.  The experience was many things including a photographic feast.   

 

A parishioner took me out in his boat, basically a small motor boat.  This sailboat was moored not far from the church. 

The same boat at sunrise days later.  Amazing how light and angle of shot can change everything. 

A pavilion just down the street from the church, about a 1/3 mile walk.  

Port Lincoln is a fishing town.  Riding in a small motor boat among these behemoths helped me understand the meaning of insignificant.  

 Fr. Jack, SJ, MD