Sunday, January 4, 2004
Solemnity of the Epiphany

1st Reading: Is 60:1-6

Arise, shine, for your light has come.
The Glory of Yahweh rises upon you.

Night still covers the earth and gloomy clouds veil the peoples, but Yahweh now rises and over you his glory appears.

Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes round about and see: they are all gathered and come to you, your sons from afar, your daughters tenderly carried.

This sight will make your face radiant, your heart throbbing and full; the riches of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.
A flood of camels will cover you, caravans from Midian and Ephah.

Those from Sheba will come, bringing with them gold and incense, all singing in praise of Yahweh.

2nd Reading: Eph 3:2-3, 5-6

You may have heard of the graces God bestowed on me for your sake. By a revelation he gave me the knowledge of his mysterious design, as I have explained in a few words.

This mystery was not made known to past generations but only now, through revelations given to holy apostles and prophets. Now the non-Jewish people share the Inheritance; in Christ Jesus the non-Jews are incorporated and are to enjoy the Promise.

Gospel: Mt 2:1-12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, during the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem. They asked, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw the rising of his star in the east and have come to honor him." When Herod heard this he was greatly disturbed and with him all Jerusalem. He immediately called a meeting of all high-ranking priests and the scribes asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

"In the town of Bethlehem in Judea," they told him, "for this is what the prophet wrote: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the clans of Judah, for from you will come a leader, the one who is to shepherd my people Israel."

Then Herod secretly called the wise men and asked them the precise time the star appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem with the instruction, "Go and get precise information about the child. As soon as you have found him, report to me, so that I too may go and honor him."

After the meeting with the king, they set out. The star that they had seen in the East went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. The wise men were overjoyed on seeing the star again. They went into the house and when they saw the child with Mary his mother, they knelt and worshiped him. They opened their bags and offered him their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.

In a dream they were warned not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their home country by another way.

Commentary

THE Greek word "epiphaneia" means "appearance," and in the Western churches Epiphany commemorates the appearance (or revelation) to the Gentiles of Jesus as Savior. This is portrayed by the coming of the Magi or Three Wise Men from the East to do him homage. It is an ancient feast: it is known to have been observed earlier than 194 AD, and is therefore older than the celebration of Christmas. Notice one sentence of today's reading. "From you, Bethlehem, will come a leader, the one who is to shepherd my people Israel." Yesterday we saw Jesus as a lamb, today we see him as a shepherd. How can he be both? He is both. Like God whose throne he shares, he is "the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" (Rev 1:8; 21:6; 22:13). The ecstatic poet Rumi wrote:

I am the candle and the moth that circles around it,
The rose and the rose-drunk nightingale.

Jesus will continue forever to appear to us in new lights. He is not two-dimensional like our ideas, he is alive. It is forever the feast of Epiphany.

Read also Sunday's Into Silence:  Pope John Paul II and Prayer

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