“Epiphany” means manifestation. It refers to the manifestation of a glory that was hidden. Today is the feast of the Epiphany because we celebrate the manifestation of the Saviour to all humanity. Today’s feast is the culmination of Christmas. The child born in a stable and lying in a manger was recognised as the Saviour, the awaited Messiah, first of all by the shepherds. They were the first to come and worship him. The shepherds represent the people of Israel. They “glorified and praised God” for having seen the child. Today it is some magicians from the East who come to visit the child. They come from distant lands. They have made a long journey guided by a star. They want to worship the king of the Jews who, they say, has just been born.
Tradition has given these magicians names: Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar. It has also made them belong to the three main races of the earth: white, yellow and black. It transformed them from wizards into kings. And so, tradition perfectly interpreted, and adorned, the intention of the Evangelist. In such a clear way he tells us that the Magi were the representatives of all the peoples and races of the earth who came to Bethlehem to worship not only the king of the Jews but the one they recognised as king and lord of all mankind. The gifts they brought him: gold, incense and myrrh, are signs of that recognition. They are gifts for a king, a priest which were never given to anyone else.
Moreover, an important fact, at this time of Epiphany, of manifestation of the Saviour before all the peoples, there is already present the evils of betrayal. Herod fears that the new king will take away his power. Despite being a helpless child, Herod feels threatened. The betrayal that will lead Jesus to the cross is already shown germinating in the minds of people in power.
We too recognise in Jesus the saviour of our lives, the one who gives us back our hope. With the Magi we adore him and confess him as our Saviour. In the story it is noted in the last sentence: “they went to their own country…”. What would they say, what would they do… from what they found in Bethlehem? That is what it means to be a missionary: to announce with words and to show with actions that God is with us and for us in the person of Jesus, opening for us paths of new life. To be “missionary disciples”, in the style of the Wise Men of the East, is a gift and a task that we are reminded of on the feast of the Epiphany.
For your reflection
Today is a day of joy, of celebrating our faith in Jesus as a family. It would be good if at some point during the day we could gather as a family and make a brief adoration of our King and Lord, the new-born Jesus.
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
