(Homily for Epiphany Sunday-Year B)
The feast of Epiphany, is a feast of God’s manifestation to man. Epiphany
is from the Greek word epiphaneia which means appearance or
manifestation, in this case, the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ as the
Savior of the whole world. For through the visit of the wise men, the universal
salvific will of the Father is made manifest. Thus, Epiphany is the feast that celebrates the universality of salvation.
The feast originated from the Eastern Church; there it was merely a celebration
of the Lord’s Baptism. The Baptism of the Lord was interpreted as the first of
his epiphanies or manifestation. Historically, when this feast spread to the
West, it began to be celebrated mainly as a commemoration of the visit of the
Magi. However, in the Catholic tradition it is identified as the feast of the
three Kings. More than that, Epiphany
celebrates mainly the self- revelation or manifestation of God to the Gentiles (to
non-Jews = the Magi), and this is portrayed by the visit of the three wise
men in the Gospel, with the gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Indeed, at
the heart of the Epiphany event, at the threshold of the quest of the Magi are
three S’s: see, search and submit. These
three verbs were programmatic in the search and encounter of the Magi with the
New Born King. They embarked on the journey because they wanted to see Him, and
for this desire to see Him, they went in search of and for Him, and when the
sought and saw Him, they submitted themselves to Him in adoration. These three
action words should characterize as well our own journey of faith.
The readings of today converge on the theme of
the Christian universalism, thus, the universality of God’s salvation. In
Mathew’s Gospel, this universalism is represented by the visit of the magi (the
pagan world), who came from the East to adore the New Born Baby (Gospel). In their gesture we see the fulfillment of
the prophecy of Isaiah: “At his light all peoples will walk” (first
reading). On his part, St. Paul (Second reading) was enabled to receive the
mystery of God: “That the gentiles now have the same inheritance and form the
same Body and enjoy the same promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6).
The first reading (Is. 60:1-6)
could be divided into two, while verses
1-3 dwell on the fulfillment of (Is.
40), at the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem, verses 4-6 are about the prediction of
the eschatological pilgrimage of the gentiles to Jerusalem after the
reconstruction of the city. Besides,
verses 1-3 are symbolic of Christ’s event, and as such the message therein
supersedes the return of the exiles from Babylon, the Christ event is the
salvific event. This idea is further explicated with the imageries of
“light” and “glory”. On the other hand, verses
4-6 presents the response of the gentiles to that revelation, fulfilled through
the coming of Christ. And the journey and visit of the Magi is symbolic of
this response. More still, verse 6 with its reference to “gold” and
“frankincense” influenced in no small way the story of the Magi in (Mt. 2:1-12).
The second reading (Eph.
3:2-3a.5-6) from the Pauline epistle
combines the two basic themes of the first reading and the Gospel: God’s
revelation (epiphany) and the participation of the gentiles to the Messianic
Salvation, thus the universality of Salvation. St. Paul calls it a mystery,
“This mystery, as it is now revealed in the Spirit to his holy apostles and
prophets, was unknown to humanity in previous generations” (v.5). Such mystery consists in the call of the gentiles to
participate in the same inheritance and form the same body and to be part of
the same promise through the Gospel. God is the unity and the inheritance of all peoples, He reveals Himself to all peoples, Jews and
Pagans alike.
For this, he affirmed “in that image there is no room for distinction between
Greek and Jew, between the circumcised and uncircumcised, or between barbarian
and Scythian, slave and free. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is
in everything” (Col. 3:11). St. Paul undoubtedly spoke about “a
mystery”, something inaccessible to the thought and the intellect of man;
something that only God, in his love and freedom can reveal to man. Prophet Isaiah had an intuition of this
mystery, when he saw all peoples walking towards Jerusalem in order to
render cult to Yahweh, the Lord of the nations.
In the Gospel reading (Mt.
2:1-12) Mathew presents the episode of the journey and visit of the Magi to
the Child Jesus. Mathew regrettably reports that his people did not know when
salvation was at hand, but foreigners, the Magi did. The pagans recognized the
presence of the Messiah while the Jews did not. It is only in Mathew’s account
that we find the story of the three wise men or kings, who came “from the east”
to worship the King of the Jews. This account on the Magi’s story gave rise to
plausible facts concerning this Divine Child: ►First is the tracing of Jesus’
Davidic descent, which according to the Jews is a qualification for the “messiahship”,
“This is the gospel concerning his Son who, in terms of human nature was born a
descendant of David” (Rm. 1:3-4a). The importance attached to the infancy
narrative of Mathew and Luke throws more light to this. ►Second is the dating
of Jesus’ birth (eg. Mathew and Luke) towards the end of Herod the Great’s
reign (4.B.C), this too is historically plausible. ►Third, the use of the star
as a messianic symbol in the Scriptures, “I see him – but not in the present. I
perceive him – but not close at hand: a star is emerging from Jacob, a scepter
is rising from Israel” (Num. 24:17).
In turn we are also called to become
stars that lead others to Jesus. How often do we indicate Jesus to others or
enlighten others as a result of our encounter with Him?
Today’s Gospel in no small way revolves
around the adoration of the New Born King by the three wise men, the Magi.
In Mathew’s account they observed and followed the star (v.2), which reveals that they had knowledge of astrology. Again,
we are told that they came from the east, this implies that they came from
Mesopotamia, which according to the Hellenist world is known to be home for
astrologists. However, it is worthy to
note that this Gospel is not just about the Magi, rather the One who has been born,
the King of the Jews. Jesus was born at the fullness of time or better when
the time was fulfilled (cf. Gal. 4:4). At
that point in time people were longing for the Messiah, despite this longing,
which for some was real, and for others was apparent, in today’s Gospel we see
different categories of people and their reactions about his birth and
presence:
■Herod,
the king was blocked by seeing Jesus because of his suspicion. The birth of Jesus
meant insecurity for him. Little wonder, he killed whoever he suspected to be a
rival. Thus, his reaction towards Jesus was that of hostility.
■The
Chief priests and the scribes, this group reacted differently. They were
indifferent to the presence of Jesus, they didn’t care. They were busy with
their affairs in the temple and legal dealings. Probably, they were afraid of
King Herod, little wonder, they handed him the information and remained
unmoved. They did not even dare to lead the Magi. They remained unmoved in
Jerusalem, but Jesus was found in the poverty of Bethlehem.
■The
Magi, were learned people, but their knowledge did not get over their head.
As such, their reaction was that of openness and acceptance. The magi represent
the whole human race, people of every language and colour who set out to adore
Jesus. And in this event, the prophecy that will adore and bring Him gifts is
fulfilled (Ps. 72:10). To find Jesus
we need to search for Him with faith, to find Him we need to pass through
Jerusalem as the Magi did, here Jerusalem stands to symbolize the Church. In
that sense, the journey of the Magi is a symbol of an itinerary of faith. When
they found Jesus, they adored him and offered him gifts: Gold, Frankincense and
Myrrh.
Be that as it may, the Magi did not present mere gifts to the King;
rather the three gifts they offered to Him were replete and beaming with
significance: Gold: symbolizes
a gift for Kings, denoting his Kingship. It was indeed a sign of their sincere
and total love. Frankincense:
the ancient people used it for religious worship, and it points to gods and
divinity. It is therefore a symbol of the divinity of Christ. The Magi used it
to adore Him. Myrrh: in the
ancient world myrrh was used to prepare dead bodies. On the Cross Jesus was
offered wine mingled with myrrh (cf. Mk.
15:23). And his body was anointed with myrrh for burial (cf. Jn.19:39). For instance, we
remember the women that came with myrrh to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body
(cf. Mk. 16:1). This depicts the
vulnerability of the human nature that Jesus assumed. This gift is therefore
symbolic of Jesus’ humanity
The prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in the episode of the arrival of
the Magi to Jerusalem, and in turn we could equally say that the Gospel is the fulfillment of his prophecy that “at
his light all peoples will walk”, and the Magi did follow the star.
Therefore, with the fulfillment of this prophecy, God’s revelation brings to
their realization various novelties of great importance: ●That the center of the nations is not a city
(Jerusalem) but a person: Jesus, the Messiah and Lord, born in Bethlehem. ●The
journey towards this center will not be only for the Jews, but for all, Jews
and pagans alike. ●The people will not converge to Jerusalem to render cult to
Yahweh in the temple, but in Bethlehem to adore a Baby in the arms of his
Mother Mary.
The passage of the Gospel gives us a wonderful indication on how to locate Christ, the Savior, and
that is as the magi have demonstrated, through openness and disposition of
heart, with the sincere desire of having the knowledge of the truth without
prejudice. Similarly, there are as well obstacles that may hinder us from
locating and encountering Christ, the Savior. First, is fear, fear of encountering one who overhauls our life. For if you
encounter Christ you have to change your orientation and criterion of
judgment. Second, is servility to the powers that be, as it
happened to the religious leaders in the time of Jesus, who were slaves to the
political power of Herod. The powers that be today could be ideologies,
dominant current of thoughts contrary to the Gospel. Third, is ambition for power, as it happened with
Herod, and attachment to the things of this world. We need to liberate
ourselves from the things of this world and personal prestige, allow ourselves
to be guided and led by the light that comes from above (as the Magi allowed
themselves to be led by the star).
In all, the red thread that
runs through the readings of today is the revelation of God in Christ and the universality
of God’s Salvation. The Epiphany
inaugurates a new direction, a new route. They went home through a new road
because they were enlightened by God, and
that new way is Jesus. Jesus in the event of the Epiphany gives us a new
way and a new direction. He
offers himself as the Savior of all, without exception. What have we to offer Him in return? The magi presented Gold,
Frankincense and Myrrh. The journey of the
Magi might be taken as an expression of man’s religious quest, and as such man
as capax
Dei, to say it with St. Augustine. The
question that should stem from our hearts is whether we still have this
religious zeal and quest today? Do we still have the quest for God? What is our
own reaction to this New Born King, is it that of hostility, indifference, or
concern and love? That of the Magi was love and adoration, even me today I
have come to adore him. What of you? Let
us join the Magi in this marvelous and admirable Adoration of the New Born King!
Come let us adore the leading-Star!! Come let us adore the Light that
enlightens all men and makes them one!!! Let us pray asking God to enable
us to seek Him with a sincere heart like the Magi, no matter the distance and
what it may cost. Amen!
(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)
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