Catechism Links[1]
CCC 528,
724: The
Epiphany
CCC 280,
529, 748, 1165, 2466, 2715: Christ the light of the nations
CCC 60,
442, 674, 755, 767, 774-776, 781, 831: The Church, sacrament of human unity
 |
| “Adoration of the Magi” by Pieter Aertsen, c. 1560 |
Reading I: Isaiah 60:1-6
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem
the glory of the Lord shines upon
you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the
peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining
radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of
their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what
you see,
your heart shall throb and
overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall
be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be
brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill
you,
dromedaries from Midian and
Ephah;
all from Sheba
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of
the LORD.
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Commentary on Is 60:1-6
The Church sees, in the images of Isaiah’s
prophecy, symbols of her universality in this section of a hymn envisioning a
completely restored and radiant Jerusalem. We hear echoes of Isaiah’s prophetic
vision of the coming of Christ and what that means (“See, darkness covers
the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines,
and over you appears his glory.”) Verses 5 and 6 give clear reference to
the arrival of the magi as the prophet envisions the gifts of gold and
frankincense being brought from the East in praise of the Lord.
"Today, the wise man finds lying in a
manger the One he had searched for as a brilliant light shining among the
stars. Today, the wise man sees wrapped in swaddling clothes the One he long
sought to find, unveiled, in the heavens. Today, to his great surprise, the
wise man discerns in what he studies: heaven on earth, earth in the heavens,
man in God, and God in man; what the whole universe could not contain inhabits
the body of a child. And seeing all this, he believes and doubts no more; and
he announces it to all, using his mystical powers: incense for God, gold for
the King, and myrrh for the One who will die. Today, the Gentile who was once
last is first, because the faith of the wise man sanctifies the belief of all
the peoples" (St Peter Chrysologus, "Sermones", 160). [5]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
R. (cf. 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow
the king,
and with your justice, the king’s
son;
He shall govern your people with
justice
and your afflicted ones with
judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon
be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of
the earth.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the
Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia
and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when
he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no
one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly
and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall
save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Psalm
72 is one of the Royal Psalms. The psalmist exhorts God to bless the king and
his dynasty ("and with your justice, the king’s son").
References are made to messianic peace which will be a perpetual blessing for a
land ruled by God's justice. In the third strophe, the singer describes kings
bringing gifts, and finally in the fourth strophe we see another image of the
messianic kingdom of peace and justice: care for the poor. Seen in the context
of the incarnation of the Messiah, the song is prophetic, announcing the coming
Savior and providing an early image of the magi.
-------------------------------------------
Reading II: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship
of God’s grace
that was given to me for your
benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made
known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people
in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs,
members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in
Christ Jesus through the gospel.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6
Paul, in his Letter to the
Ephesians, makes reference to the revelation by God of his Only Begotten Son
through various means to all peoples. He mentions specifically that the
apostles and prophets have been led to enlightenment by the Holy Spirit and now
the Gentiles are also led (see Acts 9:15). The reference traces the
predictive revelation from the prophets who foresaw the coming of the Messiah,
to the apostles who walked with him, to Paul whose mission to the Gentiles
fulfills the global mission of Jesus.
The Old Testament revealed that the
nations would be blessed, but it remained unclear how this would take place (Genesis 22:16-18; Sirach 44:21; Isaiah 49:6; Zechariah 2:11). It was
also not clear before the proclamation of the Gospel whether the Gentiles would
be saved on an equal footing with Israel (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). [6]
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Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem
of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east
arrived in Jerusalem
“Where is the newborn king of the
Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem
Assembling all the chief priests
and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the
Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem
of Judea,
for thus it has been written
through the prophet:
And
you, Bethlehem , land of Judah
are
by no means least among the rulers of Judah
since
from you shall come a ruler,
who
is to shepherd my people Israel
Then Herod called the magi
secretly
and ascertained from them the
time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem
“Go and search diligently for the
child.
When you have found him, bring me
word,
that I too may go and do him
homage.”
After their audience with the
king they set out.
And behold, the star that they
had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over
the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the
star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his
mother.
They
prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream
not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country
by another way.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 2:1-12
Matthew's Gospel tells the story of
the magi (whom
tradition holds were named Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar) coming to pay
homage to Jesus. The story holds significance not only as a principal event in
the life of Jesus, but also as a symbol of the Lord’s universal revelation.
Scripture and tradition teach that the magi were from Persia and were not
Hebrew. Their participation in the revelation of the Messiah provides a global
element to the coming of Christ.
Scriptural references would have
held importance for the Jewish readers of St. Matthew’s Gospel. They would have
recognized the reference to “his star at its rising” as being a reference
to Numbers
24:17; his star rising from Jacob – a reference to the coming of the
Davidic King – the Messiah. The Gospel supports this idea, citing Micah 5:1-3 which
in turn is coupled with 2 Samuel 5:2, confirming
the kingship of the coming Messiah.
While this story provides depth and
meaning to the coming of Christ as a universal symbol of salvation, it also
sets the stage for other events in the life of Jesus. Had Herod not been made
aware of the prophecy, he would not later have dispatched his solders to
Bethlehem to slaughter the Holy Innocents, and Joseph would not have been
forced to flee to Egypt with a babe in arms.
-------------------------------------------
Homily:
The word “epiphany“ has a number of definitions (one of
which is the feast we are celebrating today).
In most cases, the word means a sudden revelation or miraculous personal
insight – in short, an intuitive leap.
Today the whole history of Jesus gets validated by the visit from Gaspar,
Melchior, and Balthasar, the three wise men from the East. When we translate the early Greek description
of their trek we find the simple statement: Εϊδομεν…χαί
ήλθομεν “We saw … and we came.” [7]
These ancient wise men did what scientists today do not
do. They saw the star, a bright light in
the heavens and understood what it was and wanted to know why it was so
important. They were searchers for the
truth and in that small light, they discovered the light that transforms the
world.
They were not taken in by King Herod, whose frantic attempt
to discover the “Christ’s” location caused them to distrust the man and his
motives. While he professed to believe
in the kingship of Jesus, it was clear to them that he was afraid of a
challenge to his petty authority.
Remember he was but a petty king, a puppet of the Roman Empire.
They continued their journey and found the light they
sought. We can only imagine, after this
long and arduous journey, their joy in discovering Jesus in the arms of his
mother, the king upon his first throne: he who was to proclaim the love of God
the Father, in the arms of the mother of God.
Their reaction tells us they knew what they saw. “They prostrated themselves and did him
homage.” Think of that! Three noble magi with their retinue come to a
stable and, in supplication to an infant, they lie down on the floor, a floor
covered with the detritus of a working barn.
What revelation was so strong that it not only brought them far from their
homes, at great expense, without any clear picture of what they were to find
and caused them to prostrate themselves in abject worship to an infant child in
the arms of his mother.
In this example we find the true meaning of our modern
Christmas. The incarnation of Jesus: the
Son of God chose to come to us in a weak and vulnerable form that we might
understand the true face of God. He did not come as the Jews expected, in
shining armor with a sword in his hand to cast out the Roman oppressors. He came as an infant child, bathed in the
love of his earthly parents. Was it this
intense image of incredible love that caused Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar to
prostrate themselves in adoration? For
most of us who have faith in the Lord, we have all wished at some point that we
could have been there with them.
Now comes the hard question for all of us, separated from
that glorious event by over two thousand years.
Jesus came in humility and throughout his time as a human person, he
expressed the love of God for all those around him. He proclaimed that his mission was to
announce the Kingdom of God. This was
the mission he left to his disciples, the Apostles. They in their turn passed the mission to the
Church and the Church passes that mission to us – missionary disciples.
The “Epiphany,” the revelation through faith that the
Christ, the Messiah, has offered all God’s children a place in the Kingdom of
God. How do we accept that mission?
This is not a casual question. First we must form ourselves. That means
putting some tools in our Christian tool kit. This means (and we can put this
into our “New Year’s resolution" list) educate and practice. There is no way around this; it takes effort,
not just a thought: “Gee, I really should do this.” Compared with losing weight and other
commitments we make at this time of year, this is more important.
By educating ourselves about discipleship principles, we
automatically become more prone to peace. Any doctor will tell you this is
great for your blood pressure and will actually add years to your life. There will also grow a sense of joy and
serenity as we come to understand that we walk with the Lord and he is there to
help and guide us. And when we practice what we have learned, our spiritual
stamina will grow and build upon itself.
We have accepted the Epiphany of the Lord. We have accepted in faith the mission handed
on to us from Jesus, to the Apostles, to the Church and to us. It is a new year; we owe it to ourselves and
to our God to accept his mission as our own.
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture is “Adoration of the Magi” by Pieter Aertsen, c. 1560.
[4]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the
psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[5]
The Navarre Bible: “Major Prophets,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002,
p. 261.
[6]
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p.
348.
[7]
Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I, Erasmo
Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 74.
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