Epiphany of the Lord:

The feast of the Epiphany of the Lord focuses upon the “New born King of the Jews.” It is a feast for both the Jews and Gentiles to follow what God is revealing. God reveals Jesus to the humanity. When he is found, offer him gifts and worship him. He is the Lord of all people and all nations. The responsorial Psalm summarizes the theme for the feast: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Let us consider comparing king Herod and the Magi and find how different they are in responding to God’s call to follow him:

  1. The magi were from the east and travelled all the way from their native countries leaving behind their work and families and people; Whereas Herod was in Jerusalem, very close to where Jesus was born but didn’t bother to search for Jesus.
  2. The Magi were pagans and non-Jews. But they searched for Jesus. Herod on the other hand, was a Jew and the birth of the Messiah was prophesied for the Jews and the salvation primarily is to be theirs.
  3. Magi came to visit Jesus with enthusiasm joy of finding someone great; Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.
  4. Magi had a guiding star to guide them to the King of the Jews; Herod had the help of the chief priests and scribes and enquired of where Christ was to be born.
  5. When the Magi found the place of the birth of the Savior and saw the child with Mary his mother. Herod didn’t bother to search for the child even though he had the means to search.
  6. Magi opened their treasures and offered baby Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Herod, promised to worship the newborn king of the Jews, but actually was looking to kill him.

Jim Beckman in the video on Formed.org gives a beautiful example of the covert operation of president George W. Bush in 2003. He visited the US army in Baghdad to celebrate Thanksgiving with the soldiers in the midst of war. He visited the army unnoticed. He simply appeared in the kitchen serving the solders food. His own parents didn’t know he went to meet the army in Baghdad for Thanksgiving. They were waiting for him at their ranch in Texas. Can you imagine the brave gesture of the president of the United States, risking his life and coming among his subjects in a war territory! Beckman says, “I think the most amazing covert operation in all of human history is, God coming into the humanity through the incarnation.”

Epiphany means, revelation. God reveals himself to the humanity. At this most amazing feast, we are called to travel and do a pilgrimage and meet the child Jesus. We are called to be magi-like people and not Herod-like. To be magi-like people Beckman proposes four simple things for us to do:

  1. Do our part: Learn about our faith and live it.
  2. Have humility: God shows us the epiphany in some manner at sometime of our life. When God gives us this moment of revelation, we need to have the humility to accept him.
  3. Detach and follow: Magi detached themselves from what they were doing and whatever concerned them just to find what God was showing them. Like the magi we have to have the will and strength to detach ourselves from what is holding us and follow to find what God is showing us, that is Jesus.
  4. Offer gifts: When the magi saw the child Jesus, they offered him gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense. They offered wholeheartedly all of their wealth. And they worshiped Jesus. We worship Jesus also. But do we offer gifts to Jesus. We should offer the Lord our best. The best gift we can give to the Lord is our heart.