Epiphany of the Lord Jan. 4th, 2008 - Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord and with this celebration we continue this beautiful season of Christmas. Day after day we have been meditating and celebrating the mystery of the birth of Jesus and the consequences of his incarnation in the world: the feast of the holy innocents, the Holy Family, the Blessed name of Jesus, the memory of Saint Stephen and Saint John the apostle and today the Epiphany of the Lord, the moment when the wise men from east go to worship the child and they recognize him as the King of the world.

The word Epiphany, comes from the Greek and means the powerful entrance; it was used when a King entered a city; epiphany also means manifestation and it was used when a divinity was revealed in an extraordinary way. Both things are true with Jesus Christ on this day: God reveals himself to men and a king has been born, the King of the Universe has arrived. That is how the prophet announces in the first reading: “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” and the psalm repeats it. “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.”

But the kingdom of this King was not easy, from his birth Jesus Christ, was and continues to be a sign of contradiction for men. Why? Because before Him, like we see in the Gospel, people have always had, two fundamental attitudes: acceptance or rejection, some loved him and others hated him.  It has always been and always will be the same, yes, because before Jesus Christ, every person has to define his or her life, accept him or reject him, tell him yes or no, according to the words of Jesus: “Nobody can serve two masters, because he will love one and hate the other” and the others “whoever is not with me is against me.”

Today the Gospel presents to us the beautiful arrival of the Wise Men in Bethlehem to worship the child and present to him the gifts. Let us see the different attitudes of the actors in this story to discover a practical teaching for our lives. Mathew, has not only wanted to tell us a story, but he has wanted to teach us what to do, and what our attitude should be before the birth of Jesus, what models we must imitate and which ones we shouldn’t.

Let us see, in the story these three different reactions come up before the announcement of the birth of Jesus, the one of the wise men, Herod, and of the priests. We begin with the negative models that we should avoid. The first one is Herod: when he finds out about the event he “is startled”, he is scared, he is not amazed. He calls together the priests and the scribes, but not to know the truth, but to come up with a plan to eliminate the child. Herod represents the person who has already made his choice between the will of God and his own will, of course he has opted for himself, for his own selfishness. He does not see anything else but his own interest, and he is determined to eliminate any thing that threatens his security or power. For him Jesus, was not a savior, the Messiah, Jesus was a threat, an enemy. He uses as an excuse that he is taking care of his kingdom, the good of the nation, the common good and for it he had no mercy, not even for the innocent children that he sent to be murdered, because according to him it was necessary to do it. The example of Herod is repeated daily, there are persons for whom Jesus is the enemy of their liberty, enemy of their interests, enemy of their happiness and they are mistaken. The biggest enemy of man is not God, not even the devil; the major enemy of man is his own selfishness, pride because they have the power to separate us from God and from our brothers and sisters.

The second example is the attitude of the priests and the scribes. Consulted by Herod to see where the Messiah would be born, they do not doubt in giving him the exact answer. Incredible, they knew perfectly where the Messiah was born; they are even capable of indicating it to everyone, but they do not move. They do not run to Bethlehem, like the wise men and supposedly they awaited the arrival of the Messiah. No, they comfortably stay in Jerusalem. They say: “you go and them come tell us”. They are like the sings on the free way, they indicate the way to follow, but they remain immobile. In them we see an attitude that is symbolized among us: indifference. We very well know where Jesus is, where we can find him: in the sacraments, in the Eucharist, in our brothers and sisters, in the poor, in the sick, etc.; but we do not move. We also know what following Jesus implies: “deny myself and take my cross” we even know how to explain it to others, but we need the courage and will to put it into practice in our lives.

Finally let us see the protagonist of this festivity, the Wise Men. They do not teach with words, but with acts; not with what they say, but with what they do. They did not hesitate they went on their way; they left the security of their palaces, their goods, their families, their servants, etc. They acted without thinking twice. They did not begin to calculate the risks, the length of the journey, no, they went with determination and with courage to encounter the Lord, that is why they found him.

The last beautiful teaching of the Wise Men, the Gospel says: “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.” Yes, brothers and sisters, when Jesus Christ has been found, we cannot return the same way. When your life changes, the path also changes. The obstacles and prior dangers and temptations must be avoided, there are paths that I can no longer take, yes, a new path begins, beautiful, maybe harder but if I walk with Jesus, there is no problem, there is nothing to fear.

Brothers and sisters, we are beginning a new year, the example of the wise men must encourage us like them to follow the star, to encounter Jesus and once we find him offer the best that we have, the most valuable thing that I have, my life. Remember, we are the epiphany of God, we must reflect Jesus in our lives, words, thoughts, and with our acts. May we show that we have Christ in our hearts and make others know him and love him. Let us pray to the Lord like Mary: Lord, here I am to do your will, Lord I give you my heart, I give you my soul, I live for you alone. Lord, Jesus, let it be done in my life according to your Word, Amen.

c.f. Isaiah 60, 1-6; Ephesians 3, 2-3ª.5-6; Mathew 2, 1-12