The magi uttered the first words spoken in Matthew’s gospel. “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” For centuries scholars debated if this star was a literary symbol or an actual astronomical phenomenon.
On the sunset of the last winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, just days before Christmas, Saturn and Jupiter came together. The conjunction of these two planets is a very rare occurrence in the night sky. Those who were blessed with having a clear night sky, which wasn’t the case for us here on Whidbey, viewed a majestic sight that could rightly be called the Christmas star.
Perhaps this is what the magi, known also as the wise men, saw, prompting them to leave their homeland and venture westward to find the newborn king of the Jews. We don’t know much about them. Quite likely, they were advisors to the king of Babylon, so they were aware of the Jewish search for the Messiah since their exile there.
We assume there were only three magi since only three gifts were given to the child when they found him. Matthew doesn’t tell us their names but early church tradition soon named them: Melchior, who was black; Balthazar, who was Asian, and Gaspar, who was European. This was Matthew’s endeavor to signify the universal character of God’s saving grace intended for all peoples, not just the Jews. This is an important message for us today, when there is much racial, ethnic and religious intolerance in so many places. While God’s will for universal salvation seems obvious, really integrating it into our hearts is challenging for some of us.
The magi’s journey is called an epiphany for good reason. An epiphany is an appearance of something, often a divine being. When we have an epiphany, we are having a sudden insight into a deeper meaning of something. For the magi, encountering Jesus was no ordinary finding. A great epiphany for us would be to know the glory of God’s love reflected in everyone we meet.
Upon finding Jesus, the magi prostrated themselves and did him homage. Their journey and act of worship upon finding the child Jesus are examples of how we can venture into this new year and find Christ daily in our lives. The journey of the magi should prompt us to reflect on how readily or reluctant we are to search for the Christ in our daily lives.
Our diligence in searching for anything is directly related to its value. Lose a penny and we don’t fret. I find pennies on the ground when walking around town. Misplace your only car key and you are likely to tear the house apart and mount a novena to St. Anthony until you find it. Lose a child, and you never stop searching. This Sunday’s gospel is about searching, and the search is for someone who is beyond measure or compare, namely Jesus Christ. How much value do you place on seeking to know Jesus better?
Today’s culture is plagued by people seeking a higher meaning to things in the wrong places. Consulting horoscopes or fortune tellers, for example, are acts of divination and the Church urges us to reject them. If we believe God is the creator of heaven and earth and he came in person to save us, we don’t need gimmicks to understand his will for our lives.
God has already given us the answers we need in sacred scripture. We need to take time to reflect on his message. Just as the Magi searched diligently to find the Christ child, we too must search diligently to better understand him. God has blessed us with his Church and its teachings and sacred scripture to help us better understand his will.
This next week while many people are making New Year’s resolutions, consider making a spiritual resolution to be more intentional about your prayer life, especially if you are not coming to Mass during this pandemic time. The more time you spend with our Lord, the more you will become aware of his presence in your life. Coming to better know him will fill your days with many “epiphanies” of his love.
The magi’s story is our story: those who search diligently for Christ will find him if they follow the signs given by God. Ultimately, our search to find Christ is only satisfied when we remain open to the God who labors diligently to reveal his divine son to us. Sometimes we grow discouraged in our search for God. We may feel that God isn’t answering our prayers when actually it could be that we don’t like what God is trying to tell us.
Today’s solemnity of the Epiphany centers on the journey that every one of us travels, the journey that is ultimately a search for God: finding God in our life’s meaning, finding God in belonging to family and community; finding God in the satisfaction of doing good. As the magi experienced, God sets “stars” ahead of us —The understanding and support of family and friends, the forgiveness we extend and receive, the meaning we come in know in giving and serving those in need, are all “epiphanies” of God’s presence in our lives. In the new year before us, may our hearts and spirits behold these many epiphanies in which we re-discover the love of “Emmanuel” — God in our midst.
St. Hubert Catholic Church
As Roman Catholics, centered in the Eucharist, our mission is to live Christ's Gospel message to love, teach, pray, and serve.