The Epiphany of the Lord

The Star of Bethlehem by Edward Burne-Jones

Happy 2009! And happy Feast of the Epiphany to you. I've returned from Belgium and have been preparing for the last few days to resume classes tomorrow and soon will start preparing for exams which begin in a few weeks. It's been nice, however, before all that begins, to spend some relatively quiet and reflective days here in Rome.

I had a chance to attend New Year's Eve vespers at St. Peter's and was struck by the hymn which began the service, "Laudamus Te," ("We Praise You"). Although 2008 was a difficult year for most, it's nonetheless important to give thanks and praise to God as we move into the new year. The act of giving back to God, of offering praise, helps in times of hardship especially to orient us to that which is most important and to remind us that our trust truly rests in God, not in the transitory things of this world. This theme is brought out even more clearly the next morning when, on New Year's Day, Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, the ancient feast which honors Mary's motherhood of Jesus. On that first day of the year, it is fitting to remember her who is the perfect example of the way to approach the new year, with generous response to God (Luke 1:38) and with prayerful awareness to God's action in our lives (Luke 2:19). By recognizing Mary as the mother of Jesus we also acknowledge her as our own mother, asking for her protective intercession. She who lives now with God in heaven is for us a living hope -- indeed, a "Star of Hope," as the pope called her -- that we may one day come to the same joy. It is this dual attitude of praise and hope that properly marks our transition from the old year to the new. Pope Benedict put it well at the vespers service: "The maternal presence of Mary assures us tonight that God will never abandon us, if we entrust ourselves to him and follow his teachings. To Mary, then, with filial affection and trust, let us present our hopes and desires, as well as the fears and the difficulties we carry in our hearts, as we bid farewell to 2008 and prepare ourselves to welcome 2009."

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany and, as such, remember again the reason for the season. Epiphany was in ancient times a celebration of the Incarnation, much as Christmas has become today. It commemorated several events in the life of Jesus that showed God had become human: the visit of the three kings who worshipped Jesus in Bethlehem, Jesus' changing of the water into wine at Cana, and John's baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. Each of these events, celebrated together at Epiphany in medieval times, constituted a theophany, a divine manifestation or disclosure in the person of Jesus. Today the event is centrally focused on the first of these events, the adoration of the three kings or Magi who came to worship Jesus from the East. We celebrate it, remembering that Christ's birth as man was not a private or isolated event -- rather, the star which foretold it was looked for and seen from afar. Jesus' birth, as witnessed today in the adoration of the Magi, is the fulfillment of human history, the event which not only achieved the redemption of the Jews but which also won the salvation of the Gentiles, whose forefathers (and our forefathers, for most of us) the Magi were.

The Feast of the Epiphany therefore is a continuation and a development of Christmas, the movement from the celebration of the Savior's birth to its public acknowledgment in the Magi's praise of the babe. In the joy and triumph of this feast, there are present nonetheless reminders both of the ignominious death that the Christchild would come to suffer, foreshadowed in the gift of myrrh (used in embalming), and also the eschatological vision, when all in heaven will join in that perpetual adoration of Christ.

These are perhaps heady considerations as we start 2009, but important ones nonetheless as we remember that the Christmas season is still with us, still as present today as it was nearly two weeks ago, still alive in the hearts of all Christians always. This great season calls us to remember not only that God became man but that he became man for us, to die for us, to bring us back to fullness of life and union with Him. The events of his life among us, acknowledged first by our forebearers, the Wise Men, mark for us today a true Epiphany, a true realization of God's presence among us, a realization which truly should fill us with praise and thanksgiving as we begin this new year. As the pope remarked today, this is what constitutes for us Christians the reason for our living, the face of God in our midst.

* * *

It is, regrettably, the way of the world that as we celebrate a time of great peace and joy liturgically, the world instead witnesses in reality anything but. Most especially, let us remember in prayer at this time the Holy Land, the land of our Lord's earthly life, that peace may prevail in the hearts of both peoples and that those who need assistance may receive it. O Lord, as we pray today, may your light be strong, your love near, and "draw us beyond the limits which this world imposes, to the life where your Spirit makes all life complete." Amen.