This Sunday we celebrate Epiphany, a central mystery of the Christmas season. The prophet Isaiah proclaims the core of the feast: “Rise up, Jerusalem, your light has come.” That light is the appearance of the Son of God among us. The word epiphany means “manifestation,” and this feast celebrates the moment when the newborn Savior, through the visitation of the Magi, is revealed not only to Israel, but to all the nations. The light that once guided Israel’s journey now shines for all peoples and every age.
Isaiah foretells that the “wealth of nations” will be drawn to this light: caravans from the East, bearing gifts and proclaiming the praises of the Lord. These gifts are more than gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They symbolize what all people bring into an encounter with God, and what we bring to Mass every Sunday – our lives, our struggles, our hopes, offered to God so that they may be transformed. The true wealth of nations, then, is not silver or gold, but the sons and daughters of every land who come to kneel before Christ.
In their journey, which included an inward search for truth, the Magi discovered not an idea but a Person: God’s Son lying in a manger. This shattered their expectations, and so they knelt and did him homage. The encounter changed not only the course of their journey home but, indeed, their very lives. And so it is for us.
From encounter with Christ flows mission. We who have sought and found him—or been found by him—do not simply return home unchanged. We are sent forth to live what we have received, so that others, through our words and actions, may be drawn to Christ.
Fr. Richard Hermes, S.J.
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