Feast of the Epiphany (Mt. 2:1-12) “Life is a Journey”

            Merry Christmas! If we were to greet people like that today they probably would think that we had lost our mind. Decorations for Christmas started coming down on December 26th.  Valentines are on sale in the stores. Christmas music will not be played until after Halloween next fall.  All this shows what a short attention span we have in our culture. 

                 But there is another way of experiencing Christmas. The Catholic church’s celebration of Christmas isn’t a one day and done experience.  We are to slowly savor the birth of Jesus.  Unfortunately, when great events happen in our life, we don’t take time to fully appreciate what they mean.  We are pushed to prepare for the next holiday, vacation, challenge in our jobs, crisis that needs to be dealt with. 

                The church asks us to slow down.  We have several feasts on the calendar this time of year.  Our parish Christmas decorations are still up.  We will see them for another week.  Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Family.  Thursday, we commemorated the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. Today, we remember the Epiphany of the Lord.  During these Christmas days we are to explore how Jesus is made manifest in our lives.  Where do we see Jesus physically present in our world? How do we feel him spiritually?

                The liturgy of the church reminds us that our life isn’t meant to be a sprint.  No, our life is a marathon.  A better way to describe it is that life is a journey.  When we think about the Gospel story today, we remember the Magi who came to see Jesus.  What can we learn from them? The first thing that we remember about these wise men was that they were seekers, people who believed that there was always something more to learn.  Every ruler in the ancient world had advisers. What did these counselors study?  Certainly, they didn’t study the latest polling data that was generated by media outlets.  Nor did the experts closest to monarchs and emperors comb through economic data to see if citizens felt secure like many people in positions of power do today. 

                No, they looked at religious texts.  The wise men studied philosophical writing.  Also, the learned people in ancient societies studied sciences like astronomy. The travelers who came to Jerusalem seeking the newborn king were said to be from Persia.  At the time Jesus was born, this was one of the greatest centers of learning in the world.  The knowledge that was sought wasn’t something that was new.  But the information that was most treasured was timeless.  When the Magi came to Herod, they were prompted by everything they had studied plus the movement of the stars.

                The second thing we notice about the wisemen was that they didn’t travel alone.  No, they came as a group.  The Magi were smart enough to talk to each other.  The learned men who came seeking Jesus, shared their resources.  Most great ideas don’t come from individuals but from one person building on knowledge that has been accumulated through years of research by others.  If people learn from each other, if people work together, if nations seek truth together, the results are much better. If we don’t, we will pay the price.

            Another thing that The Magi teach us is that life is better when we are generous with each other.  The pilgrims who came to Jesus realized that the newborn child they found was a gift from God.  The travelers probably wondered what this child represented. But they realized that they would have to wait to see. Everything they had studied, the information they had shared, told them that something profound was happening.  Because of this, they worshiped the baby they found.  As part of their worship, they opened their treasure chests in thanksgiving. The magi teach us that one thing we can do when we experience God’s grace (gift) is to offer something in return.

                The Feast of the Epiphany then teaches us three great lessons.  The first is to be patient as we journey through life, to savor the experiences we have.  The second is to learn from each other. Finally, if we want to be like the wisemen we need to be aware of the common good.  We need to share our gifts with the community.  Jesus shared his life with us.  We need to live our lives for the good of others.  When we do, we experience the Christ event firsthand.  We also become a manifestation of the Lord.