The Feast of the Epiphany

The Pattern of our Year

Could it be that this great feast of the Epiphany which we are celebrating this weekend might just become for us a template for the year ahead?  With the beginning of every New Year we scratch our heads and try and think of what may be in store for us, or what it is we ought to be resolving to do as we launch in to January and beyond. So why not look at what lies at the heart of this feast, and make it our resolve to put into effect the treasure which accompanies the magi’s coming?

The journey of the Magi Benozo Gozzoli

The journey of the Magi
Benozo Gozzoli

Every year contains a treasure trove of uncertainty, and so none of us can be too rigid or too unwilling to adapt our lives to the circumstances we find ourselves in. Most of us have plans or at least expectations for the future, and we set out our stall to look to achieve those things which we think are important and necessary for the well being of ourselves and our families. The Epiphany teaches us to bring these hopes and desires to the crib and to place them into a context where God is revealed to us through these very hopes and desires. No-one really knows just what the meaning or significance of the magi’s gifts actually stood for, so we are able to find meaning in them which speaks personally to us.

Gold, that most precious of materials should draw us into a sense of knowing what really is of value for us. This should help us see our lives and the lives of those around us as priceless realities which are to be held up as sacred, to be afforded the respect and dignity they deserve. So often we see people being disparaged and treated as commodities and not as images of the God who made us.

Frankincense expresses an alternative reality, one that sits on the opposite side of the secular society which we inhabit. We are challenged by this as we rub shoulders and mix every day with people who have no understanding or thought towards the spiritual or prayerful aspect of their lives. We should whenever we are able,  manifest the great need that every person has to encounter Jesus Christ in a way which brings him close to people. This is best done by living a life in which prayer, contemplation of the gospel and the sacraments, really are central to who we are. If we want to reverse the path along which our society is walking and bring to it a more caring and loving aspect, then we should not shy away from living out our faith in a way which enlightens people to the goodness and the abiding mercy which flows forth from its teachings.

Myrrh foreshadows suffering and death, but what is the Christian understanding of this  reality.  Is there anything positive to be revealed in the meaning of human suffering? Maybe a way of accessing that meaning lies through a profound reflection on the very word “revealed”. What is revealed to the magi, is the human reality of our God, who lives our life exactly as we live it, with its horrors and traumas, disappointments and tragedies. This revelation points us outwards, beyond the confines of the surroundings which can protect us, into the harsh and afflicted world of innocent suffering and death. It seems to be a world devoid of hope, and of love, but isn’t it the fact that our faith is being revealed to us in the midst of this affliction, as part of humanity. Yes its meaning seems meaningless and our hope in it seems hopeless yet it is the world where Jesus Christ is, and where he is revealed to us in his humanity and in his divinity. It is our Epiphany.

Here’s to a good year.

 

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