“What Are We Looking For?”
Epiphany 2021
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Epiphany, the revelation of
Christ to the Gentiles, as represented by the Magi.
Epiphany also means a moment of sudden and great revelation or realization.
For the Magi, it was a moment of realization. They were comfortable in their homeland, and maybe they were looked up to by their own people as they had knowledge of the stars.
But it was one star, a peculiar star, that caught their attention. The star caught their attention as a means to a revelation, and they came to the realization that the star was beckoning them, calling them to something mysterious and yet wonderful, to look for this infant King of the Jews.
So, they got up and got moving, and yet, they were not that certain how things would turn out. They only had the star to guide them and yet the star was not always there for them.
That was why they ended up in Jerusalem, and they were even used by King Herod to be his agents. But they still managed to find their way to Jesus.
But did they expect to find an infant King of the Jews? Did they expect to find a Baby lying in a manger at the stable in the obscure little town of Bethlehem?
Whatever their expectations, it was by Divine revelation that gave them the realization that the infant lying in the manger is, in fact, the King they were looking for.
They acknowledged that the infant was a King, as symbolized by the gold, that he is Divine, as symbolized by the frankincense, and that he is human as symbolized by the myrrh.
One lesson we can learn from the Magi, these Wise Men, is that they had to look and listen and think about what God was showing them. The wise men offered Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh to the Infant Jesus. What do we offer?
We offer our eyes, our ears our minds and our hearts to Jesus.
If we open ourselves up to the Wonder that our God has in store for us, His Son, Jesus will open our eyes to see what we need to see, open our ears to hear what we need to hear, open our minds to understand what He is showing us and open our hearts to love one another as He has loved us.
There is an old English Carol based on a poem entitled ‘A Christmas Carol’ by
English poet Christina Rossetti. The poem was first published in January 1872.
The title is: “In The Bleak Mid-Winter. n The last verse always tugs at my heart. The lyrics are these:
What can I give Him, Poor as I am?
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, Yet what I can I give Him, Give my heart.
Like the Magi, we journey on into 2021, with the only certainty and assurance that Jesus our Lord and Savior will guide us through the year, so that we can see Him in all things, and to give thanks to Him for all things.
As we journey into this new year, in the middle of a Pandemic, let us open our minds, our ears and our heats to see the wonders God has in store for us. Let us live faithfully as the people God has called to be. And if we have nothing else to give, let us give Him, our heart!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!