Just a Thought
Most people think that Christmastide ends on the Twelfth night and all Christmas decorations should be down by then, but liturgically Christmastide ends with the Baptism of the Lord, the Feast that follows the one we celebrate today.
After the Nativity of the Lord and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, we find ourselves at the Third major Feast of Christmas, The Epiphany of the Lord. (The Showing). What the Western Church celebrates on The Epiphany — a term of Greek origin — is expressed at the beginning of Mass in the entrance antiphon: ‘Behold, the Lord, the Mighty One, has come; and kingship is in his grasp, and power and dominion.’ And also, in the opening prayer ‘Father, you revealed your Son to the nations by the guidance of a star……’
It is therefore, a question of the universal kingdom of Christ, of his manifestation— which is what ‘epiphany’ means— to pagans. We typically speak of the magi as the first fruits of the nations. The liturgy is not concerned with such matters. It does not fasten its gaze on the magi in order to proclaim thereafter what they represent. We might even say that it doesn’t see these mysterious personages as coming from the East. (Although that is the belief.) In any case it does not distinguish them from the countless multitudes of nations to which, later, the only Son will be revealed. It already sees those nations following the star. Moreover, the liturgy proclaims what happens ‘today.’
It is not simply a matter of imaginative ways of speaking or of poetic and lyrical style. The liturgy refers to facts situated in time and which, as such, are never repeated. But they are events in the history of salvation in which God holds the initiative and in which, though invisible, he is the principal protagonist. These events happening once and for all, transcend the time to which they belong in a special way. As revelation of God and of his plan of salvation that they accomplish, they bear fruit that does not perish. The liturgy re-presents them, that is to say, it makes them present and active ‘today.’ Not in their material components, but in their power—their grace—of salvation. Furthermore, these two opening texts of the Epiphany Mass are calls to understand the biblical readings that follow: as announcements of a mystery, of good news, of what is and will be.
The first reading of the Liturgy of the Word opens up the enormous panorama of the mystery and its various levels of fulfilment.
Quite often— if not always— prophetic oracles are founded in facts, situations, real events to which the prophet is a witness either by personal involvement or through recollection in mediation. Under the power of the Spirit, prophets are able to fathom the depths of meaning in God’s plan for today and tomorrow. Often enough, the eye of the prophet is so perceptive that it reaches to the horizon of time. The prophet perceives more or less confusedly, the fulfilment of all things. In light of the prophet’s experience, descriptions are rendered in images that belong to the poetic genre, the apt language for describing such visions. It has a universal character that makes it comprehensible in all times. Accordingly, this type of language continues to have an impact on us today.
When we hear the prophets read over and over throughout the years, the meaning of their announcements and visions gradually become clearer to us. We seem to view God’s plan anew, especially in the light of the mystery of Christ and the Christian faith. The liturgical context of these texts helps to make clear their entire meaning and importance. This is particularly true of Isaiah’s prophecy that is proclaimed on the Epiphany. The prophets gaze focuses on Jerusalem, toward which he sees a long and joyous procession of her children who ‘come from afar,’ from the Exile from which God has delivered them. On the summit of Zion, the newly constructed Temple blazes with the light. What a marvellous and glorious spectacle.
Some earlier prophetic texts are certainly brought together in its spirit. One of them from Haggi (Hag 2:69) :
‘One moment yet, a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come in, and I will fill this house with glory……Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former…. And in this place I will give peace.’
Thus, in his ecstatic view, all has changed. The city appears to him brightly illuminated, ablaze with the glory of the Lord upon it, while the rest of the world remains in darkness. Toward this glittering light, it is no longer the throng of exiles or the procession of the Feast of Tabernacles that is marching up, but the countless multitudes of nations and kings from every land. They bear their offerings—gold, incense, riches— while singing the praises of the Lord. The prophet sees this transfigured Jerusalem, and he lets us see what looms beyond the horizon of history, the point to which all eyes look, the assembly place for all the nations marching toward the full manifestation ——-
THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD.
Isaiah didn’t dream this; he was not the victim of a mystical hallucination. Throughout the Exodus, particularly after the theophany at Sinai, the glory of the Lord was manifested with clarity. It was announced that one day all would see it at the same time. What the prophet contemplated was the realisation of this promise.
Later Saint John had a similar vision. In the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) he described the heavenly Jerusalem in the same terms—radiant with the glory of God. He added, though, that the Lamb now occupies the place of the lamp.
Nevertheless, the Epiphany is not some kind of mirage that moves farther off the closer one comes to it. When the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, ‘we have seen the glory: the glory of an only Son coming from the Father’. From the beginning of his ministry, at Cana, by the many signs that he accomplished, Jesus, ‘the light of the world’ revealed his glory: which is that of God. For a moment, the darkness of the passion appeared to veil it, yet it shone forth again when Christ was raised from the tomb. The preaching of the Gospel spread it to the four corners of the world and made it burn brightly in the hearts of believers.
The mystery of the Epiphany— the showing forth— of the glory of God is both a present reality and an object of hope. Seers in the Old and the New Testaments were able to briefly contemplate the splendour of the Jerusalem-to-come so that with this vision before our eyes we might join the multitude of nations marching toward the full epiphany of the Lord while sing, with them, of our faith and hope.
Matthew is the only one of the evangelists to report the episode of the magi who came from the East to give homage to ‘the King of the Jews,’ whose star they ‘observed at its rising.’ It requires serious attention to read and meditate on this story, trying not to be misled by popular presentations and folklore, e.g., the fairy tales of Christmas that it evokes. It is a passage from the Gospel, very carefully constructed and edited to tell of a mystery—not to give free rein to the imagination (even though inspired by piety).
After the genealogy of Jesus, which is a kind of introduction (Matt 1:1-17), Matthew’s Gospel concerning the infancy contains five episodes that refer to five prophecies of the Old Testament. The Virginal conception of the Lord. The Adoration of the Magi. The Flight into Egypt. The slaughter of the children of Bethlehem and surrounding area and the return to Nazareth—evocation of what had been said by the prophets —’He shall be called a Nazorean.’ The evangelist suggests that we read these different stories in the light of the Old Testament prophecies, thus revealing the presence of a particular literary genre. One must not read these pages as if they are simply collections of anecdotes, or as if they were the strict and unbiased telling of facts, their only concern being material exactitude. This is the Gospel, the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. In order to announce this, Matthew has recourse to a variety of elements taken from biblical literature, various traditions, symbols, etc.
Consequently, the story of the adoration of the magi is to be understood in this literary context: artificial, certainly, but profoundly theological, although that we do not mean that it is purely legendary and without any historical basis. One might speak of it as history overheard at the door of Scripture and faith.
Even though Matthew does not report on the Lord’s Nativity, or of the Annunciation to Mary: Christians today are very familiar with these events and even celebrate, them before the Feast of the Epiphany and so, they are in no danger of being forgotten, this celebration actually reminds us of them. But it also draws attention to the fact that the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is far from being fully explained, despite the fact that we know there was a census ordered by Ceasar Augustus. Jesus was always destined to be born in Bethlehem because the Scriptures had announced that Bethlehem would be the Messiah’s birthplace. ‘But you Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.’
And so, in a lowly stable in Bethlehem ‘the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.’ The persons who came from the East with their gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh paid homage to a newborn king lying in a manger, who they were? Is still shrouded in mystery. The Gospel tells us nothing about their home country, their status, their religion, their number and believe it or not, their names, although tradition tells us ‘Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar.’ (found in a 9th century Italian manuscript). But what does all this matter? Matthew tells us that all we need to know is that from the time of his coming into the world, the Lord was manifested to people who came from distant lands. The whole world in fact. And the missionary Church never ceases to proclaim this message. It cannot forget the last words that Jesus spoke before returning to the Father:
‘All authority has been given to me, both in heaven and on earth; go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you. And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!’
The Church pursues this mission, knowing that for everyone, today as yesterday, God raises up a ‘star.’
Alleluia, alleluia, We saw his star when it rose, and have come to worship thew Lord. Alleluia.’
