5 January 2020 – Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

Readings: Isaiah 6-: 1-6; Psalm 72, R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.;

Ephesians 3: 2-3A, 5-6; Gospel: Matthew 2: 1-12

Since 2000, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) has been conducting a survey around Christmas on how hopeful Filipinos are as they enter a new year. Every year, the result is high, 87 percent when it was first conducted, and 96 percent in 2019.

One could consider the Christmas and New Year holidays a natural season of hope for Filipinos. Add to this our natural sunny disposition and our ranking as fifth out of over 50 countries in the 2019 Gallup Poll on happiness.

The whole notion of hope is an excellent context in which we can reflect on today’s Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord, the manifestation of the Baby Jesus to the whole world as represented by the Biblical Magi, also known as the Three Wise Men or Three Kings.

Today’s Gospel gives us the narrative of the magi’s visit to the Child in the manger, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold was a gift usually given to a king, frankincense to a priest, and myrrh to one who was to die. The gifts defined Jesus’ identity and mission.

What adds to the power of this story was the general mood of the world at the time. Historical records show that there was a strong sense of expectation of the coming of a king who would establish an empire.

Manifestation of the divine

In the midst of all this hope and expectation, the story of the magi paying homage to the Child Jesus becomes a moment of epiphany—of encountering the Child Jesus, the manifestation of the divine, and of great joy, awe and reverence, experiencing the presence of God in one’s life.

A more secular sense of epiphany is the moment when something becomes clear to us, the eureka moment when something we have been struggling with becomes clear, and everything falls into place.

The Three Magi bring together these two moments of epiphany.

It is, on the one hand, an epiphany when suddenly everything makes sense. All the experiences in the journey come together, and one feels a deeper sense of purpose.

On the other hand, it is an epiphany of knowing that one is in the presence of the divine, and nothing else matters. In the words of the Psalmist: “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46: 10)

The searching, the longing, the desiring transform into joy, awe and reverence. But it does not end there. The encounter with God that stills our heart and soul brings us deeper into our relationship with God.

In the words of St. Augustine of Hippo: “Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you … You were with me, but I was not with you … On your exceedingly great mercy, and on that alone, rests all my hope.”

From this deep relationship with God, we emerge with a renewed sense of mission. The magi left the manger with this grace and knew they were not to return to Herod. They returned home bearing the greater gift of the journey—the presence of God in their life.

Joseph Campbell, in his classic work that gave us the Hero’s Journey framework, points out that after this deeply transformative journey, we must go back home and share the blessings.

Return home

“Born again after experiencing a life-enhancing and soul-awakening journey, we must now return home from where we have taken our leave. We must now survive the impact of returning to the world as it is, having become who we now are, and risk bringing forth our newly clarified gifts and capacities—as this is the whole purpose of the journey” (from the Hero’s Journey Foundation).

The mission now is to help transform the world and fill it with God’s presence. Bring people to an encounter with God, through their own journeys and epiphanies.

We begin 2020 in a similar mood of hope and expectation. The mission now is to direct the story and journey of our people, our nation and our Church to the Child in the manger.

It is not enough that we hope. Our hope must stir us to take the journey, and must see us through its realities—the distance we must travel, the uncertainties, the possible mishaps, the deception, the dangers—and give us perseverance and tenacity until we reach journey’s end.

To this Child we pray, in the words of St. Augustine: “On your exceedingly great love and mercy, and on that alone, rests all my hope.”

Then we return home bringing the Child Jesus into the world, to transform the life and hope of our people and our world.