Feast of the Epiphany
By Fr. Victor Feltes
How often do you feel awkward or embarrassed? I think the Magi felt that way repeatedly in today’s Gospel story.
Who were the Magi? Ancient civilizations east of Israel (such as the Persians and Babylonians) bestowed upon their men of learning the title “Magus.” The Magi we commemorate this day (traditionally identified as Saints Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar) apparently studied the heavens—a useful skill for tracking the rainy seasons and deciding when to plant and harvest. The visionary Jewish Prophet Daniel, six centuries before Christ, had served as a wise man in Babylon. Perhaps he left behind instructions about the star to watch for as the signal of the Messiah’s birth.
Some speculate the Star of Bethlehem was a comet, others say it was a supernova, but given the clues in the text and in history the best explanation suggests it was a planet seen in some unique position relative to the other lights of heaven. This is plausible because the ancients regarded the planets as ‘wandering stars’ moving across the fixed constellations. The word “planet” comes from the Greek word for “wanderer.” But whatever sign the Magi beheld, it convinced them a new heir to the Jewish throne was born. So they packed valuable gifts and traveled far from their homeland to honor this newborn king.
St. Matthew records, “When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.’” But there was no newborn king be found there; at least, no baby in Herod’s household descended from King David, as the Jewish scripture prophesies required for the Christ. This surprised the Magi and perhaps they doubted themselves. “Did we misread the stars? Was the wisdom we were following merely a myth? Did we come all this way for nothing?” But then there was a new ray of hope.
“Herod called the Magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.’” After their audience with the king, they set out on the short journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. “And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them…” This was a sign reconfirming their mission, and “they were overjoyed at seeing the star…” The star somehow “came and stopped over the place where the child was. …And on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
This house in Bethlehem was far humbler than Herod’s great palace. And if even the Magi were not embarrassed to lay face down upon that lowly floor, it must have felt awkward for the Magi to present the luxury gifts they had brought to this needy family. Rather than incense or gum resin, the Holy Family could have gotten more use from blankets, baby clothes, or a goat. But this seeming mistake was providential. The Magi’s gift of gold would come in handy later when the Holy Family was hiding away in Egypt. And besides that gold for a King, the other gifts of the Magi were prophetically symbolic: frankincense, used in temple worship, for a High Priest and Deity; and myrrh, used in Jewish embalming, for a Savior born to die and rise.
“And [then the Magi,] having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, …departed for their country by another way.” Did the Magi share this dream with the Holy Family before departing? If not, how did St. Matthew ever learn of this detail? Regardless, if the Magi recognized a warning of danger in this dream, they may have felt mortified again that their visit to Bethlehem may have placed a target on the Holy Family’s backs. The Magi’s mission had announced in Jerusalem the birth of Christ, but it also led to the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt and Herod’s massacre of the innocents. Yet even Herod’s freely-chosen evil was foreseen by God, who received the souls of his Holy Innocents as martyrs for Christ and fulfilled what was foretold through the Prophet Hosea: “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”
We do not know what this new year ahead holds for us. And like the Magi, sometimes our honest efforts will produce experiences of awkwardness and embarrassment, problems and seeming failures. But even if we don’t always know what we are doing, the Lord knows what he is doing. So strive to please and serve him, and never give up on your life journey’s mission. For just as he did with the Magi, the Lord will incorporate all of our faithful efforts into his great providential story.
Parishable Items 
Leave a comment