The Feast of the Epiphany

Seeking God

What I love about the story of Epiphany are the magi searching for knowledge. They used cutting edge science that was available to them to search for God among man. They were foreigners who had probably studied the Hebrew scriptures and were open to wisdom from a land other than their own.

They traveled to Bethlehem and brought news of the Savior born among the Jews to their home countries. They prefigured Jesus' own attitude towards the power structure of His day by following the dream given to them by God and not revealing to Herod the whereabouts of Jesus.

They were the first gentile Christians and were a sign to us that all are loved by God.

The word "epiphany" means to have a revelation.  The magi were constantly seeking wisdom and this led them to God. Let each of us follow their example.

Blessing the House 

An Epiphany tradition in some parishes is to hand out blessed chalk to the congregation who then write above every door in their home 20 C+M+B 11.  This stands for the first 2 numbers of the year, the names of each of the three kings (Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar) and the last 2 numbers of the year.  The letters also stand for Christus Mansionem  Benedicat which is Latin for "Christ, bless this house".

Have a happy Epiphany and a joyful 2011!!

Epiphany--Seek the Lord While He May Be Found

Today's feast of the Epiphany celebrates the revelation of the Christ child to the wider world.  Although the Bible does  not specify three "kings," it does mention three gifts.  There is a tradition that each magi was of a different race, representing all the peoples of the world.

In his sermon today, our priest mentioned that after seeing Jesus, the kings went home "by a different route".  This, he said, was indicative and symbolic of the fact that meeting Christ will inevitably change one's life.  After seeing God, we go home "by a different route" and are forever changed.

Another thing that the three wise men represent is science and all searchers of truth.  The three magi were probably court astronomers watching the night sky for God's signs. According to BethlehemStar.net what the three astronomers were watching was the planet Jupiter appear to join with the star "Regulus".  Both Jupiter and Regulus had associations with kingship in the ancient world. This began to occur during the Jewish New Year, September of 3 BC and so alerted the wise men that a king would be born for the Jewish nation. This conjunction happened in the constellation Leo the Lion, which symbolized the Jewish tribe of Judah which was prophesied to be the tribe in which the savior would be born.

You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.  ~Micah 5:2

After appearing to join Regulus, 9 months later, Jupiter then joined Venus, the symbol of motherhood.

Also according to the above website, Jupiter's movement, joining with Regulus and then Venus, stopped in December of 2 BC to the south of where the magi would be traveling, from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.

Check out BethlehemStar.net for a more thorough explanation of the astronomical phenomenon.

At any rate, I think the magi are a sometimes overlooked aspect of the Christmas story.  Christ shows His truth to all seekers and shows Himself in all knowledge.  Let us always search for Him.

The Wisdom of the Magi

Fr. Barron's homily on The Epiphany is very telling. He talks about the magi--astronomers--astrologers--who were seeking by their own means, the Truth. They used the stars that they could see to lead them to the place where the Savior would be born.

But, what happened when they reached Bethlehem? Did they innately know just where this Baby was? Did their own spiritual methods show them exactly what they needed to know?

No.

The three wise men knew that in order to find the Truth in all its specificity, they would need to consult the men of Judaism--the chosen people--as to what their prophesies said about where the Babe was to be born.

Seeking gave way to surrender. Spirituality gave way to the finding of a God who was not a nebulous force, or a concocted myth, but a Person who sought them as much as they sought Him.

And they fell down and worshiped Him. Matthew 2:11

Follow the star

Epiphany memories

Ah, Epiphany.

Seventeen years ago today, my dh and I were in Redeemer Lutheran Church in Baltimore, watching our 2 year old son carry the Baby Jesus up the aisle for his day care Epiphany pageant. (The director had wisely decided to postpone any "Christmas" festivities until Epiphany so as not to overwhelm the little ones. The "twos" could come in their footy pajamas.)

The teacher told us that the child who was supposed to carry up the Baby Jesus (a teddy bear wrapped up in a baby blanket) chickened out at the last minute, so our son volunteered. Of course, at 19, he remembers none of this. But each Epiphany, we remember how proud we were.

To us, he may as well have been inaugurated president of the United States.