Cycle A - Year I:  

8 January 2023: Solemnity of the Lord's Epiphany 

(Liturgical Color: White)

Readings:

First Reading:        Isaiah 60:1-6

Second Reading:   Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6

Gospel:  Please Read  Matthew 2:1-12 

Our God in person!

The Universal Church celebrates this Sunday the Solemnity of the Lord's Epiphany. It used to be more popularly known as Feast of the Three Kings (also referred to as Magi or Wise Men).

What is the significance of today's feast?  

The word "epiphany" means manifestation or appearance of God in person like us through the humanity of Jesus our Lord. Thus, we see in the Lord's Epiphany the plan of God to give His only Son as King and Savior, not just to the Jews who are God's chosen people in the Old Testament, but to all nations as well. It is significant that the three kings were non-Jews, and so they are considered as foreigners. That is why the implication of today's Feast is that our Lord Jesus Christ comes to both Jews and Gentiles (or non-Jews), including our present generation of believers in Christ that all may find true and lasting peace with God Almighty.

The Bible account of the journey of the three kings is one of the favorite stories in the Gospel even in our youth. It is a story of journey of life, of guidance on the way, of delight in finding faith and God. A bright star started the three kings on their journey and guided them to the end of their destination where they found the infant Jesus. So also with our own faith, the star which we share at baptism is the promise of God to guide us through our journey in this life.

St. Matthew narrates about the three kings looking for the infant Jesus in order to pay Him homage with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The Western Church assigned names for the three kings as Melchor (believed  to be a Babylonian scholar), Caspar (a Persian scholar), and Balthazar (an Arab scholar). 

These gifts of the three kings have symbolic significance to the divine identity and mission of Jesus: gold has great value which symbolizes the kingship of Jesus; frankincense is a perfume and the symbol of the divinity of Jesus; and myrrh is a common anointing oil which symbolizes the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross which brought about salvation of the whole humanity. These gifts speak of their respect for Jesus' divine identity and the realism of His death at the hands of humankind.

Let us reflect on the relevance of the Feast of the Lord's Epiphany in our lives today.

Epiphany tells us that God became visible and audible for us in the person of Jesus, who is the human image of the invisible God. So that even to our generation we experience God living among us and within us in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Epiphany reveals to us God's plan for all men and women to be saved from the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, by believing that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Because God's kingdom is meant for all peoples of all generations.

The journey of the three kings in search of the Baby Jesus is our guide in our own spiritual pilgrimage in the New Year 2023. May the wisdom of these Wise Men guide us in our search for true leaders. May the Lord's revelation or epiphany shine on everyone so that the gift of salvation may be shared by all.

Trivia: These three kings brought gifts to the baby Jesus, so today by tradition is also considered the last day of sharing Christmas gifts to our loved ones.  

  

Happy Feast of the Lord's Epiphany to everyone. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!