by Father James Rodriguez
If you are reading this, then reports of the world’s end two weeks ago were more than slightly exaggerated. Dec. 21, 2012 proved to be just another day, albeit a rainy one, and the so-called “Mayan prophecy” of the end of time, another false prophecy. Or was it?
Today’s feast signifies the true end of an era. In the Epiphany, God Himself radiates through our time, bringing to an end the long darkness that came before. For so long His people awaited just such a Light from Light — a Lord, consubstantial with His Father. While the lesser lights of our trees and wreaths twinkle, “upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory” (Is. 60:2b). This is a contagious light, so much so that Isaiah goes on to proclaim, “you shall be radiant at what you see.” In the Rite of Baptism, parents and godparents receive a small candle, itself lit from the Easter candle, with the words, “Receive the light of Christ” and an exhortation that this light “be kept burning brightly,” so that these children might “go out to meet Him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.” That is not only our mission as people who claim the Light as our own, it is our very identity.
We who are the Body of Christ, the Church, must necessarily share in Who He is in the world. If He came as a light to the nations, so that “every nation on earth” might adore Him (Ps 72:11), then how can we be satisfied hiding in fear? These are difficult times, to be sure, especially for one who takes seriously the command to go out to all the world, baptizing them, in the name of the true and triune God. However, the task of evangelization is nothing less than sharing the light, bringing the candles of our faith to the dark corners where we would rather not go.
The first darkness that needs light if we are to in fact be light, is the darkness of our own hearts. You cannot give what you do not have, the maxim goes, and our Lord is not content with our comfort zones. The feast of the Epiphany is meant to perpetuate the light and joy of Christmas, the pure gift of love to the world that is the Son, who was to Himself give us this selfsame gift anew on the altar of the Cross 33 years later, and every Sunday after until the end of time. This is our faith, our challenge and our inheritance.
Like the Gentiles, we are, according to St. Paul, “coheirs,” and it is here that we should pause for a moment to look at the context of the second reading. The first hearers of these words were from Asia Minor, within a generation of Jesus’ resurrection. These, then, were newly baptized people, learning how to wield the ‘light of Christ’ while being transformed by it. In his commentary on this letter, Dr. Scott Hahn notes St. Paul’s portrayal of the Church as “a holy and universal community that shines out to a world shattered by sin.” These Gentiles, then, originally defined as not being the chosen people of Israel, become chosen, as “members of the same Body,” “coheirs” and “copartners” in setting the world ablaze with love (Eph 3:6).
In rather stark contrast to this outward movement of evangelization, this casting out into the deep, our Gospel today shows two different movements. The first involves the magi, who seek “the newborn king of the Jews” and travel in search of the One over Whom the star would finally rest. King Herod, on the other hand, in the anti-evangelization of fear, sends them to Bethlehem with ugly motives that are hidden yet obvious. Notice here the interplay between truth and deception, light and darkness, life and death. These would come to surround the public ministry of Jesus, His Crucifixion, and the life of the Church to our very day. Yet, just as Herod was unsuccessful, the Magi “having been warned in a dream not to return” (Matthew 2:12), neither will Satan, “the father of lies [and] the murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44) succeed.
We are at the feet of the Newborn King today, kneeling before Jesus Eucharistic. We bring to Him the gifts of our time, talent, and treasure, even though so often we seem to lack all three. Like the Mayans, we await the light promised by Isaiah. Like the people of Israel and the Gentiles, we are given it. This Light alone has the power to save us and change us into a people uniquely His own, so that like the Magi, we might depart from here “by another way” (Mt 2:12) and arrive safely home to adore Him forever.
Readings for The Epiphany of the Lord
Isaiah 60: 1-6
Psalm 72: 1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Ephesians 3: 2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2: 1-12
Father James Rodriguez, parochial vicar at Most Precious Blood, Long Island City, was ordained to the priesthood in 2008.