A blessed feast of the Epiphany of the Lord to you! Since I was little this feast has always been peculiar to me. First off, I never really knew what the feast meant besides the fact that the magi finally arrived at the Christmas scene. It was not until I was a deacon that I began to contemplate the mystery more.
The word epiphany comes from a Greek word which means ‘to reveal’. The Feast of the Epiphany ultimately is when God revealed Himself in human form to the gentiles, the non-Jews the magi. Previously only the Jewish folk had seen the Christ Child, Joseph, Mary and the shepherds. But on this day, gentiles searching for Christ find Him and God reveals Himself to them. They give from their belongings, gold, frankincense and mirror. They worship Him.
Likely most of us are gentiles too, men and women without Jewish ancestry. Therefore, this feast reminds us that as gentiles we must nurture in our hearts the desire to search for Christ just as the magi did so long ago. The desire to meet Christ is already in our hearts. We must fan it into flame. In Sacred Scripture the Good Lord reminds us that He is present in the Word, the Bible and Tradition. He is present in every human being by virtue of sharing our humanity. And, most of all He is present in the Sacraments, at Holy Mass.
As Christians let us respond to God’s grace. There is a desire in our hearts to search for Him. Let us with our will nurture this search and choose this desire for God. Like the magi let us go out of our way to find Christ even leaving so called “important things” behind so as to meet Christ in love, respect and worship. Only in responding to the call to search for Jesus will we have a new Epiphany of God.