In the book of Genesis, we meet Abraham, who is to become the patriarch of the Jewish people, with whom God made his covenant. But, in the 15th chapter of Genesis, Abraham and his wife Sara are childless, making their future seem uncertain. Abraham laments to God that they will leave no heirs. God asks Abraham to go outside, telling him to look up at the sky and count the stars, if he is able to do so. God added: Just so will your descendants be as numerous. This starts the covenant with God to which we trace the people of Israel. One of the Daily Masses during the 4th week of Advent has the reading from the first chapter of Matthew's Gospel that traces Jesus’ genealogy back many generations to Abraham. So, it is appropriate that both Jesus and Abraham are connected to the stars in the heavens, as we hear of holy men from the East directed by a star in their search to find Jesus after his birth.
It is interesting that only Matthew, the evangelist who wrote directly for a Jewish audience, the one who began his Gospel with the Jewish genealogy of Jesus tracing him back to Abraham, is the only Evangelist to tell us about the Magi, whom we also refer to as three kings or three wisemen. Yet, Matthew’s Gospel highlights these foreigners from the East, non-Jews who searched for the Jesus, who had no awareness of the Jewish faith and of the promises God made to Abraham. Thus, Matthew reminds his readers that they as Jews are a "chosen people,” that they would fulfill Isaiah’s prophesy to be a light to the nations. Israel's centrality in the divine plan gave them a vocation to make God known to the whole world. God is manifest in Christ’s birth and with the visit of the Magi who recognized the importance of his birth.
The title of today's feast, the Epiphany, shows that Jesus’ birth is God’s revelation to humanity. The tragic irony in this Gospel story is that the Magi journeyed from afar because they believed God was doing something new. Yet, at the same time, the leaders of God’s chosen people read their Sacred scriptures and tried to interpret the signs of the times, but they no longer expected God to reveal anything new. The Jewish leaders of Jesus' day had worked out an uneasy but peaceful existence with the Roman Empire. The Roman government allowed the Jewish clergy to function as long as they did not disrupt the status quo; the Jewish people were allowed to practice their religion in some shape and form. However, the Jewish religious leaders were complicit with the occupying Roman government. The Magi were awakened in their imagination and in their openness to God’s message, which drew them out of their everyday existence to experience a new wonderful gift from God. In their truth and in their beliefs, the Magi may not have had the promises of Abraham or a sense of the God of Israel, but they believed that life could be be much more. They believed in a God of revelation without knowing where their journey would take them.
In his celebration of the Mass for the feast of the Epiphany a few years ago, Pope Francis called the faithful to be like the Magi, to continue to look upward to the sky, to take risks, and to set out to bear gifts for the Christ child. Pope Francis stated that we have to overcome our fear of risk, our self-satisfaction, and our refusal to ask more of life, going out of the ordinary and out of our comfort zone to meet the Christ child. We cannot just look at the ground, at what is before us. We are to look up to the sky, to dream, and to long for God, anticipating the newness he brings. The Magi were not content to just get by and to keep afloat. Unfortunately, there are some in our world today who raise their eyes toward the heavens who choose not to follow Jesus, who choose not to follow the star of Bethlehem, because they are not open to the surprises God might bring. Jesus does not set out to overwhelm us or dazzle us or entertain us, but instead, he gently invites us. We need to be aware of the things that will dazzle us in life, but will mislead us rather than wisely guide us in our faith and on the path God.
In Spain and in a lot of Latin American countries, the feast of the Epiphany is a major Church celebration and national holiday. We celebrate the Magi at Holy Savior with a lunch and celebration after the Sunday morning Mass.
Like the Magi, sometimes on our journey of faith, we may not know exactly what we are looking for, we might not know exactly where God is guiding us. But, if we set our sights high enough, God will not hesitate to lead us into new epiphanies and new revelations where we will meet God among us in unexpected and profound ways.
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