Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the Lord shines,
and over you appears his glory.

I have always been challenged with the duty to preach on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. I suppose the feast is rooted in the popular fascination with the magi. Although the scriptures say they were magi (wise men or wise ones) and does not suggest how many they were, in the popular imagination they became three kings. The number three, of course, is assumed by their three gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh. Along the way they picked up names (Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior) a fourth magi who finally caught with Jesus at Calvary, camels and slaves, a little drummer boy, O’Henry’s Gift of the Magi, and T.S Eliot’s dreary Journey of the Magi.

The story breeds endless speculation about the star. Every year, it seems, an astronomer will suggest to an ingénue journalist what astral phenomenon appeared at that time and she will dutifully report this scientific fact to the masses.

I’ve no quarrel with popular imagination. It’s great for story telling and, used carefully, can promote the Gospel.

But, as a priest, I am supposed to preach from the text, which I find dark to the point of depressing. The editors of our lectionary have added to my misery, or perhaps tried to alleviate it, by cropping the story right in the middle. In fact this year, we heard the end of the story last Sunday, the Feast of the Holy Family, and the beginning of the story today. In neither case do we get the full story. And that may be just as well since nobody wants to hear a tragic story during the Christmas season.

But the tragedy seeps through the Church’s liturgies anyway, especially on that in-between feast, The Holy Innocents, December 28.

I suppose part of its challenge is the fact that Christmas 2010 is ancient history by the time we get to Epiphany 2011. The packages have been opened, the toys broken, the waistlines expanded, the unpaid credit cards come due, and winter descended in full force. School is back in, we’ve returned to work, and SAD – seasonal affective disorder –oozes into our consciousness. Who remembers the twelve days of Christmas now that Epiphany has become a moveable feast? Do we need to hear the gospel or should I just take a second Effexor?

But there is Good News here. It shines like a star in that beautiful verse;

They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.

When his turn comes, Saint John will summarize this passage: “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

The full story of Saint Matthew’s infancy narrative takes us into the heart of darkness and shines a brilliant, hopeful light there. Jerusalem, the holiest of cities, has become a den of iniquity under the vile King Herod. He and his city conspire to pay him the "homage" of a massacre. Joseph, hearing the story of Herod’s interest and Jerusalem’s uproar, sleeps uneasily with the cloying smell of myrrh in his nostrils.

When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt.

Saint Matthew confronts us with the bitter irony that the child must find refuge in Egypt! His ancestors fled that very land and its slaughter of baby boys a thousand years previously. And we know Jerusalem will finally capture the Babe and destroy him on Good Friday.

Jesus’ narrow escape from Bethlehem reminds us that God’s saving plan cannot be frustrated.

The Renaissance Giotto depicts the drama and beauty of that moment in his magnificent painting. The faces of Joseph and one angel describe the terror that pursues them. While one of the travelers prods the donkey to further haste the animal seems to know that everything is in God’s hands and there is no need to fear. Another angel looks eagerly forward while Mary and the Baby gaze on one another in serene, ecstatic confidence. 

As we leave the Christmas season behind and advance once again into the Ordinary Time of Year, Saint Matthew reminds us we have nothing to fear. God is good, all good and supreme good. He protects us as surely as he protected the Holy Family so many years ago.