The Epiphany of the Lord

 Lectionary: 20

See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.

In my reflections for the Feast of the Holy Innocents I complained about the Church's splitting Saint Matthew's infancy narrative into two separate stories. It may have been a worthy attempt to include the Orthodox Christmas, celebrated on January 6, in the Roman calendar, but it severely alters the gospel account.

The visit of the magi has become an addendum on Saint Luke's joyful story of Jesus's birth in a manger while dismissing the murder of innocent boys and their helpless families. The children appear neither in today's readings nor in the Liturgical Hours. Passersby who notice the magi and camel decorations around life-size creches have no idea that children were slaughtered in Bethlehem soon after the magi fled. King Herod's homage is stripped of its horror; and we're apt to forget that Jerusalem's intention to kill the messiah, though delayed, was finally satisfied many years later.

If anyone does notice it, they're reassured that the story of Holy Innocents is probably an apocryphal story as there is no other historical record of the incident -- which again misses the point. 

Epiphany suggests a revelation, flash, insight, inspiration, realization, or vision. The birth of Jesus signals a new, unexpected though long anticipated moment in the history of the world. Eternal time has become historic time, and the course of the universe from emptiness to entropy has been permanently transformed. Despite its violence and cruelty, life has a purpose after all! 

The birth of this child, represented by a bright, epiphanic star appears in a dark firmament of violence. A nation which suffers daily violence from mass shootings, racist, and antisemitic attacks, should hear Saint Matthew's entire account of Jesus's nativity. If the mothers and fathers of Bethlehem knew nothing of a virgin-born child-messiah in Bethlehem, they could only suppose the carnage flowed from a king's madness. Their moment of happiness with the boys was snuffed out as a blinding darkness fell upon them. But we know the violence is more than insanity, it is a predictable -- even rational -- response of evil. The world hates our God and fears more than anything our Savior, for he exposes the utter futility of wickedness. 

Despite all the promises of a technologically sophisticated society, salvation cannot come from human engineering. We don't make epiphanies happen. We cannot bring peace to the endless conflict in the Middle East, nor reverse our waste of human and natural resources. We cannot forget how to manufacture the mustard gasses of World War One, the atomic bombs of World War Two, the hydrogen bombs of the Cold War, nor the militarized drones of today's wars. 

But Emmanuel comes intentionally and with a purpose to a world which practices abortion, infanticide, fratricide, and deicide. 

(For) just as from the heavens

the rain and snow come down

And do not return there

till they have watered the earth,

making it fertile and fruitful,

Giving seed to the one who sows

and bread to the one who eats,

So shall my word be

that goes forth from my mouth;

It shall not return to me empty,

but shall do what pleases me,

achieving the end for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11

We believe in the promise of salvation. God's Word Made Flesh in a helpless infant will not be disappointed or frustrated. He will be satisfied beyond anything we can imagine or hope for. 

We are overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house we find the child with Mary his mother. We prostrate and do him homage, and then open our broken hearts before him.