The Epiphany of the Lord

 Lectionary: 20

...namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation. It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.... 

In English usage the word epiphany is not always capitalized. Wikipedia defines it as,

 "an experience of a sudden and striking realization. Generally the term is used to describe a scientific breakthrough or a religious or philosophical discovery, but it can apply in any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective."

Indeed, for those who are willing both to seek and to find, many problems have been resolved with a new and deeper perspective by the Epiphany of the Lord. 

Some people insist they are seekers but believe there are no answers. The seeking itself may be the only answer, and meaning is wherever you find it and whatever you make of it. No Christian can be satisfied with such nonsense. Our hearts are restless until they rest in God, as Saint Augustine said. We are not meant to search vainly for something that does not exist. Nor can we fabricate a purpose whose banality insults our dignity as human beings. 

The magi represent all humankind, both Jewish and gentile. They are seekers who were "overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house..." They recognized the infant and his mother just as surely as Samuel knew the future king of Israel. When he saw the shepherd boy David, "The LORD said: There—anoint him, for this is the one!" Their epiphany came like Simeon's when he saw Joseph and Mary with the Baby in her arms.  

Saint Matthew fills the following chapters with many Hebrew verses that are explained and fulfilled by "the child with Mary his mother." He often inserts phrases like Matt 21:4, 

"This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled."

Jesus's appearance is more than an answer to obscure riddles in the Old Testament, although Matthew's remarks may sound like that. The Church understands that God planned from the beginning the coming of the Christ. 

He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel... (2 Tim 1:9-10)

We know that plan as "Salvation History," and see it worked out in both Testaments of the Bible, and in our personal lives. 

"His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature." (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Article 1, paragraph 51)

This divine plan must be revealed in time -- that is, in human history -- so that history itself may be satisfied. This long story of catastrophes, suffering, and disappointment, along with hope, struggle, courage, and resilience cannot end in a partial victory. It must be beautiful; angels and humans and every creature will be astonished and praise God at its consummation. 

We see partially now. We believe in God the Father and Creator of the glorious splendor of the universe from the panoply of constellations to the nano-sized dimensions of a muon particle. We revel in God's sheer generosity as we realize nothing on this planet requires our being here, and yet we are made of its dust. We know the Father's mercy in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; and we know the Father's courage in the Spirit that drives us to practice our faith. 

The riddle of human life is explained and resolved in an epiphany:

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.