The Epiphany of the Lord 2/1/2022

The Journey of the Magi – our own quest for wholeness
The feast of the Epiphany holds a magic spell on everyone who reads the story. The story evokes a plethora of questions to the reader. Who were the Magi? Which is the country of their origin? How many were they? How long did they travel? Why these special gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh for a newborn child? What happened to them after they reached back to their country? Is it possible that the bones of the Magi — Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar — are kept in a golden tomb in the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe? An ancient tradition recounts the tale of how the bodies of the Magi who visited the Christ child found their way to their final resting place in Germany’s Cologne Cathedral. We may not get convincing answers to any of the questions. But the story gives an insight into humanity’s search for meaning and purpose for life.
The ancient Magi of the Gospel reading traveled from darkness into light. They sought the Prince of Peace. The sudden appearance of a bright star was the symbol of the birth of a great one, they concluded. They traveled west, following the star's course, until they came to Judea. Then they went to the place where they expected a great one to be found. They went to the palace. Instead of a great one, they found a wicked king, Herod. Now, Herod was only concerned with one thing in his life, and that was Herod. He had the opportunity to come out of darkness into the light. His own scripture scholars found that the coming Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. But Herod feared the political effects of a Messiah coming during his reign. His darkness was so deep that he would attempt to kill the baby, challenging God's plan rather than trusting God to care for him if he also were to come into the light. Meanwhile, the Magi's faith had become so deep that after they found the child and worshiped him, they put their lives in jeopardy and did not return to Herod. Once they possessed the child in their hearts, the Magi could live in His light and die in His peace. Because Herod refused to enter the child's light, he would die in turmoil and in darkness.
The Evangelist Matthew tells us that the Magi, when they came to Bethlehem, “saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him” (Mt 2:11). Worshiping the Lord is not easy; it does not just happen. It requires a certain spiritual maturity and is the fruit of an at times lengthy interior journey. Worshiping God is not something we do spontaneously. True, human beings have a need to worship, but we can risk missing the goal. Indeed, if we do not worship God, we will worship idols – there is no middle way, it is either God or idols; or, to use the words of a French writer: “Whoever does not worship God, worships the devil” (Léon Bloy) – and instead of becoming believers, we will become idolaters.
“In our day, it is particularly necessary for us, both as individuals and as communities, to devote more time to worship. We need to learn ever better how to contemplate the Lord. We have somewhat lost the meaning of the prayer of adoration, so we must take it up again, both in our communities and in our own spiritual life” says Pope Francis. The Liturgy of the Word offers us three phrases that can help us to understand more fully what it means to be worshipers of the Lord. They are: “to lift up our eyes”, “to set out on a journey” and “to see”. These three phrases can help us to understand what it means to be a worshiper of the Lord.
More than any other time in the history of mankind, we are held hostage to ‘spectacle’ especially since we live in a mediated world. There is a subliminal intention to keep us away from the real light that came into the world and acknowledge our dependence on the person who said, “I am the light f the world.” The pursuit of worldly joy is based on wealth, success or similar things, always with ourselves at the center. The joy that Christ brings, on the other hand, is based on the fidelity of God, whose promises never fail, whatever the crises we may face.
Like the Magi, we too must allow ourselves to learn from the journey of life, marked by the inevitable inconveniences of travel. We cannot let our weariness; our falls and our failings discourage us. Instead, by humbly acknowledging them, we should make them opportunities to progress towards the Lord Jesus. In the Magi, again, we see a theological realism – a way of perceiving the objective reality of things and leads to the realization that God shuns all ostentation. The Lord is in humility, he is like that humble child, in swaddling clothes, the opposite of worldliness. A way of “seeing” that transcends the visible and makes it possible for us to worship the Lord who is often hidden in everyday situations, in the poor and those on the fringes. A way of seeing things that is not impressed by sound and fury but seeks in every situation the things that truly matter, and that seeks the Lord. This search, journey and quest are for us a spiritual pathway to wholeness of life and contentment, so well reveled in the story of the Magi.