EPIPHANY OF THE LORD 2023

EPIPHANY 2023, 08 JANUARY: ISAIAH 60. 1-6; EPH 3. 2-3a; MATTHEW 2. 1-12 Thrust: God reveals! Indicative: God revealed Himself in many different ways in course of history. But when the fullness of time had come, He had revealed Himself in and through His own Son, Jesus Christ 1. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany comes from the Greek word that means “to reveal”. It is the day of God’s revelation. In fact, on the day of Christmas itself, God reveals Himself in His Incarnate Son as the Saviour. But Epiphany marks a special and unique day of God’s revelation. It is on that day the three kings or magi or wise men from the East come and pay homage to him. Thus, God reveals and manifests His divine glory to the whole universe symbolised by the three magi. 2. Epiphany as God’s revelation indicates that God’s salvation through the Incarnation of His Son is open to all. It does not exclude or discriminate against anyone. Though He is born in a particular place and at a particular time, His grace is not limited or conditioned, or restricted. 3. In this sense, Epiphany is a strong caution against all the exclusive, discriminatory and sectarian tendencies and attempts to promote and perpetuate divisions and discriminations, hatred, and hostility, in the name of God and religion. God is not a “private property” of anyone. His grace is for all. His revelation and manifestation cannot be “domesticated” or “barricaded”. Religion is not a prohibited territory where God is safely protected or bound! 4. Thus, Epiphany is a clarion call against all senseless religious fanaticism, and communal violence. It is absurd that some frenzy and highly inflated people claim themselves to be “religious” and act irreligiously. They degenerate into inhuman cruelty inflicting untold violence on others. They install themselves as self-appointed and self-proclaimed ‘saviours’ and ‘protectors’ of God Himself. Who makes them petty “gods” over God Himself? 5. In fact, God’s revelation has not yet reached and touched these people. In the name of disclosing God to others, they are only closing God’s grace. These are exactly like king Herod in the gospel. When he hears about the birth of the Messiah, he is disturbed and agitated. He regards the newborn king of hearts as a threat to his throne. He plots evil to terminate the incarnate God. 6. In contrast, today this celebration of Epiphany invites us to think and act like the three magi. They were truly wise. They see in him the Saviour and Liberator of the world. They long to encounter him personally. They use human resources like intelligence, knowledge, scriptures, astronomy, et cetera to discern and discover his presence. 7. Their spirit of yearning, search, and determination is such that they undertake a challenging journey. They are also docile to accept God’s “special assistance” in the form of a star. God’s ways are so caring that the star guides them to the incarnate Saviour. Commendable is their humility and surrender that they kneel before the Lord and pay homage to him. 8. Their human effort was richly rewarded. They could encounter the Saviour of the world. It was a rare grace and privilege that was not granted to many around him itself. Imperative: Like the three wise men, we are also called to constantly journey toward God in a spirit of search and surrender. Only such a spirit would lead us to a personal encounter and loyalty to God (REFLECTION 2) 1. Epiphany means “manifestation”. The Festivity of Epiphany, also popularly known as the Feast of three Kings (Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar), celebrates the revelation of God in His Son as human in Jesus Christ. The six Sundays which follow Epiphany are known as the time of manifestation. 2. God reveals His Son already to Mary and Joseph and the shepherds. But that manifestation is not limited only to them, or only to those moments, or confined only to Bethlehem. Thus God born in a manger manifests Himself to the three kings or wise men from far. 3. God who is beyond all space and time, God whom no space or time can confine or contain, Himself traversed from heaven to earth, not for a tiny place or for a short moment. His grace and salvation are universal, for all, for all times. Salvation embraces all and always. While Incarnation is the first instance of divine manifestation, the visitation of the three kings becomes the second instance of divine manifestation. 4. This is the first point to understand and believe on the day of Epiphany: God’s grace is unconditioned. It has no boundaries or discriminations. His grace is open and manifested to all. How unfortunate it is that some try to put blocks or restrictions even to God’s grace and salvation! What an irony it is, that we who are limited, try to limit the limitless grace of God! How often many try to choke, suffocate and stifle God’s grace, owing to money, power, position, status, and prestige! 5. As God manifests His plan of salvation, in His Son, He awaits a response from the human part. The three kings by their visit, respond to this manifestation. This visit as a response is marked by some essential features: 1) They earnestly obtain knowledge about him - his birth, his location, his nature, through all available sources, like science and scriptures 2) They yearn profoundly to see him directly 3) They set out on an engaging journey in search of him 4) They trust and rely on help from above, in the form of a star 5) They allow themselves to be guided by the star 6) They travel far and difficult 7) They reach the Saviour 8) They humble themselves before the mighty God, in surrender and adoration 9) They offer gifts, symbolic of his nature – Gold, representing Jesus’ royal standing (royalty), Frankincense, his divine birth (divinity), and Myrrh, his mortality (humanity) 6. Today, for us, who celebrate this Feast, the message and the invitation are too clear: First of all, be convinced of the all-embrace of God’s grace. Never put boundaries to grace, neither for self nor for others. “The wind blows where it wills”. God wants to grace to all. And everyone needs God’s grace and salvation. Grace cannot be discriminated against or manipulated, on the basis of human divisions or calculations, or prejudices. We have to go beyond the barriers of space and time, to meet the Lord who is beyond space and time. We have to enlarge our mental horizons to receive the salvation which is for all. 7. Then, follow the example of the three kings, and travel the same route of responding to God’s epiphany and encountering Him. Some simple reflections and questions: 1) How much do we try to know about Him, gaining more knowledge and familiarity, through science and scripture, through many sources that are readily available at our disposal? How little is the interest and knowledge of God, in contrast to the immense interest and knowledge of the secular world? 2) How shallow and thin-layered is our desire and longing to see Him directly and personally? Often it is due to a lack of motivation that we fail to see and experience Him. As long as we are bound by indifference and tepidity, we cannot go beyond our self-bounds to the unbounded Lord who abounds in love and mercy. 3) Do we set out constantly in search of Him to find Him? Are we consistent and persistent in our efforts to discover His will, and His plans, in action for our good? 4) Are we too confident, over-reliant, and complacent, on account of our own human capacities and worldly resources, that we neglect to rely on the help and “signs from above” – the star? 5) Are we humble and docile enough to allow ourselves to be guided by God’s signs and ways? 6) How is our journey of faith and charity? Are we ready, prepared, and persevering to continue our travel, though far and difficult? 7) How many occasions and experiences can we really count, to acclaim sincerely that we reached the Saviour, that we are in his presence, that we encounter him? 8) How often our pride and arrogance makes us “stiff and erect” that we are not able to bend before the Lord in surrender and adoration? True adoration is not so much a bowed head, but a bent heart, not a lowered body, but a humble spirit. 9) What are our gifts to the Lord? – Is it the Gold of our loyalty to his royalty? Is it the Frankincense of our surrender to his divinity? Is it the Myrrh of our amiability before the ineffable affability of his humanity?