Homily for Solemnity of Epiphany

Homily for the Solemnity 
of the Epiphany

Jan. 3, 2021
Matt 2: 1-12
Holy Name of Jesus, Valhalla, N.Y.

“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, … behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem…” (Matt 2: 1).

Adoration of the Magi (Gerard David, ca. 1515)

Who were the magi, and why did they come looking for Christ?  Answers to those questions may guide us in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ today.

The magi were wise men—as we often call them—of the ancient Middle East, primarily in Persia, but also in other places.  They weren’t kings—contrary to a common misperception—but the counselors of kings and other dignitaries, perhaps like Merlin in the court of King Arthur or Averill Harriman for several American presidents.  Many of the magi were astronomers—you know the prominence of the star in today’s gospel passage—and also astrologers who read meaning into the stars and planets.  So they were regarded among the scientists of the day.

St. Matthew tells us only that they came from the East, so Persia or Mesopotamia are possible places.  That’s not really important to the meaning of the story except for an association of the East with wisdom and knowledge.  Nor does Matthew tell us their number; it’s not important.  Popular lore puts them at 3 because they presented 3 gifts—which are important.

So they’re men of science, men of wisdom, counselors of kings.  (We assume that they were men, even tho they did stop to ask for directions.)  Their knowledge, their wisdom, their power they bring in submission to Christ:  “on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother [and] prostrated themselves and did him homage” (2:11).  They did no such thing at the court of Herod—at least it’s not mentioned—before either him or the chief priests and scribes of Jerusalem, before the high and mighty of this world.

The high and mighty of this world have no use for “the newborn king of the Jews” (2:2); they see him only a rival.  So it always was—with Herod, the Roman emperors, the Druids in Ireland, numerous pagan chieftains, various medieval kings and emperors, modern dictators like Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao; and so it is still with today’s dictators in China, North Korea, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and jihadist encampments.

But true wisdom and true power honor Christ.  Those who urge us today to “follow the science” are wise when they recognize not only the science concerning a deadly virus or the earth’s climate but also the science concerning the humanity and dignity of a child in the womb, of a black person on the street, of a brown person at the border; and the science of human sexuality.  To speak plainly:  a biological male is a male, a female a female, and so-called self-identity can’t change that.  (Pope Francis has called gender ideology “demonic.”)

Fidelity to Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), obliges us to “follow the science” of the world God created, and not to create a fantasy world—regarding climate or the unborn, coronavirus or gender; not to think we are masters of the universe and can make our own rules to govern it.  It may be that the coronavirus is trying to get that message into our heads, that we must be humble before the universe and its Creator—which is not to say that we shouldn’t try to defeat illness; and the Pope specifically encourages vaccines.

I alluded to the gifts of the magi:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh (2:11).  These are clues to the identity of the child to whom the magi pay homage.  Gold is for a king, incense for a god, and myrrh for one who will suffer and die.  On this feast of the Epiphany we come to pay our homage to God revealed in Christ, to Christ who saves us thru the cross, to Christ who lives and reigns over us.

If we are wise men and women today, we not only honor Jesus Christ with our words on Sunday, but we also obey him in our daily lives.  In a culture and a society that often demeans Christian morality and challenges our consciences, we resolve to give our allegiance to Jesus the Son of God:  to respect all human life; to honor marriage between one man and one woman and be faithful spouses; to recognize sexuality as a gift from our Creator (to “recognize the order of creation,” is how Pope Francis puts it); to be truthful in our dealings with others; young people, to study diligently and to obey their parents; to help the needy, the unfortunate, the refugee; to work honestly and diligently at our employment; to protect the earth, which is “our common home.”  All such virtues are the homage we bring to our King.