Epiphany 2008

O Star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leaning,
Still proceeding,
Guide us to the perfect light.

Often in Christmas carols, and in hymns generally, there’s a lot of good doctrine tucked in them that can easily be overlooked in the sheer delight of singing them. My reflections for Epiphany this year are inspired by this ‘star of wonder’ that appeared in the sky for the Magi. A number of things fascinate me about it. First, there is the fact that the Magi called it “His star,” which, for me, seems to indicate that it may not have been an ordinary heavenly body but rather one specially created by God for its guiding purpose. I am amazed particularly that the magi, even before their arrival at Bethlehem, seem to have so much knowledge, and I wonder that so much of it had been conveyed to them. They are often said to have been men seeking wisdom (which is meant by the term magi), but far beyond that they must have been given a supernatural, an infused, knowledge about Christ. This is evident from the fact that somehow these magi knew that this star signaled a birth (stars, by themselves don’t impart such knowledge). They also knew that it was an infant boy that was born; that He also was the king of the Jews; and–this is the most remarkable thing–that this newborn king is also God! I take that last matter from their words, “we have come to do Him homage,” which in the Latin text says more specifically, “we have come to adore Him,” again words that gave rise to a Christmas carol in the refrain of the Adeste fideles, “O come let us adore Him.” Think of the providence and goodness of God to have revealed to these foreigners, these non-Jews, these pagans, so much truth: revelation given them not through their study but through the infusion of divine revelation truth. Herod and the Jewish high priests had some knowledge too, knowledge however that was derived from their books, from the study of the Law, the bible of the Old Testament. But that study could only tell them the place where the Messiah was expected to come from. It could not yield to them the time, nor the truth of the divinity of the Messiah. These things had to come from God. And so we find in the Magi a theme that will often be reiterated in the New Testament, namely, that the gentiles would be favored over the Jews on account of the faith that the gentiles would place in Jesus Christ.

Something more about the Star. Stars are best seen in the night, thus again the carol’s refrain calls it “star of night.” The night there too is significant because, as we are reminded in the first reading, ‘darkness covered the earth,’ which is to say ignorance and its companion, sin. The whole world was enveloped in symbolical darkness until the radiance of divine truth was imparted by God, given, again symbolically, through the shining light of that Star. Note that the first thing God created on day one (according to Genesis) was light. Without it, all creation would be unintelligible. But also unintelligible would be many of the things of God apart from the supernatural light we call revelation. The significance of the bright Star that the magi were given to see was that God was revealing His divine truth by the coming of His Son into the world, and that this truth was being received, believed in, and followed by these gentile Magi.

Here I am reminded of a text that we sing each morning in our divine office. It is from the Benedictus canticle of morning prayer. It says that ‘through the heart of the mercy of our God, He will visit us dawning from on high, to enlighten those who sat in the darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet on the road of peace.’ This was said in prophecy before the Star ever appeared to the magi, but it was an indication that God’s shining light would lead men on the road to peace. Peace or happiness comes from the possession of truth. It is the result of the satisfaction of our craving to know, to understand, to possess truth. God is our fulfillment, and once we have found Him our restless hearts cease to search about, for their have attained the object of their quest. In a similar way, those who have the priceless gift of the Catholic faith and who meditate on it often find great peace. Possession of divine truth brings tranquility to our souls; error and falsehood bring disquiet, uneasiness, disturbance to the soul. One of the great reasons why so many people are distressed and disturbed today is that their minds are steeped in errors about so many things that our faith, if only known and accepted by them, would remedy. Darkness brings fear, uncertainty, even terror, as Scripture notes. But light is a joy to the eyes, and brings security. God did not want to leave us in the dark. For this reason He allowed His light to be made known, and this light is none other than what St. John called ‘the true Light which shines in the darkness,” the one whom we proclaim to be ‘Light from Light’ in the creed. This is our Lord Himself, and we know Him and we possess Him in the Catholic Church.

Epiphany day is a celebration of the faith that is ours today in the Church. The light of faith is, as the carol sings it, ‘still proceeding.’ While outside the Church there reigns so much of the terrifying darkness, of ignorance, of sinful pursuits, in the Church we have the radiance of God for our minds through His divine doctrines, imparted to us in the Church’s teachings, and we have the light of sanctifying grace which makes us partakers of divinity. For all the advantages given to the Magi from the light of heaven, we can boast still more, we who are Catholics: we have the ‘newborn king of the Jews’ not only with us that we might adore Him but we can have Him in us through Communion, a benefit far beyond what the Magi experienced.

What manifestations we have of the kindliness of our God who has visited us from on high, in the revelation and the donation of His Son, born of Mary and made our possession through having become members of His holy Catholic Church!