First Reading

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (60:1-6)

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.

Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincence, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13)

(R) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

O God, with your judgement endow the king, and with your justice, the king's son; he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R)

Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Rover to the ends of the earth. (R)

The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the king of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him. (R)

For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians (3:2-3a, 5-6)

Brothers and sisters: You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for your benefit, 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: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (2:1-12)

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel." Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage." After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. 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. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

A little boy was returning home with a pail of honey in his hand. On the way, he repeatedly stuck a finger into the pail and licked the honey off it. It really tasted good. A stranger walking close behind, saw what the boy was doing, approached him and asked, "What do you have in the pail, boy?
"Some honey, Sir."
"Honey! Is it sweet?"
"Yes, Sir."
"How sweet is it?"
"It is very sweet, Sir."
"Well, I do not understand you. I asked how sweet your honey is, but you have not told me. How sweet is it?"
"It is very, very sweet, Sir."
Still the man asked him, "Can you really tell me how sweet your honey is?" By this time the little boy grew impatient. So he stuck his finger into the honey once again, and holding it up said, "Taste and see for yourself."

How do we know something is really good? We come to know that something is really good not just by reading or hearing about it from others. The testimony of others is wonderful and beneficial. But the best way to find out is to experience it ourselves. So also we need to personally know and experience God. The Psalmist even says that we "can taste and see that the Lord is good", Psalms (34:8). Over two thousand years ago some old wise men did just that and we now commemorate their encounter with the infant Jesus and paying him the kind of homage only God deserves.

The word "epiphany" is a Greek word which means "manifestation", or "showing" or "revelation". It was traditionally celebrated on the 12th day after Christmas on January 6. It was established as a church festival about two hundred years after the death of Jesus by Greek speaking Christians who used to live in the area what is now Turkey, Syria and Iraq. In those days the Greeks celebrated the winter solstice, that is, the shortest day or the longest night of the year on January 6th in the Coptic Calendar, also known as the Alexandrian Calendar.

As the Christian faith spread, people began to replace their winter festival for marking the rebirth of light or the sun, with the manifestation of the Light of the World, Jesus the Son of God. The eastern orthodox churches continue to consider January 6 as the day commemorating Jesus' birth. But for the Romans who were following the Julian calendar, December 25 was the day of the winter solstice, which now falls on December 22. From the third century the Romans replaced their winter festival with the birth of Jesus. Thus, we have two different traditions and both have been accepted and celebrated by our Church.

Traditionally we read the story of the Magi who came from the East, probably from an area which is now Yemen or Ethiopia or Saudi Arabia, to pay homage to Jesus. Although they are often called the "Three Kings", or the "Three Wise Men", the Bible neither says that they were kings, nor how many there were. Three only is a guess because they brought with them three gifts. However, if they were kings they probably would have had many more servants with them. The Bible just mentions, "Magi". The word "magi" comes from the Greek word "magos" which means someone who possesses supernatural powers. Today we call them astrologers.

These magi were certainly men of great learning. They would probably have studied the patterns of the stars. They would also have been very rich and held in high esteem by their own society and by people from other nations. One night they had seen an unusual new star in the sky, and knew that it told of the birth of a special person, whom they believed was the king of the Jews. They could not have come on the night of the birth as the shepherds but probably several months later because Matthew in his gospel, Vs (2:16), writes, "Herod was furious that he had been fooled by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or less." Let us put aside the issue of what the new star in the sky was and how they were able to follow it because no one knows.

I think what is important is that they trusted in the star and took the trouble to travel many miles to Jerusalem, looking for the king of the Jews. They inquired from others as they went around. Herod heard about it and was troubled. He called the priests and scribes together to find out where the Christ was to be born. They remembered the prophecy of Prophet Micah (5:2) which said that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. The magi continued their journey to Bethlehem and, when they found him they worshipped Him and offered Him gifts. After their worship they were given a divine warning not to return to Herod who represented earthly powers and evil, so they went home by another way.

The story of the wise men reminds us of three things:

Not only would the people of Bethlehem or Nazareth or Jerusalem or even the whole nation of Israel be affected by the life of the child born to Mary and Joseph, but also people from far away, people who did not speak the language that Jesus spoke, nor belonged to the world that He lived. Yes. Jesus was born, lived and died for us, too, as well as for those who knew and followed him in his time.
We need to rightly and truly worship and adore God today and everyday of our life. To worship Him we need to know Him first, and know how God wants us to worship Him. Of course throughout the Bible God reveals to us the various ways as to how we ought to worship Him. Therefore, let us undertake a personal search for God. Read the scriptures with reverence and endeavor to understand them. Christ Himself is the only star that leads us to God. He has promised to send the Holy Spirit to enlighten us about the true ways. So trust in the Star and pray to Him before reading and ask Him to help you understand and receive His Word.

But knowledge of the scriptures alone is not sufficient. Knowledge of the Bible is not equivalent to knowledge and experience of God. The Scribes and the Chief priests knew from the scriptures that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem but they did not go and seek Him like the Magi did. Therefore, if you do not understand on the first or second reading, do not grow weary, but instead ask others who have both the knowledge of the scriptures and experience of God, particularly those who belong to our Church so that we may understand who we are and how we can know and experience God and then truly and rightly worship Him.
When we find Him and personally pay the kind of reverence and respect only due to Him, like the Magi, we too will be enlightened and be able to resist every form of evil and sin.

Therefore, if you have found Him and tasted His sweetness already pray to Him to give you more light so that you can become more sensitive to the things of God. If you have not found and tasted Him personally yet, keep searching for Him and pray that you may encounter His presence here on earth.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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