One of my favorite pastimes as a
youngster was to watch cartoons on TV. Especially
amusing to me were the scenes where certain characters had a light bulb suddenly
appear over their heads. The light bulb symbolized
instant awareness of a solution to a difficult problem or situation the
character faced. The sudden appearance
of the bulb indicated that the revelation came from nowhere and without any effort
on the part of the character.
In
real life, we’ve
all had a similar kind of sudden insight about how to handle an obscure problem
or difficult situation. We often refer
to this sort of “leap in understanding” as an epiphany, a sudden
and striking revelation of what to do or how to resolve a puzzling issue.
Not only do epiphanies in real life not come with a light bulb over our
heads, we also know that the revelation the epiphany affords does not come without
any effort on our part. However rare a
real epiphany
is, it generally flows from a process of diligent study, requires a certain
level of prior knowledge, and above all, demands patience. What seems to be a sudden insight and
understanding is really the outcome of much thought, reflection, study, and in
some cases, much prayer. In real life, the
revelation of an epiphany comes with hard work and patience.
The
epiphany of the magi that we read about in Matthew’s gospel is no exception. Their revelation of the Christ child came
only after hard work and patient effort on their part. For one, the magi were professional
astronomers, a profession that took years of study to master. As astronomers, they studied the signs of the
times with care and patient attention to detail. They discerned the meaning of those signs,
and then acted with confidence and trust in the evidence their study revealed.
The
magi were also members of the priestly caste in an ancient religion. The tenets of that religion were few—there is
one God, we should live morally upright lives, do good works, and seek
the truth. This set of beliefs motivated the
magi to search for the truth about what their study revealed. Their study revealed that a person of great
significance would be born very soon, a new king of the Jews, a religion not
their own. In their quest to see this
newborn king, they relied on a heavenly star as their only guide to the right
location. This was a journey that called
for daring and courage. The magi did not
know how far their travels would take them, or how difficult and challenging their
quest would be. They also did not know what
to expect at journey’s end, or how an encounter with this unknown king would affect
their lives.
Despite
their misgivings, the magi trusted their evidence to take them in a different
direction in life. You might say that the
magi went on a hunch in search of a newborn baby, sustained in their journey by
faith and the light of truth as their only guide. They trusted their gut, and their unwavering trust in the outcome did not
disappoint. For, although the humble
surroundings at Bethlehem might have been unexpected, finally seeing the baby
Jesus was a joyful encounter that forever changed their lives for the better. Even their safe return by another route was
shown to them because of their encounter with Jesus.
This
is really the message that the feast of Epiphany brings to us, for the story of
the magi is not only their story. Each of us could tell a similar story
because it is a story about Jesus finding us, not about us finding Jesus.
It is a story about the hound of heaven, the true Star of Bethlehem, who
continually reveals himself to us and shines his light to show us the way to
the Father. Each of us has had an unexpected and spontaneous encounter
with Jesus that changed our lives for the good. Indeed, any encounter
with Jesus—whether through circumstances, through his word, through his sacrament, or through his
children—is a life-changing encounter for our good.
Jesus
always begins his encounter with a gentle call, urging us, imploring us,
nagging us, to take a different path. This is often that nagging feeling
we have that we should go in a different direction, take another path in
life. But, Jesus does not lay out all the details with his call. We
do not always know where the path will take us, how far we must go, or how
difficult the journey will be. We pray
that we have made the right decision, but we don’t look back. We go
forward with courage and a delightful sense of curiosity about the future,
tinged perhaps with a certain trepidation that always accompanies the
unknown. But, follow his call we must, and I dare say that none of us has
ever regretted it. For, the Lord Jesus always makes good on his end, and
provides more than we could hope for or expect.
The
Epiphany story is about faith and trust in Jesus who reveals himself as the one
we can trust. This is what the magi had
done. They trusted that the star of Truth would show them the way to the
newborn king. Although they did not know all the details of the journey
beforehand, they went forward with patience and confidence, and they never looked
back despite whatever fears they had.
For
this reason, the feast of the Epiphany always has special meaning for us—more
so when we stand at a crossroad in life, discerning where Jesus is calling us,
in which direction he wants us to go. We may not know which path to take
or where it will lead, and we do not always know the details of the
journey. But, we seek his guidance and go forward with courage, patience,
and faith in Jesus. And, there is no reason to look back. We can trust the outcome because we can trust
the Lord. His light never fails to show us the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment