Wise Men from the East

  EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION

  “MAGI: MEN IN SEARCH OF GOD”

(https://saintfrancisnecedah.org/wp-content/uploads/Epiphany-Jan-5-20141.pdf)

Today we celebrate the ‘Epiphany’ of the Lord. ‘Epiphany’ means a ‘manifestation’ or a ‘revelation’. 

 

On a personal level, someone could speak of having an epiphany: a sudden revelation about the essence or meaning of something.

 

On the religious level, the Epiphany of the Lord is the celebration of the fact that Jesus Christ, God-in-the-flesh, was revealed to the nations: God the Father revealed Himself to humanity as a whole when His only begotten Son was seen by the magi.

 

Pope Benedict XVI gave the following reflection:

“These men who set out towards the unknown were, in any event, men with a restless heart men driven by a restless quest for God and the salvation of the world. They were filled with expectation, not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in society. They were looking for something greater. They were no doubt learned men, quite knowledgeable about the heavens and probably possessed of a fine philosophical formation. 

 

But they desired more than simply knowledge about things. They wanted above all else to know what is essential. They wanted to know how we succeed in being human. And therefore they wanted to know if God exists, and where and how he exists. Whether he is concerned about us and how we can encounter him. Nor did they want just to know. They wanted to understand the truth about ourselves and about God and the world. Their outward pilgrimage was an expression of their inward journey, the inner pilgrimage of their hearts. They were men who sought God and were ultimately on the way towards him. They were seekers after God.”

 

There is much we can learn from the example of the magi:

1. We must never cease seeking the face of God.

2. We should be always filled with expectation, like little children

in awe of the mysteries of our faith.

3. We must turn away from selfishness and always look for the One who is greater than ourselves.

4. We should never tire of learning about the Catholic faith, not just the doctrines themselves, but the reasons behind the Church’s teachings. Study of the Sacred Scriptures and the Catechism are essential in our search for truth about God,

ourselves and the world.

5. Each one of us is called to an encounter with Christ. May the inner pilgrimage of our hearts find their fulfilment in the contemplation of God, who is our natural and supernatural end!

 

( i Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, Jan 6, 2013, as found on Deacon Greg Kandra’s website, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2013/01/bishops-as-modern-magi-from-pope-benedicts-homily-for-epiphany/

posted by Mary Jo