The Epiphany of the Lord – January 5, 2025

St. Paul – Lyons, KS

Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12

[Video coming soon]

Why Is Epiphany a Big Deal?

One thing that I know is tempting, especially when we celebrate these big feast days like Epiphany—it’s temping to turn this time into “story time.” At Christmas we read the Christmas story, at Easter we read the Easter Story, Palm Sunday we read the Passion story, Pentecost—right? Epiphany, the arrival of the three magi, the three “kings”—we have these three visitors come and bring chubby little baby Jesus some gifts, there is a magic star—is this just one more nice story that we come to hear? And the answer is “no.” Then why do we come? And really, the answer has everything to do with our faith and how we live our faith. 

And what I mean is that these three magi reveal us to ourselves. They reveal: 1) our hearts; 2) how we are to respond; and 3) what will happen if we do. The magi are us. And so today on this oh-so important feast of the Epiphany, this is what I want to help us look at. 1) How do the magi help us to understand ourselves, our hearts, our disposition? 2) How do they show us—and what do they show us about—our response? 3) And what will happen if we do?

Our Hearts

So, how do the magi help us to understand ourselves, our hearts, our disposition? One thing that has always struck me is how we are always looking for the next best thing, the next great whatever. We have this very uncomfortable feeling of incompleteness, or like something is missing within us, and so we go looking for ways or things that will “fill” that. For some of us, we’re just waiting for the next great iPhone, or car, or fashion trend. Some of us just love working, getting things done. Some of us are waiting for the next great adventure, or vacation. Some of us love concerts, the thrill of a great concert. Maybe it’s just a good party, a nice dance. And (like I always say) it’s not like any of those are bad things. But underneath themis often the desire for something that will fill us up. I mean, I caught myself doing this the other day: I was looking for a place to go on vacation, just relax. And just for fun I looked at places like Cancun and Key West and the Maldives. And again, while I wouldn’t refuse a free trip there (*hint hint*), and while I’m sure they are beautiful, wonderful places, I knew: this isn’t going to “fix” anything. Yeah, it would be a very nice, beautiful, sunny, great! But it wouldn’t “fill” me. I would be on the flight home thinking, “Well, that was nice. What now?”

Psychology calls this escapism behaviors: we find all of these ways, or activities, or fantasies to distract ourselves from our real-life problems, or that unpleasant emotion of incompleteness. We daydream about living a different life, or we shop, or we go on vacations, or concerts, or parties, or we overeat, or overwork, we turn to substances, watch TV all day—why? Because we feel this lack.

Ok. The three magi—these men are us, all of us. They feel all of that too. They’re searching for that “something,” that ultimate something that will fulfill. And then one day—one day, looking for a sign, for some clue, that will give them what they’re looking for—they see something: this “star.” I don’t know if you remember this, but a few years ago there was the “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces—happens about every four hundred years. And astronomers and biblical scholars agree that this is the “star” the three magi saw. But why was it such a big deal? Why did the magi follow it? Because they interpreted the signs. In their time, Jupiter was considered the planet of the kings, of the gods. Saturn was the planet of the Jewish people. And the constellation of Pisces was the constellation of the nation of Israel. So put it together and you understand what they saw: in the land of Israel (Pisces), among the Jewish people (Saturn), a king has been born, a king that was also divine (Jupiter). So you have to imagine they asked themselves: Is this divine king in Israel the one who can provide an answer, is he the “something” that will fill us? And so they dropped everything and left.

Again, the three magi are us! They are searching, looking for something. And this star—that’s the sign they need. And they’re mature enough to recognize that they don’t just need a vacation, or a new iPhone, or a new series on Netflix (the next season of Squid Game or Yellowstone)—they need the divine, they need God. It’s the same for us: we need the divine.

Our Response

But then what do they do? And this is the second question: how do they show us—and what do they show us about—our response? They do two things. The FIRST is that they set out on this journey. Nowadays, we take traveling for granted (well, maybe not this weekend; this weekend we understand how dangerous traveling can be). But for the most part, we take traveling for granted: highways, cars, planes. We can travel to the other side of the world in a day. But in the ancient world—in the ancient world, travel was a life-threatening endeavor. To make a significant journey would mean acknowledging and accepting: “I may not make it there alive. Or, I might never make it back.” And yet, these three magi—they’re willing to do this! They left the comfort, the stability, the “normal” life they had, and they began this journey.

Ok, what is the challenge for us? The challenge is that we avoid the struggle, we avoid the journey. We’re content with our “escapism behaviors.” We’re used to them. And to change that—that would be so hard! Again, it’s my example of our New Year’s resolutions, and how we quit our New Year’s resolutions by January 10th: it’s hard, it’s difficult, there is a struggle, and so we quit. Right? It’s just so much easier not to do things! It is so much easier to say, “I’ll just keep things normal. It is a lot of work to change. So I’ll just stick with the status quo.” So yeah, while we may literally be able to travel much more easily than the three magi could, internally, spiritually it is just as difficult—if not more so now! 

But that’s the first thing they show us: this journey is going to be difficult, it is going to be challenging. But we have to begin, and we have to persevere. Again, think: how many new iPhones, or concerts, or vacations, or dances, or work—how many times will we try these “normal” things before we realize: “I have to embark on the difficult journey”?

Ok. The SECOND thing they show, then, is the real secret: what do they do when they arrive? Nowadays, when we make a difficult journey, what do we expect? Well, if we stick with our New Year’s resolution, we want: to lose weight, and to have a good “before” and “after” picture; we work really hard in our job, and so we want money to show for it, or advancement in our career; we waited online for hours and hours to get tickets to Taylor Swift, and we want that concert experience. Right? Nowadays, when we make a difficult journey, it’s all about what we GET. We run a marathon and we want a participation medal, people to congratulate us. It’s about what we get, what is our reward. 

But for the three magi? What do they do when they arrive? They worship, they adore, they give. The three magi show us—our response is not about getting, it’s about giving. And this is the most challenging part for us. What the magi show us about our response is that this journey we embark on doesn’t end with the question, “Now, what do I get?” It ends with, “Now, how do I give?” Very counterintuitive for us!

And so think about the spiritual life: we have this heart that is looking for something to fill it, we embark on this difficult spiritual journey, and our response—it’s to give. I mean, just think about your experience of coming to Mass. (Again, this weekend is a perfect example of the difficultly of making it to Mass.) But why do you come? Do you come primarily because of what you “get” or because of what you can “give”? Do you come to get a good homily? Do you come to get the Eucharist? Do you come to get a feeling of being a good person? OR, do you come to give? Do you come to give your life, to offer your life to Jesus Christ? Do you come to give worship? Do you come to adore? Yeah, it’s always nice when Father isn’t boring; yes, receiving the Eucharist is an incredible thing. But what is the primary reason we come? Is it: “Here I am to receive,” or, “Here I am to give”? It’s counterintuitive! But what our heart is searching for is to be given; our lives are meant to be given.

John Paul II talked about this as the Law of the Gift. He would often quote a line from the Second Vatican Council (that we probably wrote): “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.” And what he’s getting at is exactly what I was just saying: we think we will fill this need within us by getting more and more; but actually, counterintuitively, we will find what we’re looking for what we give ourselves away. We will find the greatest joy and satisfaction by giving our time, our talent, our treasure to others; by giving our life to our spouse, not just trying to get something from them; by giving our lives to God, to serve God, to live for God, not by trying to use God to get what we want, like some genie. What our heart is searching for is to be given; our lives are meant to be given.

Our Change

And when we take on this attitude of the three magi, then we also do receive precisely what they received. (And this is the response to the third question: what will happen if we respond as they did?) What do we hear at the end of the Gospel? “They departed for their country by another way.” Yes, practically they were avoiding Herod. But as the spiritual masters have pointed out for two thousand years, when we read that line spiritually, what is it saying? “They returned home changed.” As a result of paying attention to this something within their heart, as a result of embarking on and persevering through the journey, as a result of giving instead of just trying to get—they are changed, their lives are forever changed, they cannot return home the same.

Really, to sum it all up, this feast of the Epiphany reveals the whole of the Christian life to us. It reveals us to ourselves: our hearts, searching for that something that will fill them. It reveals the need to embark on a journey that isn’t always easy. It reveals that our response shouldn’t be to look for what we can “get” out of it, but how we can “give” to God. And it reveals that when we do that, then we will discover that our lives are indeed different, and that not only can we not go home the same, but we won’t go home the same.