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Happy New Year, and 8th Day of Christmas!  Coming up on January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany.  Some cultures and branches of Christianity (notably the Orthodox and some Latin American countries) celebrate that as “Christmas”—with the giving of gifts, meals, and big celebrations.  Epiphany is one of those funny words that means, “A-ha!” “revelation,” where the “light bulb goes off,” something is “revealed” or “shown” in its “true light.”  A lot of what’s called “spiritual experience” falls under the category of an epiphany.  Most often I’ve talked about it in personal, individual terms.  The Feast in church tradition includes that but expands it to include God’s revelation to “the nations,” meaning the Gentiles.  Israel’s promised Jewish Messiah is a gift, a “light” to all of humanity, all of the world.  That is represented by the story of the Wise Men—non-Jews—bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus.  That particular part of the Christmas story is celebrated on Jan. 6 (the 12th Day). 

            Two themes are the focus of this Sunday.  One is the familiar story of the wise men following Christ’s star and bringing royal gifts (Matthew 2:1-12).  They come first to King Herod, however, inquiring about the baby’s birthplace.  The other theme is not so well-known; Joseph is warned in a dream that Herod wants to kill the child, so the Holy Family flees to Egypt.  Meanwhile, Herod has every child under the age of two killed in Bethlehem (2:13-23).  A “not so merry” Christmas. 

            I’ve alluded in the past to the political aspects of the Christmas story.  This part is tragically political.  Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are asylum-seeking refugees under threat from a hostile ruler.  It is an example of how wealth and power corrupt, creating suffering for the weak and vulnerable.  It’s not a story ripped from today’s headlines but it could be.  What does it “reveal” (epiphany) for us?  One thing for me is that the Holy Family can directly relate to asylum seekers.  Does that change the way we treat asylum seekers today?  We “see” Jesus, a humble baby king, treated royally, at the same time as we “see” his family, powerless, fleeing for their lives.  What does that reveal for us?

Happy Epiphany!

Pr. Christian