What Christ did in his own human
nature in Galilee, he is doing today ... in every city and hamlet of the world
where souls are vivified by his Spirit. He is still being born in other
Bethlehems of the world, still coming into his own and his own receiving him
not, still instructing the learned doctors of the law and answering their
questions, still labouring at a carpenter’s bench, still ‘[going] about doing
good’ (see Acts 10:34–43), still preaching, governing, sanctifying, climbing
other Calvaries, and entering into the glory of his Father.
Fulton J.
Sheen In the Fullness of
Time
The Manifestation of Our
Lord to the Gentiles, which the church celebrates today, is a deepening of the
splendour of the Incarnation. With the arrival of the Wise Men from the East,
the World is told that God is with us. Gentiles are made co-heirs, ‘members of
the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel’.
The promise is made through the words of the prophet Isaiah
in this morning’s first reading. The light which is shown by the star which the
Wise Men follow is the Light of the World, the true light. Kings and the
nations come to its brightness, they come to worship God made man; they come to
pay their homage to the Saviour born among them. They come with camels and
bringing gold and frankincense to worship their king and their God. They come
to a stable in Bethlehem, to kneel before a manger where animals feed, and not
to a royal palace, not to a throne. This is what true kingship is, true love,
that of God and not of humanity.
Herod is afraid, he fears for his own position; he worries
about power, and commits infanticide to make sure of it. This very human
response should stand as a warning to those who wish to follow the ways of the
world. Herod clings to power; God becomes a vulnerable baby, dependant on
others. Herod can only bring death; Christ comes to bring life and life in all
its fullness. Herod says he wants to worship, but it is the Wise Men who kneel
before God incarnate and worship Him. They offer gold to honour a king,
frankincense to worship God, and myrrh which speaks of His death. At the moment
when Christ is made manifest to the world we are to look to the Cross, where
the love of God will be shown must fully, and to the tomb in which his body
will be laid, which will be empty.
Likewise as we celebrate the Epiphany we also look forward
to Our Lord’s Baptism in the River Jordan and his first miracle at the Wedding
at Cana. He who is without sin shows humanity how to be freed from sin and to
have new life in Him. In turning water into wine we see that the kingdom of God
is a place of generous love, a place of joy, and of life in all its fullness.
So let us be filled with joy and love, may we live lives of
joy, and love, and service of God and one another, which proclaim in word and
deed the love of God to the world, that it may believe: so that all creation
may resound with the praise of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit, to whom be ascribed as is most right and just, all might, majesty,
glory, dominion, and power, now and forever.
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