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 – the mystery is made
manifest. With the arrival of the Wise Men from the East, the entire 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
Good news is for everybody.
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, which gives light to all. 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,
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,
true glory: 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, totally dependent on others. Herod can
only bring death; whereas 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.
It
is a sign of the banquet where Christ feeds the faithful with the Sacrament of
His Body and Blood, where God, who came to share our human nature, gives himself
to us so that we might share His Divine nature, a treasure far greater and more
valuable than gold, or frankincense, or myrrh – a treasure which can transform our
souls and our lives, which can transform the entire world.
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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