Homily

“Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.” These words of the prophet open the feast of Epiphany. The Liturgy shows men and women the path towards the Lord. There is a desire of universality and, at the same time an urgency that runs through this day: it is the deep desire of the Church that peoples and nations would not have to wait too long to meet Jesus. He is newly born; he is not able to speak yet, and all peoples can meet, see, welcome and worship him. This desire does not stem from an anxiety to proselytize, but rather from the need to show to all the goodness and love of God who even sent his own Son among us. At the bottom of the heart of each Christian is a nostalgia for God that impels the Magi to tell Herod: “For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” They were men from distant lands, rich and intellectuals, who had set off from the East towards the land of Israel to worship the new-born “king.” All believers are-called to lose themselves and journey towards the Beyond. And the Church, which wants to descend in the depth of human heart, has always seen the entire humanity in the Magi. By celebrating the Epiphany the Church wants-to help each man and woman to meet that Child.
On Christmas Eve Jesus manifested himself to the shepherds, even though they were among the most despised men of Israel; they were the first to bring some warmth to that cold barn in Bethlehem. Then the magi came from the Far East and they too could see the Child.
The shepherds and the Magi, although very different from each other, have one thing in common: the heavens. The shepherds went not because they were good, but because they looked away from themselves into the sky where they saw the angels, listened to their voices, and acted on what they had heard. The same is true of the Magi. They were longing for a better, more just world; they raised their eyes from the world, looked up to the sky and saw a “star.” As the shepherds had followed the words of the angels, the Magi followed the path the star showed them. Both the shepherds and the Magi suggest that in order to meet Jesus we need to take our eyes off of ourselves and scan the words and signs the Lord puts on our path. Neither for the shepherds nor the Magi was everything immediately clear. The evangelist intentionally notes that at a certain moment the star dropped out of the Magi’s sight. However, those pilgrims did not lose heart. Their desire for salvation was not superficial, and the star had truly touched their hearts. Once in Jerusalem, they went to Herod and inquired about the new-born king. They listened to the explanation-attentively and then immediately continued along their way. We could say that for us Scripture had taken the place of the star. The Lord never fails to offer us signs, and indeed, as the Magi left Jerusalem the star reappeared and the evangelist notes that “they were overwhelmed with joy.” We, who often condemn ourselves to being our own guides, are often robbed of the joy of having a “star.” There is indeed a sense of relief in seeing a star, in feeling that we are accompanied and not abandoned to ourselves and our destiny.
The Magi urge us to rediscover the joy of depending on a star. Our star is the Gospel, the Word of the Lord, as the psalm says: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (119:105). This light leads us to the Child. Without listening to, reading and meditating on the Gospel, without trying to put it into practice, it is impossible for us to meet Jesus. The Magi indeed followed the star and reached the place where Jesus was. There they “saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshipped him.” Probably this was the first time they had ever knelt in front of anyone. And yet, by being able to look beyond themselves, they recognized the Saviour in that Child. Their kneeling was the truest gesture. Along with Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, the Magi understood that salvation meant welcoming the weak and defenceless Child into their hearts, and with him all the weak and defenceless ones even today.
The reaction of Herod and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem was quite different. As soon as they learned of the Child, they did not feel joy as the wise men or shepherds; on the contrary, they were all troubled and Herod was so troubled that he decided he wanted the Child’s death. The magi save the child from Herod’s cruelty. The evangelist notes that the wise men returned to their country by another route. When you meet the Lord and welcome him in your heart, you are no longer as you were before, and you can no longer walk the road as you always did. Life changes and behaviours change with it. The magi are now next to us, rather, a little ahead of us, to help us raise our eyes from ourselves and direct them toward the star. They are ahead of us to guide us to the many mangers of this world in which lie the small and the weak. Blessed are we if, with the shepherds and the Magi we become pilgrims seeking the Child and to take care of him with affection. In truth, he will take care of us.