The Epiphany of the Lord is when Christ was made known to the magi, who represent all the nations. Today, when we say that someone has had an epiphany, we mean that the person has had a moment in which they have achieved a realization, an awareness or a knowledge of something.
An AHA! MOMENT, like Margaret Langford, of New Braunfels, Texas, who wrote to Reader’s Digest: “Driving to my third day on a Houston jury, I realized I was truly looking forward to it and wishing I didn’t have to return to work. That night I decided I would quit my bank job, get a PhD (previously only a passing fancy), and become a professor. And so I did.”
Here is another epiphany in the form of a story:
There is an old legend about three men and their sacks. Each man had two sacks, one tied in front of his neck and the other tied on his back.
When the first man was asked what was in his sacks, he said, “In the sack on my back are all the good things friends and family have done. That way they’re hidden from view. In the front sack are all the bad things that have happened to me and all the mistakes I’ve made. Every now and then I stop, open the front sack—containing all the bad things that have happened to me--take the things out, examine them, and think about them.” Because he stopped so much to concentrate on all the bad stuff in his life, his pace was slow, and he really didn’t make much progress in life.
Then the second man was asked about his sacks. He replied, “In the front sack are all the good things I’ve done. I like to see them, so quite often I take them out to show them off to people. The sack in the back? I keep all my mistakes in there and carry them all the time. Sure, they’re heavy. They slow me down, but you know, for some reason I can’t put them down.”
When the third man was asked about his sacks, he answered in a slightly different way. Like the second man he answered, “The sack in front is great. There I keep all the positive thoughts I have about people, all the blessings I’ve experienced, all the great things other people have done for me. The weight isn’t a problem. In fact, it keeps me moving forward.”
But, as for the second sack, he answered, “The sack on my back is empty. There’s nothing in it. I cut a big hole in its bottom. Then I put all my regrets and all my mistakes from my past in that sack. They go in one end and out the other, so I’m not carrying around any extra weight at all.”
I believe that is a good story for this first Sunday of the calendar year on the Epiphany of the Lord.
The moral of the story:
The Old Man or Woman says, "I'm unloved or unlovable. I hate myself. Doing a few things wrong or making major mistakes makes me a totally 'bad' person and/or 'irredeemable'/I can't 'let go' of past mistakes or 'God will not have mercy on me. His Grace is not sufficient for me.'" It's time to cut a big hole in the bottom of your second sack, my friend in Christ. There is a loving God (John 3:16), and I believe in Him (a grace, a choice). The Lord is kind and merciful (Psalm 103). He is love and mercy itself! He knows everything about me (Psalm 139:1). Even the hairs of [my] head have all been counted (Luke 12:7). He knows when I sit and when I stand (Psalm 139:2). God loves me with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). God the Father is a loving Father (Prodigal son, Luke 15).
In the Eastern Churches, icons are called windows on eternity. We have to step into eternity to experience God’s glory to its full extent. For now, we must be satisfied with catching glimpses of it. Prayer is an act and a habit of being attentive to these glimpses as they come, and also the taking of opportunities to ask God for favors and for guiding signs.
The Scriptures pointed the way to Christ. King Herod, of all people, was also helpful. Apparently, God will even use people who have sold themselves to do evil in order to bring God’s peace and freedom and love to anyone who will come.
We are all on a journey like the magi.
For what do I give homage to the Lord? How do I show God my love and gratitude?
Some bring diversity that are golden in their poetic expressions of praise and song, whether in the Korean, Vietnamese or Hispanic traditions.
Others offer the frankincense of their hard work.
Some bring the myrrh of bereavement ministry.
A STAR LED THEM— who has helped lead me to Christ? How do I lead others to him?
e.g. Professor Harold DeWolf tells of an experience he had as a young man. He went swimming at midnight one night with a friend in the Atlantic Ocean at Massachusetts Bay. He said the water was full of phosphorescent light. Every dip of his hand in the water produced something like “a circle of flashing gems and the waves looked like a cascade of fireworks.” To ride the waves they went some distance from the shore. Then turning toward land DeWolf was gripped by a strange fear. The lights from the shore no longer shone. So he looked up to the sky to get his bearings. But the sky was like the water—full of the spectacular confusion of the northern lights. No star was visible. Then panic overtook him, for in all that glittering display there was no fixed reality. He could not tell the way to shore. He started to try anyway with a helpless terror engulfing him. He learned that, with no fixed star to guide him, it was almost impossible to chart out his course.
As Bishop Robert Barron says: Here’s the liberating paradox: passivity before objective values is precisely what makes life wonderful. Allowing oneself to be invaded and rearranged by objective value is what makes life worth living. And this applies unsurpassably to our relationship with God. The message that your life is not about you does indeed crush the false self that would bend the whole world to its purposes, but it sets free the true self.
Thank God we have a star to follow, which is Christ in the Eucharist, Mary as Star of the Sea, and the Magisterium or official teaching on faith and morals from the Catholic Church.
The response of the magi is joy, and joy is promised as an end-time reward for those open to God guiding them. Amen.
