EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
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The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of the Lord, called in Spain, la Fiesta de Reyes (the Feast of Kings), is a day of joy. Perhaps it is the happiest day of the year, not only for the children, but also for the grown-ups. The typical question for today is: What have the kings brought you? Have you been a good boy, or a good person, so that the kings have brought many things to you? The answer is generally yes, although it isn't necessarily true.

We can ask Jesus what the kings have brought him, and he will answer: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But there is something that nobody ever asks. Do you know what it is? What have the Kings brought, not to Jesus, but to the Kings themselves? The answer can be very simple: The joy of contemplating that newborn, to see the smile on his face, the joy of Mary, and although the evangelist doesn’t tell us, the joy of Saint Joseph.

We can ask ourselves for the reason behind the smile of the baby Jesus, the joy of Mary and Joseph. We find the answer in today’s gospel: the adoration of Jesus by the magi.

Those magi from far away lands, from the East, we do not know exactly where from, on seeing a star - which was the manifestation from God, that the King of the Jews, the Messiah, had been born - set out looking for Jesus. The magi, guided by the light of the star, undertake a great pilgrimage to find and adore the Messiah King. If they had stayed at home they wouldn’t have found Jesus. The trip was hard and with many difficulties, until Herod, a sinful and evil king, indicated the way to them.

This is the first lesson that we can learn: To look for Jesus with perseverance, in spite of the difficulties that we may find. The Christian life means carrying the Cross.

Let us continue. On arriving at Bethlehem, they find Jesus and his mother Mary. Once they reach Bethlehem, their quest has reached its goal. The star stops above the place where the child was, and they prostrate themselves to do him homage, offering him the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The ancient Church Fathers explain it in a very suggestive way. The wise men from the East discover Christ who is Wisdom, and Mary, who is the throne of Wisdom. They adore the God made man, whom Mary presents to them, and they offer their gifts to him. They offer the gold of royalty, the incense of divinity and the myrrh of Redemption. The magi are the first to believe among the foreign peoples. They are the first pagans who see Jesus. If on Christmas day he was adored by the shepherds, who were Jews, today he is adored by the magi, who were not Jews. From that day on, thousands and thousands of Jews and non-Jews, us among them, adore that infant born of Mary, who is God and man.

I would like to emphasize the expression "to adore". To adore generally means to recognize a person as superior. In a religious sense, it is to recognize God as our creator, origin and final term of our existence, and Jesus as our Lord, our Saviour and the Redeemer of the world. To adore Jesus it is necessary that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, illuminates at the same time, the face of Christ and our eyes, so that we may be able to recognize in this child born of Mary, our God, our friend, our Salvador and our Redeemer. To adore Jesus is to recognize that he loves us and that we also love him: "Love with love is paid".

Finally, the magi, advised in a dream of Herod’s bad intentions, return to their country by another way. As the shepherds in Saint Luke's Gospel, the magi are the first foreigners who become messengers of what they have seen, and proclaim the wonders of God. Everyone who knows Jesus Christ, becomes his disciple and apostle of his Gospel.

Saint Leo says that we Christians must be the star that leads to the cave of Bethlehem: “Be stars on Earth and you will shine eternally with resplendent light in the Kingdom of Heaven”. The magi followed the star and arrived at Bethlehem, where they found Jesus with his mother, Mary, and Saint Joseph. Likewise, many people, if they see our faith, our hope and our love for the sick and the needy, will find Jesus as the magi did.

I wish for you a good day of the Epiphany.