The Epiphany of the Lord – a celebration for all peoples

By Msgr Michael de Verteuil,

Chair of the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission

First, a little history.

The Feast of the Epiphany has a complex early history and there is still some debate over some points of that history. The earliest record of the Feast comes from Paris in the year 361 and spread from there, though some scholars claim that it existed in some places before that.

There was an early link on the Feast on January 6 between the Nativity, Epiphany, the Baptism of Jesus, the wedding feast of Cana as all of these in some way manifested the identity of Jesus, e.g., the Baptism: “This is my son, the beloved”; Cana: “He let his glory be seen”.

Some places celebrated all together, some a couple of them, but Rome gave the focus of the day, January 6, to the visit of the Magi and eventually this spread to the universal Church.

The word ‘epiphany’ means a manifestation, an appearance, a revelation of a king or other leader.

Traditions built up around the Bible story of the visit of the Magi – they began to be called kings, their number was limited to three (possibly because there were three gifts brought to the infant king), they were given names (Balthazar, Caspar, and Melchior).

Epiphany is celebrated in some places on January 6, whatever day of the week that date falls on. In other places, Trinidad & Tobago for example, the Feast is moved to the Sunday between the second and the eighth so that more people can celebrate it.

What do we celebrate on this day? First, we celebrate God calling the pagan nations represented by the wise men who had come from afar and knew nothing of all that had been revealed to the Jews.

At Christmas, among other things, we read of God’s manifestation to the Jews represented by the shepherds. The prophet Isaiah (60:3,6) prophesies, “The nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness. Everyone in Sheba will come, bringing gold and incense…”

This is part of the First Reading we will hear on Epiphany. The reading is full of joy and excitement, and it would be an excellent preparation to read this passage (Isa 60:1–6), as well as the other readings, before we go to Mass.

The response is, ‘All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.’ A good exercise is to repeat this over and over in prayer as we recognise the greatness, the power, and the glory of God. The third verse of the psalm recalls the above quote from Isaiah.

The Second Reading (Eph 3: 2–3, 5–6) continues the theme of God’s revelation in Jesus: “it means that pagans now share the same inheritance …. that the same promise has been made to them in Christ Jesus.”

The Gospel of course is the story of the wise men coming to Bethlehem and seeing the epiphany, the manifestation of the Lord, “Falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

It was probably a long and hard journey—no air conditioning, hotels, showers, cars—but they made it to find the King, the finding of whom is worth everything.

They offered their gifts—what do we offer?

They saw a King in the infant—do people see Christ reflected in us in any way?

Enjoy the Epiphany and be formed by its celebration.