The Epiphany of the Lord (January 4, 2026)

Merry Christmas once again! The story of the Nativity of the Lord is so rich, with so many details, that it needs to be celebrated over the course of two weeks. Hence, we’re still in the Christmas season in early January as we celebrate the wondrous Epiphany of the Lord.

We all know the Epiphany story from the Gospel of Mathew. It begins as the traveling Magi pay their respects to King Herod in Jerusalem.

Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

Herod was, of course, troubled by these words because HE was the king of Israel. After a brief conference with his advisors to determine the birthplace of the Christ, Herod, with classic duplicity, sent the Magi to Bethlehem.  The Gospel continues:

After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasure and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

There are a number of people who personally experienced the birth of Jesus and had their own unique reactions to this epiphany or revelation. I think of the shepherds in Luke’s gospel who, at first, responded in fear when the angel announced the birth; but their fear changed to joy after they behold the baby with their own eyes and went out to tell the good news of his birth.

I think of the Magi, mysterious sages from the East whom tradition says were not of Jewish origin. They traveled far, risking everything on the promise of a star, and presented precious gifts when they beheld the baby with their own eyes. 

I think of Herod, an insecure king who did not heed the prophecies of his own faith tradition. He did not bother to see the child himself but instead, in jealous rage, sought to kill him by ordering the deaths of young innocents throughout Bethlehem.

I think of Joseph and Mary who experienced this newborn child in the most personal way. Joseph, the upright man who was troubled by the unexpected pregnancy of his betrothed but reassured by an angel in a dream that this was all part of God’s plan. And Mary, who said Yes to God at the Annunciation and never wavered in her unshakable faith. Joseph and Mary’s faith was put to the test again when they packed up what little they had and quickly made the long and surely treacherous journey to Egypt to escape Herod’s rage to protect this Child whom God had entrusted to them.

I think about you and me. What is our response to this ancient story of the tiny baby who elicited such a wide range of responses from a variety of people who clearly saw something extraordinary in him? The beauty of the Christmas story is that we ourselves have not seen the baby with our own eyes, and yet we have indeed experienced Jesus intimately through the sacraments, through our personal prayer, and within the Christian community. What is our response to the birth and epiphany of Jesus Christ? What does he mean to me? What does he mean to our world today? 

Through his Epiphany, Jesus invites us to make a difference in the world by loving others as he loves us, valuing each person’s uniqueness and realizing that everyone is worthy of Christ.