Twelfth night has just passed, the Christmas season officially ends, and today we arrive at the manger with the magi from the East. This day, the feast of the Epiphany, gets more attention in some corners of the world than in our country and culture. Some churches have even begun transferring this feast to a Sunday. But I relish the fact that the Episcopal Church has committed itself to observing this feast on the day, on whatever day January 6 falls during the week.
Epiphany is one of the seven Principal Feasts of the Church year, an echelon of feast days that surpasses even Major Holy Days in stature. The Biblical story that undergirds this feast, at least in the West, is that of the journey of the magi/wise men to pay homage to the Christ Child in Bethlehem, while also bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to offer him. But Epiphany is so much more than this familiar story. Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the world—significantly, to both Jews and Gentiles. This is represented in the pagan magi (perhaps astrologers) meeting Jesus Christ in the manger. Epiphany is also an invitation for us to consider how we, as Christ’s living Body on earth, are able to manifest his good news to the world. What do our actions say about our faith? How do others see Christ in us? Perhaps even more mysteriously, if the magi could somehow find themselves at the manger despite their own religion, can we imagine the ways in which others in our own day are surprisingly finding themselves at the manger without our control or manipulation? Today we rejoice that the glory of God, revealed in human flesh, was not kept secret in some remote corner of the world but was revealed to all peoples and nations. Likewise, today, there is no place on earth that is immune from the reach of the living God.
I hope you will join us for a Procession and Sung Mass this evening (with choir) at 7 p.m. We will also bless chalk for the marking of doors at homes, an Epiphany tradition. You are also invited to bring warm clothes (such as warm shoes, boots, and socks) that we will collect near the crèche for refugees who have been bused to the Philadelphia area. May this be a kind of manifestation of our Christian love and compassion, a gift brought to Christ in the crèche and to Christ in the persons of those refugees in need of care. After Mass, we will have a potluck dinner in the retreat house; bring a dish (and a friend, too!).
If you would like your house blessed during the season after the Epiphany, it is an appropriate time to do so. Please reach out to me. And I pray that the blessing of God will extend through your lives to be a manifestation of his love to the world.
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle