What Do the Magi...

What do
■ the Magi
■ Christ's Baptism
■ Cana... mean to us?



January 8 - The Epiphany


Once again we come to a Feast I have already written about... TWICE! Can we find something new to say? Yes. The experts tell us that it is "a Feast of plenty" meaning that the three "mysteries " of Christ's life are celebrated together. This is not highlighted in the Mass liturgy but it is in the Office where we read in the Evening Prayer II (Canticle of Mary): Three mysteries mark this holy day: today the star leads the Magi to the infant Christ; today water is changed into wine for the wedding-feast; today Christ wills to be baptized by John in the river Jordan to bring us salvation.


This raises three questions: 1) What are the Magi to us? 2) What meaning can Christ's baptism have for us today? And 3) How can we relate to the Marriage Feast of Cana?


The point of the Visit of the Magi is that the Savior should be made know to the whole world - at least hypothetically - even as a child, from a small town and with his humanity from single family. He did not wish his birth to pass unnoticed but rather wished to be known by all because he had come to save all. The Magis' gifts are also symbolic: to God in the child they offer incense, to the man, myrrh and to the king, gold. As for us, the Magi are the first of countless people who have journeyed toward the Lord and we have to ask if we have made a similar journey and come away inspired and enlightened and ready to share what we have learned.


Our second question regards the meaning of Christ's baptism for us. In itself it involves not just Jesus but the Father Who speaks from Heaven and the Spirit appears descending like a dove. At his baptism Jesus is anointed Messiah and Redeemer and so the event confronts us with the Cross by which he accomplished his mission, and introduces us into the mystery of his death and resurrection in which we must share if we are to share in his heavenly beatitude.


Finally, we have the third element: the Wedding-Feast of Cana, which we can only briefly touch on because it involves much more than simply saving the young couple the embarrassment of not having wine, above all at a wedding, a major event in the life of the Palestinians. In fact we say that it prefigures the Last Supper which precedes the death and victory of Christ and so challenges us to say what our relationship is not only to the Eucharist but also to Jesus and Mary, both so much part of this great time of the year.


~January 2012 Concord