Epiphany January 3, 2010 Reflections on Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm 72:1-2, 7, 8, 10-11, 12-13 Ephesians 3:2-3A, 5-6 Matthew 2:1-12 by Patricia Crowley, OSB.

Theme: Today’s story that represents the expansion of the reality of incarnation to all peoples of the earth and that is expansive in its every element

I. Introduction

Last evening as I walked across, the waning moon was bright high in the eastern sky. The winter night sky, when it is clear, gives me some notion of the power of stars in human life. Here in Chicago those crystal clear nights are far too few.

Stars, especially the bright star we call the North Star, have guided people across the millennia and across this planet on the sea, in the desert and through the mountainous areas of our earth.

Stars have fascinated literary folks for centuries. Who can forget Gerard Manley Hopkins words in “The Starlight Night”?

Look at the stars! Look, look up at the skies!
O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air!
Down in dim woods the diamond delves!
The elves’ eyes!

Or Rainer Maria Rilke’s

Do you remember still the falling stars
that like swift horses through the heavens raced
and suddenly leaped across the hurdles of our wishes –
do you recall?

Or the ending of Saint-Exupery’s Little Prince:

And at night I love listening to the stars. It’s like five-hundred million little bells….But something extraordinary has happened……

Matthew, too, finds something extraordinary in the Epiphany Star!

So….what is this star that is reputed to have led these strangers, these star-gazers to the Christ???? I read that astronomers now think this phenomenon could have been what the call a “conjunction” (Jupiter, the planet, coming close to the star, Regulus in the constellation of LEO). [This is based on an article in the National Catholic Reporter, December 25, 2009 on page 24.]

I also read many other theories about this star.

It is said that Jupiter was very probably over that part of the world in the year 2 B.C. and, what I think is even more amazing, that Jupiter is right now in the southwestern sky of North America after sunset these very days.

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that

….on its face this story has all the elements of historical probability and at the same time it has elements which belong more plausibly to parable.

The fact is we don’t really know what happened. We do know that the phenomenon of the birth of Christ, by the middle of the first century, was recognized as significant by people far beyond the people of Israel where that birth took place. This passage from Matthew, written in the latter part of the first century, is a rich literary text and a marvelous story and it definitely features a star.

So….let’s focus for a moment on the significance of this story dominated by the image of a star that, when followed, represents the expansion of the reality of incarnation to all peoples of the earth and that is expansive in its every element

II. Background:
Astrologers were very popular in the time of Jesus’ birth. People who studied the stars were seen as wise and they often were known to interpret what they saw and what they experienced for others less well-educated. Rulers and religious leaders often regarded these “wise people” as somewhat threatening because the masses found their “revelations” appealing. The wise ones (often called “magi”) were a recognizable group in society at that time.

We don’t really know from where these wise ones came from. We don’t really know how many there were (the mention of three gifts suggest that number of people). We don’t really know if these magi were Gentiles (after all they listened to the references cited by the chief priests and the scribes).

1 We hear they were from the east and they came to Jerusalem.
2 We hear they departed for their country by another way.
3 We hear they saw the star of a newborn king of the Jews.
4 We hear that …when King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

III. In this passage, we learn that following a star can be challenging

A. Stars are not always visible in the sky. The magi experienced that and so do we – both physically and in the imagery of our lives.

B. One needs to know quite a bit about the stars to be able to follow a given star for on a clear night for the stars are numerous.

C. When one loses sight of the star one is following, one may need to take the risk of seeking counsel from others, from strangers. The magi took that risk and so must we…

D. When one cannot see the star clearly, one must discern the integrity of others giving new directions and decide for oneself which way to go. The magi had to determine the motivation of the domineering figure of Herod

E. When one arrives where the star is leading, one gives of one’s self and then, listens to one’s self (perhaps in dreams, perhaps in visions…) and be willing to change one’s course. The magi knew they had arrived. They were used to discerning messages through the stars and through their dreams. They listened well and went back to their country by another route.

F. Following a star broadens one’s vision and expands one’s horizons.

1. This is certainly the liturgical message of this feast if we listen well to the second reading where Paul speaks to the community of Ephesus – that the Gentiles are coheirs (to the mystery revealed to the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit), members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel
2. That message is also very clear in the first reading from Isaiah: …Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance….

IV. Conclusion

This feast and this story are wondrous - with its image of a star that caught people’s attention so strongly that they traveled far and as they lost track of the star and, then, were overjoyed when that star re-appeared.

This feast and this story are powerful - for strangers take counsel from people they don’t really know they can trust and are thereby led to recognize the Divine in the form of a child.

This feast and this story bespeak courage – for these magi listen to themselves in dreams and change their course once again.

This feast and this story are expansive for herein lies an image of the incarnation being available to all peoples of the earth and that story is expansive in its every element.

Following a star can lead us to new realities. The magis’ doing so has many lessons for us on our life’s journey. Happy feast of the Three Kings!

Pause

Today, in eleven different countries, members of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, a religious community from which Sister Francisca and her two guests, Sister Benedict and Sister Regina, come, make a devotional profession of vows each year on the feast of the Epiphany. I would invite these three Sisters to come before the altar and in their profession join with all their finally professed Sisters around the world on this holy day.

Please remain seated for this profession and join in the final song if you can.

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