A Real Epiphany

January 6, 2014

Epiphany. I'm no liturgical historian, but I know today is the twelfth day of Christmas, the feast of Epiphany, celebrating the visit of the magi to the Christ Child and the gift of the Gospel to the world. The Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas tomorrow. It gets pretty confusing, but two different calendars are involved, the Gregorian, and the Julian, two dates for Christmas depending on whether you adhere to the Western or the Eastern calendar. Most Christians in America observe Christmas on December 25, as does the secular world, despite the efforts of the politically correct police to call it a "winter holiday" or some such nonsense. Unfortunately, the secularization and commercialization of Christmas has taken its toll on its religious observance. It might not be a bad idea if even we who follow the Western calendar made the switch and observed Christmas with the Orthodox. At least we wouldn't be competing with Santa Claus and the Hallmark Channel!

Few Christians in America observe Epiphany these days. As a child and teenager, I never even knew it existed. Today for most people is merely January 6, just another day on the calendar. There will be no Santa descending down chimneys, and no New Year's fireworks. But what this day on the Christian calendar signifies is not unimportant, because it reminds us that Christ did not come only for the Jewish people; he is the Savior of all. The magi were Gentiles, and their visit to the Christ Child is a portent of the evangelization of the world. I cannot even imagine how different our lives would be had the Gospel of Jesus not spread beyond the borders of First Century Palestine. Thankfully, it did, and I am among those who have benefitted from it. Western society as we know it, our understanding of the worth and dignity of the human being, our quest for knowledge; all these and more have their roots in the Gospel that we received. Most of all, salvation has been proclaimed, forgiveness offered, grace received. All this is bound up in this day we hardly notice. So, without fanfare, colored lights, or fancy wrapped gifts, I will quietly give thanks that God's love and mercy are so expansive as to have reached even me.