In choosing Christmas cards, it is always wise to choose
one with the Three Magi because then it has until Epiphany
to reach its destination without being late.
The Feast of Epiphany has a special meaning for me, as
I was baptized in the Three Kings Church in Franfurt am
Main. It was on Christmas Day 1957 that I was baptized
and the minister of the Sacrament was my own grandfather
Pfarrer Fritz Creter. Although this took place in the
Lutheran Church the Sacrament was valid nonetheless. In
the many years since that Christmas Day, in the Three
Kings Church, I have undergone a number of “epiphanies”
myself with the result that I am now a Catholic Priest.
The word epiphany comes from the Greek “epiphainein”
which means, “to manifest.” The Shorter Oxford English
Dictionary gives three definitions for epiphany. 1) “A
Christian Festival observed on 6 January, in the Orthodox
Church commemorating the baptism of Jesus, and in the
Western Church, the manifestation of Jesus to the
Gentiles, in the persons of the Magi.” 2) “A manifestation
of some divine or superhuman being.” 3) “Any sudden or
important manifestation or realization.” All three of these
definitions are caught up in today’s celebration. The arrival
of the Three Wise Men (or Magi, or Kings) does indeed
mark our Lord’s manifestation to the Gentiles. These three
men were not Jews, and are symbolic of all mankind, for
which reason they often are portrayed being thee different
races, one African, one Asian and one European. And, of
course, Jesus is a divine person. This was also the most
important of all manifestations, and though, perhaps longed
for, was sudden and unexpected. Indeed, the birth of
Christ caught not just Israel, but the whole world unaware.
The Three Magi were almost certainly astrologers, who like
the shepherds of son “kept watch by night.” Keeping watch
they beheld a light, which brought them to the very source
of all light. What greater “manifestation” could there be?
Often we like to delude ourselves that we live in
enlightened times when in fact our “enlightenment” blinds
us to the true Light. At the time of Christ’s birth many
people must have beheld the star that announced His birth,
but only three are recorded as having followed it.
Spiritually we must all put ourselves beside the Three
Wise Men and keep watch in the dark night of our times
and our souls, and be ready to follow the Light of Christ
when it is manifested to us.