January 8, 2006

The Sunday celebration of the Epiphany declares the universal importance of Christ for all people. The Magi, or "Wise Men" probably were Zarathustrians. Their ancient monotheist religion survives, centered in Bombay after being driven out of Iran by Muslims. Its study of astronomy and eclectic use of Jewish and other sacred writings fits in well with the description of these three holy men who put two and two together and, by divine inspiration, "followed the star in the east." The Epiphany, or "Manifestation" of Christ to the Gentiles, continues today. In the past year twenty-six Catholic missionaries were martyred, and many thousands more labor under hardships to spread the Gospel. The whole world now is missionary territory, and many countries long called Christian are sinking into superstition and atheism while the numbers of Christians in former mission territories are growing exponentially.

In the early Church, March 25 was generally used as the date of our Lord's conception, although some in the East decided on April 6. Thus the holy birth was celebrated nine months later, either on December 25 or January 6. A sermon of St. John Chrysostom, whose image is above our parish pulpit, indicates that Christmas was first celebrated in his native Antioch on December 25 in 386 and the custom spread to Alexandria around 432 and Jerusalem about a hundred years later. Only the Armenians did not adopt the dating, and they still celebrate Christ's birth, epiphany, and baptism together on January 6. By the end of the fourth century, Rome was celebrating the Epiphany feast on January 6 which became the customary occasion for gift-giving. The joyful western celebration of the visitation of the Magi ending the Christmas season with "Twelfth Night," is surpassed in the East where Epiphany celebrates the baptism of our Lord, which was the public manifestation that Christ is the incarnate Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. As such, in the Eastern churches Epiphany outranks Christmas and is second only to Easter.

On this Epiphany, in honor of the Wise Men who brought gifts to our Lord, we present and dedicate to him the new icons representing the various lands and races of the world all doing him homage. It is a fitting way to conclude the parish's 50th anniversary year, which has been a time of many graces and accomplishments, and to move on to a wider work. Such challenges of our generation, as the threat of terror from those who disdain the Gospel, and the devastating decline of population in the Europe which once was the bastion of Christendom, are warnings of the price paid for rejecting the Incarnate Lord, but the great achievements and lives of our day show what happens when people grow wise like the Wise Men and worship God in spirit and in truth.

Fr. George W. Rutler