Isaiah 60:1-6 / Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6 / Matthew 2:1-12
Some of us were baptized as infants and a term used for us is “cradle Catholics”.
Some of us were baptized when we are adults, and the term used for us is “converts”.
But whether “cradle Catholics” or “converts”, God has called us into His Church through various means and given us the gift of faith.
So, it could be our parents who brought us to church when we were infants for baptism, and we grew up in the faith.
For those of us who are baptized as adults, we may have encountered the faith through our friends, our colleagues, or that we may have had a spiritual experience that led us to look for God in the Catholic Church.
Whatever the means, we acknowledge that it was God who revealed Himself to us and called us into the Church.
Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, we give thanks to God for revealing Himself to the world through His Son Jesus Christ.
In the gospel, it was a star that caught the attention of the wise men and they were convinced that it was revealing to them the birth of the new born King of the Jews.
The sight of the star was enough for them to embark on a search for the infant King that would lead them to a foreign land.
But things were not that straightforward as the star wasn't always there for them. That was why they ended up in Jerusalem, and when King Herod heard about it, he was perturbed.
And then he schemed to use the wise men as his agents to find out the whereabouts of that infant King.
But God always guide and protect those He is calling, and finally the star appeared and led the wise men to Bethlehem and they finally found the infant King.
They did Him homage and offered Him the mystic gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh - Gold to symbolize royalty and kingship; incense to symbolize divinity; and myrrh to symbolize humanity.
These three gifts from the wise men point to the true identity of Jesus, that He is Divine as well as human, and that He is the King of kings.
And the three gifts, in a way, also have a revelation for us.
The gold makes us aware that we do have gold and silver and wealth. But whatever wealth, all gold or silver that we have, we are only stewards of it. Wealth is put to good use when it is shared and not hoarded.
Incense gives a fragrant scent and it is offered to God as a symbol of our prayer. And like incense, prayer has to be offered regularly so that our lives will be pleasing to God and that we share with others the fragrant scent of God's love.
Myrrh is a kind of medicine and it is also used for embalming. We acknowledge the frailty of our humanity and that we are nothing without God.
We confess that we have sinned, and we must turn to God for forgiveness and healing.
Indeed, the Feast of the Epiphany reveals Jesus to the world as the Saviour and the King of Kings.
Yet, in this Feast, God also reveals to us who we are and that there is more that He will reveal to us.
May we walk humbly in the ways of the Lord and follow where He is leading us, just as the wise men did.