The Epiphany of the Lord

The Search!

Today we hear about “God manifesting Himself to the wise men from the Orient.” Their fascination with the wonder of nature and creation launched them on a spiritual journey: a pilgrimage. They found the signs of God in the wonder and majesty of creation. St. Paul attested to this in his letter to the Romans: “Eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things He has made.” [Rom. 1:20]. Nature and the Scripture led the Magi to the infant Jesus. But on finding Him, they evidently knew they had found something far greater than just another child.

The story of the visit of the Magi tells us that God has opened the doors of salvation to all people, but unfortunately, not everyone choses to enter God’s kingdom. Their story and experience encourage us to put some energy and time into finding God and entering eternal life. Entering God’s eternal kingdom does not come automatically. Neither does it come because we know our religion perfectly, but we do not live in its teachings and principles. The Magi came quite a distance to find Jesus. They had to keep searching, even seeking help from the paranoid Herod and the different Jewish clergy who had all the answers, though not interested in finding the Messiah themselves. God’s kingdom is for everyone, but not everyone comes looking for it.

We must have this restlessness of the spirit and heart. This spiritual restlessness often sends us forth on our own pilgrimage to places that have been touched by God in some way. We leave home, if only for a few days or weeks, to a holy place where we sense we will meet the Lord, or the Lord will encounter us. Even when we do not set out on a physical journey like the Magi, we would always be giving expression to the spiritual restlessness within us, rooted in our desire to come closer to God. This attitude of restlessness inspires us to pray, to come to Mass and to the sacraments as we are guided by the star of faith.

Our modern-day culture tells us that everyone somehow is going to make it to heaven. But the story of the Magi teaches us that only those who sincerely search for Jesus will find Him. Today’s feast equally teaches us that we should allow Jesus Christ to manifest in our lives. That Jesus Christ, our King, Priest and Messiah merits our worship and our adoration, and those should be our primary motives for seeking Him. The coming of Jesus Christ is for all humanity: The universal salvation. God speaks to us through nature and all His created world. We should endeavor to hear and follow the voice of God as he is made manifest to us in His created things.