Feast of the Epiphany
April 2, 2025 Column Father De Celles
Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on the Epiphany, January 6, 2006
“…In the mystery of Christmas, Christ’s light shines on the earth, spreading, as it were, in concentric circles. First of all, it shines on the Holy Family of Nazareth: the Virgin Mary and Joseph are illuminated by the divine presence of the Infant Jesus. The light of the Redeemer is then manifested to the shepherds of Bethlehem, who, informed by an Angel, hasten immediately to the grotto and find there the ‘sign’ that had been foretold to them: the Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger (cf. Lk 2: 12).
“The shepherds, together with Mary and Joseph, represent that ‘remnant of Israel,’ the poor, the anawim, to whom the Good News was proclaimed.
“Finally, Christ’s brightness shines out, reaching the Magi who are the first-fruits of the pagan peoples.
“…But what is this light? Is it merely an evocative metaphor or does this image correspond to reality? The Apostle John writes in his First Letter: ‘God is light; in him there is no darkness’ (I Jn 1: 5); and further on he adds: ‘God is love’. These two affirmations, taken together, help us to understand better: the light that shone forth at Christmas, which is manifested to the peoples today, is God’s love revealed in the Person of the Incarnate Word. Attracted by this light, the Magi arrived from the East.
“In the mystery of the Epiphany, therefore, alongside an expanding outward movement, a movement of attraction toward the centre is expressed which brings to completion the movement already written in the Old Covenant. The source of this dynamism is God, One in Three Persons, who draws all things and all people to himself. The Incarnate Person of the Word is presented in this way as the beginning of universal reconciliation and recapitulation (cf. Eph 1: 9-10).
“He is the ultimate destination of history, the point of arrival of an ‘exodus,’ of a providential journey of redemption that culminates in his death and Resurrection.
“….In the Child of Bethlehem, God revealed himself in the humility of the ‘human form,’ in the ‘form of a slave,’ indeed, of one who died on a cross (cf. Phil 2: 6-8). This is the Christian paradox.
“Indeed, this very concealment constitutes the most eloquent ‘manifestation’ of God. The humility, poverty, even the ignominy of the Passion enable us to know what God is truly like. The Face of the Son faithfully reveals that of the Father. This is why the mystery of Christmas is, so to speak, an entire ‘epiphany.’ The manifestation to the Magi does not add something foreign to God’s design but unveils a perennial and constitutive dimension of it, namely, that ‘in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are now coheirs… members of the same body and sharers of the promise through… the Gospel’ (Eph 3: 6).
“At a superficial glance, God’s faithfulness to Israel and his manifestation to the peoples could seem divergent aspects; they are actually two sides of the same coin. In fact, according to the Scriptures, it is precisely by remaining faithful to his Covenant of love with the people of Israel that God also reveals his glory to other peoples.…
“However, this ‘content’ is inseparable from the ‘method’ that God chose to reveal himself, that is, absolute fidelity to the Covenant that reaches its culmination in Christ. The Lord Jesus, at the same time and inseparably, is ‘a light revealing to the Gentiles the glory of your people Israel’ (Lk 2: 32), as the elderly Simeon was to exclaim, inspired by God, taking the Child in his arms when his parents presented him at the temple. The light that enlightens the peoples – the light of the Epiphany – shines out from the glory of Israel – the glory of the Messiah born, in accordance with the Scriptures, in Bethlehem, ‘the city of David’ (cf. Lk 2: 4).
“The Magi worshipped a simple Child in the arms of his Mother Mary, because in him they recognized the source of the twofold light that had guided them: the light of the star and the light of the Scriptures. In him they recognized the King of the Jews, the glory of Israel, but also the King of all the peoples.
“The mystery of the Church and her missionary dimension are also revealed in the liturgical context of the Epiphany. She is called to make Christ’s light shine in the world, reflecting it in herself as the moon reflects the light of the sun….
“This is what disciples of Christ must do: …they must attract all people to God through a witness of love: ‘In the same way, your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your deeds and give praise to your heavenly Father’ (Mt 5: 16)…
“The Church is holy, but made up of men and women with their limitations and errors. It is Christ, Christ alone, who in giving us the Holy Spirit is able to transform our misery and constantly renew us. He is the light of the peoples, the lumen gentium, who has chosen to illumine the world through his Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 1).”
New U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican City State. Did you hear the news? As Catholic News Agency reported last week:
“President-elect Donald Trump selected CatholicVote president and co-founder Brian Burch to serve as the United States ambassador to the Holy See, he announced on Truth Social Friday afternoon.
“‘Brian is a devout Catholic, a father of nine, and president of CatholicVote,’ Trump wrote in the Dec. 20 post. ‘He has received numerous awards and demonstrated exceptional leadership, helping build one of the largest Catholic advocacy groups in the country.’
“CatholicVote is a political advocacy group that endorsed Trump in January and ran advertisements in support the president-elect during his campaign. According to CatholicVote, the organization spent over $10 million on the 2024 elections…
“According to a Washington Post exit poll, Trump won the Catholic vote by a 15-point margin this year — a 10-point swing in his favor from the previous election. Exit polls also showed Trump winning the majority of Catholic voters in vital swing states.
“Burch wrote that he looks forward to ‘the opportunity to continue to serve my country and the Church.’ He thanked his colleagues and his family, including his father, ‘who passed to eternal life this past June, who taught me to love the Church and the blessings and responsibilities of being a citizen of the U.S…To God be the glory.’”
Solemnity of St. Raymond. The liturgical celebration of the feast of our patron St. Raymond of Penafort has been moved to next Sunday, January 12th so that we can all celebrate it more easily together. Note that this is the last Sunday of the Christmas Season, and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which everyone else celebrates that day, will be transferred to the next day, Monday, January 13.
To help celebrate our patronal feast the Knights of Columbus will be sponsoring a free pancake breakfast next Sunday after all the morning Masses.
Oremus pro invicem, Fr. De Celles