Entry 0323: Reflections on the Solemnity of the Epiphany
by Pope Benedict XVI
On eight occasions during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delivered reflections on the solemnity of the Epiphany (January 6 in Rome) in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Here are the texts of eight brief reflections prior to the recitation of the Angelus and eight homilies delivered on these occasions.
SOLEMNITY
OF THE EPIPHANY
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Friday, 6 January 2006
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today we are celebrating
the Epiphany of the Lord, that is, his manifestation to the peoples, represented
by the Magi, mysterious figures who came from the East of whom the Gospel of St
Matthew speaks (Mt 2: 1-12).
The adoration of
Jesus by the Magi was immediately recognized as the fulfilment of the prophetic
Scriptures. “Nations shall walk by your light,” we read in the Book of Isaiah, “and
kings by your shining radiance... bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming
the praises of the Lord” (Is 60: 3, 6). Today, the light of Christ, which
was as it were contained in the Grotto of Bethlehem, reaches its full universal
importance.
My thoughts go in
particular to the beloved brothers and sisters of the Eastern Churches which, in
line with the Julian Calendar, will be celebrating Holy Christmas tomorrow: I address my most cordial good wishes to them
for peace and good in the Lord.
Today, the memory
of World Youth Day spontaneously springs to mind. Many of you were there last August
when more than a million young people came to Cologne , who had taken as their motto the words
of the Magi referring to Jesus: “We have
come to worship him” (Mt 2: 2).
How often we have
heard and repeated these words! We cannot hear them now without returning in spirit
to that memorable event which was an authentic “epiphany”. Indeed, in its deepest
dimension, the youth pilgrimage can be seen as a journey guided by the light of
a “star”, the star of faith.
And today, I would
like to extend to the whole Church the message I proposed at the time to the young
people gathered on the banks of the Rhine:
“Open wide your hearts to God!”, I said to them, and today I repeat to all
of you, “Let yourselves be surprised by Christ!... Open the doors of your freedom
to his merciful love! Share your joys and pains with Christ, and let him enlighten
your minds with his light and touch your hearts with his grace” (Address, Welcome
Celebration, Poller Rheinwiesen Wharf, Cologne, 18 August 2005; L’Osservatore
Romano English edition, 24 August, p. 4).
I wish that the whole
Church, as in Cologne ,
could breathe the atmosphere of an “epiphany” and of authentic missionary commitment,
inspired by the manifestation of Christ, the light of the world, sent by God the
Father to reconcile and unify humanity with the power of love.
In this spirit, let
us pray fervently for the full unity of all Christians, so that their witness may
become a leaven of communion for the whole world. For this, let us invoke the intercession
of Mary Most Holy, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church.
«CAPPELLA
PAPALE» ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
The light that shone
in the night at Christmas illuminating the Bethlehem Grotto, where Mary, Joseph
and the shepherds remained in silent adoration, shines out today and is manifested
to all. The Epiphany is a mystery of light, symbolically suggested by the star that
guided the Magi on their journey. The true source of light, however, the “sun that
rises from on high” (see Lk 1: 78), is Christ.
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 (see 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.
The palaces of the
rulers of Jerusalem ,
to which, paradoxically, the Magi actually take the news of the Messiah’s birth,
are left in the shade. Moreover, this news does not give rise to joy but to fear
and hostile reactions. The divine plan was mysterious: “The light came into the world, but men loved
darkness rather than light because their deeds were wicked” (Jn 3: 19).
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 (see 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. Therefore, on the Solemnity
of the Epiphany, the liturgy foresees the so-called “Announcement of Easter”: indeed, the liturgical year sums up the entire
parable of the history of salvation, whose centre is “the Triduum of the Crucified
Lord, buried and risen”.
In the liturgy of
the Christmas season this verse of Psalm 98[97] frequently recurs as a refrain: “The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his
justice” (v. 2).
These are words that
the Church uses to emphasize the “epiphanic” dimension of the Incarnation: the Son of God becoming human, his entry into
history, is the crowning point of God’s revelation of himself to Israel
and to all the peoples. 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
(see 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. Grace and fidelity (see Ps
89[88]: 2), “mercy and truth” (see Ps 85[84]: 11), are the content of God’s
glory, they are his “name”, destined to be known and sanctified by people of every
language and nation.
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” (see 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.
The ancient prophecies
concerning the holy city of Jerusalem ,
such as the marvelous one in Isaiah that we have just heard: “Rise up in splendor! Your light has come....
Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance” (Is
60: 1-3), have found fulfilment in the Church.
This is what disciples
of Christ must do: trained by him to live
in the way of the Beatitudes, 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). By listening to Jesus’ words, we members
of the Church cannot but become aware of the total inadequacy of our human condition,
marked by sin.
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 (see Lumen Gentium, no. 1).
“How can this come
about?” we also ask ourselves with the words that the Virgin addresses to the Archangel
Gabriel. And she herself, the Mother of Christ and of the Church, gives us the answer: with her example of total availability to God’s
will - “fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum” (Lk 1: 38) - she teaches us
to be a “manifestation” of the Lord, opening our hearts to the power of grace and
faithfully abiding by the words of her Son, light of the world and the ultimate
end of history. So be it!
SOLEMNITY
OF THE EPIPHANY
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Saturday, 6 January 2007
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today’s Solemnity
of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the Magi, an event that
St Matthew emphasizes greatly (see Mt 2: 1-12). His Gospel narrates that
some “Magi” - probably Persian religious leaders - reached Jerusalem guided by a “star”, a luminous, heavenly
phenomenon which they interpreted as a sign of the birth of a new king of the Jews.
No one in the city
knew anything; rather, the king in charge, Herod, remained very disturbed by the
news and conceived the tragic design of the “slaughter of the innocents” to eliminate
the newborn rival.
The Magi, instead,
placed their trust in the Sacred Scriptures, in particular in the prophecy of Micah,
according to which the Messiah would be born at Bethlehem ,
the city of David , situated about 10 kilometers south
of Jerusalem (see
Mi 5: 1).
They departed in
that direction and saw the star anew and, full of joy, followed it until it stopped
over a poor dwelling. They entered and found the Baby with Mary; they prostrated
before him and, in homage of his royal dignity, they offered him gold, frankincense
and myrrh.
Why is this happening
so important? Because in it the adhesion of the pagan people to faith in Christ
has begun to be fulfilled according to the promise made by God to Abraham, about
which the Book of Genesis refers: “By you all the families of the earth shall bless
themselves” (Gn 12: 3).
If Mary, Joseph and
the shepherds of Bethlehem therefore represent the people of Israel who have welcomed
the Lord, the Magi instead are the first of the peoples, also called to be part
of the Church, the new People of God established, no longer on ethnic, linguistic
or cultural homogeneity, but uniquely on the common faith in Jesus, Son of God.
The Epiphany of Christ,
therefore, is at the same time the epiphany of the Church, the manifestation of
her universal vocation and mission. In this context I am happy to address my cordial
greeting to the beloved brothers and sisters of the Eastern Churches who,
following the Julian Calendar, will celebrate Holy Christmas tomorrow: with
affection I wish them an abundance of peace and Christian prosperity.
I am happy to recall
that on the occasion of the Epiphany, the World Day of the Missionary Childhood
is celebrated. It is the feast on which Christian children live with joy the
gift of faith and pray that the light of Jesus reaches all the children of the world.
I thank the children
of the “Divine Infancy”, present in 110 countries, because they are precious cooperators
of the Gospel and apostles of Christian solidarity to those most in need. I encourage
educators to cultivate in the little ones the missionary spirit, so that impassioned
missionaries are born among them, witnesses of the tenderness of God and announcers
of his love.
Now we invoke the
Virgin Mary, Star of Evangelization: through her intercession may
Christians in every part of the earth live as sons of the light and lead humanity
to Christ, true light of the world.
SOLEMNITY
OF THE EPIPHANY
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
We celebrate with
joy the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the “manifestation” of Christ to the peoples
who are represented by the Magi, mysterious figures who came from the East. We celebrate
Christ, the destination of the pilgrimage of peoples in search of salvation.
In the First Reading
we listened to the Prophet, inspired by God, to contemplate Jerusalem as a beacon of light which guides all
the peoples on their journey through the darkness and fog of the earth.
The glory of the
Lord shines on the holy City and attracts first of all his own children, displaced
and dispersed, but also, at the same time, the pagan nations who come to Zion from
all sides as to a common homeland, enriching it with their goods (see Is
60: 1-6).
The Second Reading
presents what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, that is, through God’s loving
designs the convergence of Jews and Gentiles in the one Church of Christ
In a little while
we will say in the Preface: “Today, you revealed in Christ your eternal plan of
salvation and showed him as the light of all peoples”.
Twenty centuries
have passed since that mystery was revealed and brought about in Christ, but it
has not yet reached fulfilment. My beloved Predecessor, John Paul II, began his
Encyclical on the Church’s mission by writing: “As the second Millennium after Christ’s
Coming draws to an end, an overall view of the human race shows that this mission
is still only beginning” (Redemptoris Missio, no. 1).
Several spontaneous
questions arise: in what sense is Christ still the lumen gentium, the Light
of the peoples, today? What point - if one can so describe it - has the universal
journey of the peoples toward God reached? Is it in a phase of progress or of regression?
And further: who are the Magi today? How, thinking of today’s world, should we interpret
these mysterious figures of the Gospel?
To answer these questions,
I would like to return to what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council said in
this regard. And I am pleased to add that immediately after the Council, the Servant
of God, Paul VI, exactly 40 years ago on precisely 26 March 1967, dedicated to the
development of the peoples his Encyclical Populorum Progressio.
The whole of the
Second Vatican Council was truly stirred by the longing to proclaim Christ, the
Light of the world, to contemporary humanity. In the heart of the Church, from the
summit of her hierarchy, emerged the impelling desire, awakened by the Spirit, for
a new epiphany of Christ in the world, a world that the modern epoch had profoundly
transformed and that, for the first time in history, found itself facing the challenge
of a global civilization in which the centre could no longer be Europe or even what
we call the West and the North of the world.
The need to work
out a new world political and economic order was emerging but, at the same time
and above all, one that would be both spiritual and cultural, that is, a renewed
humanism.
This observation
became more and more obvious: a new world economic and political order cannot work
unless there is a spiritual renewal, unless we can once again draw close to God
and find God in our midst.
Before the Second
Vatican Council, the enlightened minds of Christian thinkers had already intuited
and faced this epochal challenge.
Well, at the beginning
of the third millennium, we find ourselves in the midst of this phase of human history
that now focuses on the word “globalization”.
Moreover, we realize
today how easy it is to lose sight of the terms of this same challenge, precisely
because we are involved in it: this risk is heavily reinforced by the vast expansion
of the mass media. Although, on the one hand, the media increase information indefinitely,
on the other, they seem to weaken our capacity for critical synthesis.
Today’s Solemnity
can offer us this perspective, based on the manifestation of a God who revealed
himself in history as the Light of the world to guide humanity and lead it at last
into the Promised Land where freedom, justice and peace reign. And we see more and
more clearly that on our own we cannot foster justice and peace unless the light
of a God who shows us his Face is revealed to us, a God who appears to us in the
manger of Bethlehem, who appears to us on the Cross.
Who then are the
“Magi” of today, and what point has their “journey” and our “journey” reached?
Dear brothers and
sisters, let us return to that special moment of grace, the conclusion of the Second
Vatican Council on 8 December 1965, when the Council Fathers addressed certain “Messages”
to all humanity.
The first was addressed
“To Rulers” and the second, “To Men of Thought and Science”. These are two categories
of people who, in a certain way, we can see portrayed in the evangelical figures
of the Magi.
I would then like
to add a third category, to which the Council did not address a message but which
was very present in its attention in the conciliar Decree Nostra Aetate. I
am referring to the spiritual leaders of the great non-Christian religions. Two
thousand years later, we can thus recognize in the figures of the Magi a sort of
prefiguration of these three constitutive dimensions of modern humanism: the political,
scientific and religious dimensions.
The Epiphany shows
them to us in a state of “pilgrimage”, that is, in a movement of seeking, often
somewhat confused, whose point of arrival, in short, is Christ, even if the star
is sometimes hidden.
At the same time,
the Epiphany shows to us God who in turn is on pilgrimage, a pilgrimage to man.
There is not only the pilgrimage of man towards God; God himself has set out towards
us: who is Jesus, in fact, if not God who has, so to speak, come out of himself
to meet humanity? It was out of love that he made himself history in our history;
out of love that he came to bring us the seed of new life (see Jn 3: 3-6)
and sow it in the furrows of our earth so that it might sprout, flower and bear
fruit.
Today, I would like
to make my own those Messages of the Council which have lost nothing of their timeliness.
For instance, one reads in the Message addressed to Rulers: “Your task is to be
in the world the promoters of order and peace among men. But never forget this:
It is God, the living and true God, who is the Father of men. And it is Christ,
his eternal Son, who came to make this known to us and to teach us that we are all
brothers. He it is who is the great artisan of order and peace on earth, for he
it is who guides human history and who alone can incline hearts to renounce those
evil passions which beget war and misfortune”.
How can we fail to
recognize in these words of the Council Fathers the luminous trail of a journey
which alone can transform the history of the nations and the world?
And further, in the
“Message to Men of Thought and Science” we read: “Continue your search without tiring
and without ever despairing of the truth”, and this, in fact, is the great danger:
losing interest in the truth and seeking only action, efficiency and pragmatism!
“Recall the words of one of your great friends, St Augustine : “Let us seek with the desire to
find, and find with the desire to seek still more’. Happy are those who, while possessing
the truth, search more earnestly for it in order to renew it, deepen it and transmit
it to others. Happy also are those who, not having found it, are working toward
it with a sincere heart. May they seek the light of tomorrow with the light of today
until they reach the fullness of light.”
This was said in
these two Council Messages. Today, it is more necessary than ever to flank the leaders
of nations and researchers and scientists with the leaders of the great non-Christian
religious traditions, inviting them to face one another with the light of Christ,
who came not to abolish but to bring to fulfilment what God’s hand has written in
the religious history of civilization, especially in the “great souls” who helped
to build up humanity with their wisdom and example of virtue.
Christ is light,
and light cannot darken but can only illuminate, brighten, reveal. No one, therefore,
should be afraid of Christ and his message! And if, down through history, Christians
as limited people and sinners have sometimes betrayed him by their behavior, this
makes it even clearer that the light is Christ and that the Church reflects it only
by remaining united to him.
“We have seen his
star in the East, and have come to adore the Lord” (Gospel acclamation, see Mt
2: 2).
What amazes us each
time when we listen to these words of the Magi is that they prostrated themselves
before a simple baby in his mother’s arms, not in the setting of a royal palace
but, on the contrary, in the poverty of a stable in Bethlehem (see Mt 2:
11).
How was this possible?
What convinced the Magi that the Child was “the King of the Jews” and the King of
the peoples? There is no doubt that they were persuaded by the sign of the star
that they had seen “in its rising” and which had come to rest precisely over the
place where the Child was found (see Mt 2: 9). But even the star would not
have sufficed had the Magi not been people inwardly open to the truth.
In comparison with
King Herod, beset with his interests of power and riches, the Magi were directed
toward the goal of their quest and when they found it, although they were cultured
men, they behaved like the shepherds of Bethlehem: they recognized the sign and
adored the Child, offering him the precious and symbolic gifts that they had brought
with them.
Dear brothers and
sisters, let us too pause in spirit to contemplate the image of the adoration of
the Magi. It contains a demanding and ever timely message. It is demanding and ever
timely, first of all for the Church, which, reflected in Mary, is called to show
to mankind Jesus, nothing but Jesus.
Indeed, he is the
All and the Church exists solely to remain united to him and to make him known to
the world. May the Mother of the Incarnate Word help us to be docile disciples of
her Son, the Light of the nations!
The example of the
Magi of that time is also an invitation to the Magi of today to open their minds
and hearts to Christ and to offer him the gifts of their research. I would like
to repeat to them, and to all the people of our time: do not be afraid of Christ’s
light! His light is the splendor of the truth. Let yourselves be enlightened by
him, all peoples of the earth; let yourselves be enveloped by his love and you will
find the way of peace. So may it be.
SOLEMNITY
OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 6 January 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today, despite the
rain, we joyfully celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, his manifestation to the peoples
of the entire world, represented by the Magi who came from the East to render homage
to the King of the Jews. Observing the heavenly phenomena, these mysterious personages
had seen a new star and, instructed by the ancient prophets as well, they recognized
in it the sign of the Messiah’s birth, a descendant of David (see Mt 2: 1-12). From
its initial appearance, therefore, the light of Christ began to attract to himself
the people “with whom he is pleased” (Lk 2: 14), of every tongue, people and culture.
It is the power of the Holy Spirit that moves hearts and minds to seek truth, beauty,
justice, peace. It is what the Servant of God John Paul II affirmed in the Encyclical
Fides et Ratio: “men and women are on a journey of discovery which
is humanly unstoppable - a search for the truth and a search for a person to whom
they might entrust themselves” (no. 33). The Magi found both of these realities
in the Child of Bethlehem.
Men and women of
every generation need on their pilgrim journey to be directed: what star can we
therefore follow? After coming to rest “over the place where the child was” (Mt
2: 9), the purpose of the star that guided the Magi ended, but its spiritual light
is always present in the Word of the Gospel, which is still able today to guide
every person to Jesus. This same Word, which is none other than the reflection of
Christ, true man and true God, is authoritatively echoed by the Church for every
well-disposed heart. The Church too, therefore, carries out the mission of the star
for humanity. But something of the sort could be said of each Christian, called
to illuminate the path of the brethren by word and example of life. How important
it is that we Christians are faithful to our vocation! Every authentic believer
is always traveling his own personal itinerary of faith, and at the same time, with
the little light that he carries within himself, can and must be a help to those
alongside him, and even help the one for whom finding the way that leads to Christ
is difficult.
While we prepare
ourselves to pray the Angelus, I address my most cordial greetings to the
brothers and sisters of the Eastern Church who, following the Julian calendar, will
celebrate Christmas tomorrow. It is a great joy to share the mysteries of the faith
in the multiform richness of the Rites that witness to the Church’s bimillenial
history. Together with the Eastern Christian Community, greatly devoted to the Holy
Mother of God, we invoke the protection of Mary on the universal Church, so that
it may spread in the entire world the Gospel of Christ, Lumen gentium, light
of all peoples.
EUCHARISTIC
CELEBRATION
ON THE
SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Sunday, 6 January 2008
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today, we are celebrating
Christ, Light of the world, and his manifestation to the peoples. On Christmas Day
the message of the liturgy rings out in these words: “Hodie descendit
lux magna super terram - Today, a great light descends upon earth” (Roman
Missal). In Bethlehem this “great light” appeared
to a handful of people, a tiny “remnant of Israel ”: the Virgin Mary, her husband
Joseph and a few shepherds. It was a humble light, as is the style of the true God;
a little flame kindled in the night: a fragile newborn infant wailing in the silence
of the world... but this hidden, unknown birth was accompanied by the hymns of praise
of the heavenly hosts singing of glory and peace (see Lk 2: 13-14).
So it was that although
the appearance of this light on earth was modest, it was powerfully projected in
the heavens: the birth of the King of the Jews had been announced by the rising
of a star, visible from afar. This was attested to by some “wise men” who had come
to Jerusalem from
the East shortly after Jesus’ birth, in the time of King Herod (see Mt 2: 1-2).
Once again heaven and earth, the cosmos and history, call to each other and respond.
The ancient prophecies find confirmation in the language of the stars. “A star shall
come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel ” (Nm 24:
17), announced Balaam, the pagan seer, when he was summoned to curse the People
of Israel, whom he instead blessed because, as God had revealed to him, “they are
blessed” (Nm 22: 12). In his Commentary on Matthew’s Gospel, Cromatius of Aquileia
establishes a connection between Balaam and the Magi: “He prophesied that Christ
would come; they saw him with the eyes of faith”. And he adds an important observation:
“The star was seen by everyone but not everyone understood its meaning. Likewise,
our Lord and Savior was born for everyone, but not everyone has welcomed him” (4:
1-2). Here, the meaning of the symbol of light applied to Christ’s birth appears:
it expresses God’s special blessing on Abraham’s descendents, destined to be extended
to all the peoples of the earth.
The Gospel event
which we commemorate on the Epiphany - the Magi’s visit to the Child Jesus in Bethlehem - thus refers us
back to the origins of the history of God’s People, that is, to Abraham’s call.
We are in chapter 12 of the Book of Genesis. The first 11 chapters are like great
frescos that answer some of humanity’s fundamental questions: what is the origin
of the universe and of the human race? Where does evil come from? Why are there
different languages and civilizations?
Among the narratives
with which the Bible begins, there appears a first “covenant” which God made with
Noah after the flood. It was a universal covenant concerning the whole of humanity:
the new pact with Noah’s family is at the same time a pact with “all flesh”. Then,
before Abraham’s call, there is another great fresco which is very important for
understanding the meaning of Epiphany: that of the Tower of Babel Babel ” and was a sort of curse,
similar to being banished from the earthly paradise.
At this point, with
Abraham’s call, the story of the blessing begins: it is the beginning of God’s great
plan to make humanity one family through the covenant with a new people, chosen
by him to be a blessing among all the peoples (see Gn 12: 1-3). This divine plan
is still being implemented; it culminated in the mystery of Christ. It was then
that the “last times” began, in the sense that the plan was fully revealed and brought
about in Christ but needs to be accepted by human history, which always remains
a history of fidelity on God’s part, but unfortunately also of infidelity on the
part of us human beings. The Church herself, the depository of the blessing, is
holy and made up of sinners, marked by tension between the “already” and the “not
yet”. In the fullness of time Jesus Christ came to bring the covenant to completion:
he himself, true God and true man, is the Sacrament of God’s fidelity to his plan
of salvation for all humanity, for all of us.
The arrival in Bethlehem of the Magi from
the East to adore the newborn Messiah is a sign of the manifestation of the universal
King to the peoples and to all who seek the truth. It is the beginning of a movement
opposed to that of Babel :
from confusion to comprehension, from dispersion to reconciliation. Thus, we discern
a link between Epiphany and Pentecost: if the Nativity of Christ, who is the Head,
is also the Nativity of the Church, his Body, we can see the Magi as the peoples
who join the remnant of Israel ,
foretelling the great sign of the “polyglot Church” that the Holy Spirit carried
out 50 days after Easter. The faithful and tenacious love of God which is never
lacking in his covenant from generation to generation is the “mystery” of which
St Paul speaks in his Letters and in the passage from the Letter to the Ephesians
which has just been proclaimed: the Apostle says that this mystery “was made known
to me by revelation” (Eph 3: 3).
This “mystery” of
God’s fidelity constitutes the hope of history. It is of course opposed by the impulses
of division and tyranny that wound humanity due to sin and conflicts of selfishness.
The Church in history is at the service of this “mystery” of blessing for all humanity.
The Church fully carries out her mission in this mystery of God’s fidelity only
when she reflects the light of Christ the Lord within herself and so helps the peoples
of the world on their way to peace and authentic progress. Indeed, God’s Word revealed
through the Prophet Isaiah still continues to apply: “darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory
will be seen upon you” (Is 60: 2). What the prophet proclaimed in Jerusalem was to be fulfilled
in Christ’s Church: “nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness
of your rising” (Is 60: 3).
With Jesus Christ,
Abraham’s blessing was extended to all peoples, to the universal Church as the new
Israel
which welcomes within her the whole of humanity. Yet, what the prophet said is also
true today in many senses: “thick darkness [covers] the peoples” and our history.
Indeed, it cannot be said that “globalization” is synonymous with “world order”
- it is quite the opposite. Conflicts for economic supremacy and hoarding resources
of energy, water and raw materials hinder the work of all who are striving at every
level to build a just and supportive world. There is a need for greater hope, which
will make it possible to prefer the common good of all to the luxury of the few
and the poverty of the many. “This great hope can only be God... not any god, but
the God who has a human face” (Spe Salvi, no. 31): the God who showed
himself in the Child of Bethlehem and the Crucified and Risen One. If there is great
hope, it is possible to persevere in sobriety. If true hope is lacking, happiness
is sought in drunkenness, in the superfluous, in excesses, and we ruin ourselves
and the world. It is then that moderation is not only an ascetic rule but also a
path of salvation for humanity. It is already obvious that only by adopting a sober
lifestyle, accompanied by a serious effort for a fair distribution of riches, will
it be possible to establish an order of just and sustainable development. For this
reason we need people who nourish great hope and thus have great courage: the courage
of the Magi, who made a long journey following a star and were able to kneel before
a Child and offer him their precious gifts. We all need this courage, anchored to
firm hope. May Mary obtain it for us, accompanying us on our earthly pilgrimage
with her maternal protection. Amen!
SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY
OF THE LORD
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today we are celebrating
the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the “Manifestation” of the Lord. The Gospel tells
how Jesus came into the world with deep humility and hiddenness. St Matthew, however,
mentions the episode of the Wise Men who arrive from the East, guided by a star,
to worship the newborn King of the Jews. Every time we hear this account, we are
struck by the stark contrast between the attitude of the Magi, on the one hand,
and that of Herod and the Jews on the other. In fact, the Gospel says that on hearing
the words of the Magi “Herod the king... was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Mt 2:
3). There are various ways in which this reaction can be understood: Herod is alarmed
because he sees in the one the Magi were seeking a rival to himself and his children.
On the other hand, the elders and inhabitants of Jerusalem seem amazed, rather than anything else,
as though they had been woken from a certain lethargy and needed to think. Isaiah
had, in reality, foretold: “To us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the
government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is 9: 6).
So why should Jerusalem have been worried?
It seems that the Evangelist almost desired to anticipate what was later to be the
attitude of the high priests and the Sanhedrin, as well as of the people, toward
Jesus during his public life. Certainly, it becomes clear that knowledge of the
Scriptures and of the messianic prophecies does not lead everyone to open themselves
to him and to his words. It comes to mind that Jesus with his Passion approaching
wept over Jerusalem
because it had not recognized the time of its visitation (see Lk 19: 44). Here we
touch on one of the crucial points of historical theology: the drama of the faithful
love of God in the person of Jesus, who “came to his own, yet his own did not accept
him” (Jn 1: 11). In the light of the whole Bible this attitude of hostility, or
ambiguity, or superficiality represents that of every person and of the “world”
in the spiritual sense when closed to the mystery of the true God, who comes to
meet us in the disarming docility of love. Jesus, the “King of the Jews” (see Jn
18: 37), is the God of mercy and fidelity. He desires to reign in love and in truth
and asks us to convert, to abandon wicked deeds and to set out with determination
on the path of good.
Hence in this sense
“Jerusalem ” is all
of us! May the Virgin Mary, who welcomed Jesus with faith, help us not to close
our hearts to his Gospel of salvation. Rather, let us allow ourselves to be conquered
and transformed by him, the “Emmanuel”, God who came to dwell among us to offer
us the gift of his peace and his love.
EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION
ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE
EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Epiphany, the “manifestation”
of Our Lord Jesus Christ, is a many-facetted mystery. The Latin tradition identifies
it with the visit of the Magi to the Infant Jesus in Bethlehem and thus interprets it above all as
a revelation of the Messiah of Israel to the Gentiles. The Eastern tradition on
the other hand gives priority to the moment of Jesus’ Baptism in the River Jordan
when he manifested himself as the Only-Begotten Son of the heavenly Father, consecrated
by the Holy Spirit. John’s Gospel, however, also invites us to consider as an “epiphany”
the Wedding at Cana, during which, by changing the water into wine, Jesus “manifested
his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (Jn 2: 11). And what should we say,
dear brothers and sisters, especially we priests of the New Covenant who are every
day witnesses and ministers of the “epiphany” of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist?
The Church celebrates all the mysteries of the Lord in this most holy and most humble
Sacrament in which he both reveals and conceals his glory. “Adoro te devote,
latens Deitas” in adoration, thus we pray along with St Thomas Aquinas.
In this year 2009,
which has been dedicated in a special way to astronomy to mark the fourth centenary
of Galileo Galilei’s first observations with the telescope, we cannot fail to pay
particular attention to the symbol of the star that is so important in the Gospel
account of the Magi (see Mt 2: 1-12). In all likelihood the Wise Men were astronomers.
From their observation point, situated in the East compared to Palestine, perhaps
in Mesopotamia, they had noticed the appearance of a new star and had interpreted
this celestial phenomenon as the announcement of the birth of a king, specifically
that in accordance with the Sacred Scriptures of the King of the Jews (see Nm 24:
17). The Fathers of the Church also saw this unique episode recounted by St Matthew
as a sort of cosmic “revolution” caused by the Son of God’s entry into the world.
For example, St John Chrysostom writes: “The star, when it stood over the young
Child, stayed its course again: which thing itself was of a greater power than belongs
to a star, now to hide itself, now to appear, and having appeared to stand still”
(Homily on the Gospel of Matthew, 7, 3). St Gregory of Nazianzen states that
the birth of Christ gave the stars new orbits (see Dogmatic Poems, v, 53-64:
PG 37, 428-429). This is clearly to be understood in a symbolic and theological
sense. In effect, while pagan theology divinized the elements and forces of the
cosmos, the Christian faith, in bringing the biblical Revelation to fulfilment,
contemplates only one God, Creator and Lord of the whole universe.
The divine and universal
law of creation is divine love, incarnate in Christ. However, this should not be
understood in a poetic but in a real sense. Moreover, this is what Dante himself
meant when, in the sublime verse that concludes the Paradiso and the entire
Divina Commedia, he describes God as “the Love which moves the sun and the
other stars” (Paradiso, xxxiii, 145). This means that the stars, planets
and the whole universe are not governed by a blind force, they do not obey the dynamics
of matter alone. Therefore, it is not the cosmic elements that should be divinized.
Indeed, on the contrary, within everything and at the same time above everything
there is a personal will, the Spirit of God, who in Christ has revealed himself
as Love (see Encyclical Spe Salvi, no. 5). If this is the case, then as St Paul wrote to the
Colossians people are not slaves of the “elemental spirits of the universe” (see
Col 2: 8) but are free, that is, capable of relating to the creative freedom of
God. God is at the origin of all things and governs all things, not as a cold and
anonymous engine but rather as Father, Husband, Friend, Brother and as the Logos,
“Word-Reason” who was united with our mortal flesh once and for all and fully
shared our condition, showing the superabundant power of his grace. Thus there is
a special concept of the cosmos in Christianity which found its loftiest expression
in medieval philosophy and theology. In our day too, it shows interesting signs
of a new flourishing, thanks to the enthusiasm and faith of many scientists who
following in Galileo’s footsteps renounce neither reason nor faith; instead they
develop both in their reciprocal fruitfulness.
Christian thought
compares the cosmos to a “book” the same Galileo said this as well considering it
as the work of an Author who expresses himself in the “symphony” of the Creation.
In this symphony is found, at a certain point, what might be called in musical terminology
a “solo”, a theme given to a single instrument or voice; and it is so important
that the significance of the entire work depends on it. This “solo” is Jesus, who
is accompanied by a royal sign: the appearance of a new star in the firmament. Jesus
is compared by ancient Christian writers to a new sun. According to current astrophysical
knowledge, we should compare it with a star that is even more central, not only
for the solar system but also for the entire known universe. Within this mysterious
design simultaneously physical and metaphysical, which led to the appearance of
the human being as the crowning of Creation’s elements Jesus came into the world:
“born of woman” (Gal 4: 4), as St Paul writes. The Son of man himself epitomizes
the earth and Heaven, the Creation and the Creator, the flesh and the Spirit. He
is the centre of the cosmos and of history, for in him the Author and his work are
united without being confused with each other.
In the earthly Jesus
the culmination of Creation and of history is found but in the Risen Christ this
is surpassed: the passage through death to eternal life anticipates the point of
the “recapitulation” of all things in Christ (see Eph 1: 10). Indeed “all things”,
the Apostle wrote “were created through him and for him (Col 1: 16). And it is precisely with the resurrection
of the dead that he became “pre-eminent in all things” (Col 1: 18). Jesus himself affirms this, appearing
to his disciples after the Resurrection: “all authority in Heaven and on earth has
been given to me” (Mt 28: 18). This awareness supports the way of the Church, Body
of Christ, on the paths of history. There is no shadow, however dark, that can obscure
Christ’s light. This is why believers in Christ never lack hope, even today, in
the face of the great social and financial crisis that is tormenting humanity, in
the face of the destructive hatred and violence that have not ceased to stain many
of the earth’s regions with blood, in the face of the selfishness and pretension
of the human being in establishing himself as his own God, which sometimes leads
to dangerous distortions of the divine plan concerning life and the dignity of the
human being, the family and the harmony of the Creation. Our efforts to free human
life and the world from the forms of poison and contamination that could destroy
the present and the future retain their value and meaning as I noted in the Encyclical
Spe Salvi mentioned above even if we apparently fail or seem powerless when
hostile forces appear to gain the upper hand, because “it is the great hope based
upon God’s promises that gives us courage and directs our action in good times and
bad” (no. 35).
Christ’s universal
lordship is exercised in a special way on the Church. We read in the Letter to the
Ephesians that God “has put all things under [Christ’s] feet and has made him the
head over all things for the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who
fills all in all (Eph 1: 22-23).
The Epiphany is the
manifestation of the Lord and as a reflection, it is the manifestation of the Church,
since the Body is inseparable from the Head. Today’s First Reading, from “Third
Isaiah”, gives us the precise perspective for understanding the reality of the Church
as a mystery of reflected light: “Arise, shine” the Prophet says, addressing Jerusalem,
“for your light has come, / and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Is 60:
1). The Church is humanity illuminated, “baptized” in the glory of God, that is
in his love, in his beauty, in his dignity. The Church knows that her own humanity,
with its limitations and wretchedness, serve especially to highlight the work of
the Holy Spirit. She can boast of nothing, save in her Lord. It is not from her
that light comes; the glory is not hers. But this is precisely her joy, which no
one can take from her: to be a “sign and instrument” of the One who is “lumen
gentium”, the light of humanity (see Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution
Lumen gentium, no. 1).
Dear friends, in
this Pauline Year, the Feast of the Epiphany invites the Church, and in her, every
community and every individual member of the faithful, to imitate, as did the Apostle
to the Gentiles, the service that the star rendered to the Magi from the East, guiding
them to Jesus (see St Leo the Great, Disc. 3 for Epiphany, 5: PL 54,
244). What was Paul’s life after his conversion other than a “race” to bring the
light of Christ to the peoples, and vice versa, to lead the peoples to Christ? God’s
grace made Paul a “star” for the Gentiles. His ministry is an example and an incentive
for the Church to rediscover herself as essentially missionary and to renew the
commitment to proclaim the Gospel, especially to those who do not yet know it. Yet,
in looking at St Paul ,
we cannot forget that his preaching was completely nourished by the Sacred Scriptures.
Therefore it should be powerfully reaffirmed in the perspective of the recent Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops that the Church and individual Christians can be a light
that leads to Christ only if they are diligently and intimately nourished by the
Word of God. It is the Word, certainly not us, that illumines, purifies and converts.
We are merely servants of the Word of life. This is how Paul saw himself and his
ministry: as a service to the Gospel. “I do it all for the sake of the Gospel”,
he wrote (1 Cor 9: 23). The Church, every ecclesial community, every Bishop and
every priest ought also to be able to say this: “I do it all for the sake of the
Gospel”. Dear brothers and sisters, pray for us, Pastors of the Church, that by
assimilating the Word of God daily we may pass it on faithfully to our brethren.
Yet we too pray for you, all the faithful, because every Christian is called through
Baptism and Confirmation to proclaim Christ, the light of the world, in word and
in the witness of his life. May the Virgin Mary, Star of Evangelization, help us
to bring this mission to completion together, and may St Paul , the Apostle to the Gentiles, intercede
for us from Heaven. Amen.
SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY
OF THE LORD
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
St
Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today we are celebrating
the great feast of the Epiphany, the mystery of the Lord’s Manifestation to all
the peoples, represented by the Magi who came from the East to worship the King
of the Jews (see Mt 2: 1-2). St Matthew, who recounts the event, stresses that they
arrived in Jerusalem
following a star that they had seen rising and interpreted as a sign of the birth
of the King proclaimed by the Prophets, in other words the Messiah. However, having
arrived in Jerusalem, the Magi needed the priests and scribes to direct them in
order to know exactly where to go, namely, Bethlehem, the city of David (see Mt
2: 5-6; Mic 5: 1). On their journey, the star and the Sacred Scriptures were the
two lights that guided the Magi, who appear to us as models of authentic seekers
of the truth.
They were Wise Men
who scrutinized the stars and knew the history of the peoples. They were men of
science in the broad sense, who observed the cosmos, considering it almost as a
great open book full of divine signs and messages for human beings. Their knowledge,
therefore, far from claiming to be self-sufficient, was open to further divine revelations
and calls. In fact, they were not ashamed to ask the religious leaders of the Jews
for directions. They could have said: “we will do it on our own, we do not need
anyone”, thereby avoiding, according to our mentality today, all “contamination”
between science and the word of God. Instead, the Magi listened to the prophecies
and accepted them; and, no sooner had they continued on their way towards Bethlehem
than they saw the star again, as if to confirm the perfect harmony between human
seeking and the divine Truth, a harmony that filled the hearts of these genuine
Wise Men with joy (see Mt 2: 10). The culmination of their quest was the moment
when they found themselves before “the Child with Mary his Mother” (Mt 2: 11). The
Gospel says that they “fell down and worshipped him”. They might have been disappointed,
or even shocked. Instead, as the true Wise Men that they were, they were open to
the mystery that had manifested itself in a surprising manner and, with their symbolic
gifts, they showed that they recognized Jesus as the King and Son of God. Precisely
in that gesture were fulfilled the messianic oracles that proclaimed the homage
of nations to the God of Israel.
A final detail confirms
the unity in the Magi of intelligence and faith: it is the fact that “being warned
in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another
way” (Mt 2: 12). It would have been natural to return to Jerusalem ,
to Herod’s Palace and to the Temple
to spread the news of their discovery. Instead, the Magi, who had chosen the Child
as their Sovereign, kept this hidden, in accordance with Mary’s, or rather with
God’s own style. And thus just as they had appeared they disappeared in silence,
content but also transformed by their meeting with the Truth. They had discovered
a new Face of God, a new kingship: that of love. May the Virgin Mary, model of true
wisdom, help us to be authentic seekers of God’s truth, ever capable of living the
profound harmony that exists between reason and faith, science and revelation.
EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION
ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE
EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
St
Peter’s Basilica, Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today, the Solemnity
of the Epiphany, the great light that radiates from the Cave of Bethlehem Reading , taken from the Book
of the Prophet Isaiah; and the passage from the Gospel of Matthew, which we just
heard, juxtapose the promise and its fulfilment in that particular tension noted
when reading passages from the Old and New Testaments in succession. Following the
humiliations undergone by the people of Israel at the hands of worldly powers,
the splendid vision of the Prophet Isaiah appears before us. He sees the moment
when the great light of God that seems powerless and incapable of protecting his
people will rise to shine on all the earth so that the kings of nations bow before
him, coming from the ends of the earth to deposit their most precious treasures
at his feet. And the heart of the people will tremble with joy.
Compared to this
vision, the one the Evangelist Matthew presents to us appears poor and humble: it
seems impossible for us to recognize in it the fulfilment of the Prophet Isaiah’s
words. In fact, those who arrived in Bethlehem
were not the powerful and the kings of the earth, but the Magi, unknown men, perhaps
regarded with suspicion, and in any case, not deemed worthy of special attention.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem
learned of the event but did not think it worth bothering about. Not even in Bethlehem
did anyone seem to take any notice of the birth of this Baby, called King of the
Jews by the Magi, nor about these men who had come from the East to visit him. Soon
after, in fact, when Herod made it clear that he was effectively the one in power
forcing the Holy Family to flee to Egypt and offering proof of his cruelty by the
massacre of the innocents (see Mt 2: 13-18) the episode of the Magi seemed to have
been disregarded and forgotten. It is therefore understandable that the hearts and
souls of believers throughout the centuries have been attracted more by the vision
of the Prophet than by the sober narration of the evangelist, as the Nativity scenes
also show where there are camels, dromedaries and powerful kings of the world kneeling
before the Child, laying down their gifts to him in precious caskets. But we must
pay more attention to what the two texts communicate to us.
In fact, what did
Isaiah see with his prophetic vision? In one single moment, he glimpsed a reality
that was destined to mark all history. But even the event that Matthew narrates
is not a brief and negligible episode that closes with the Magi hastening back to
their own lands. On the contrary, it is the beginning. Those figures who came from
the East were not the last but the first of a great procession of those who, throughout
the epochs of history, are able to recognize the message of the Star, who know how
to walk on the paths indicated by Sacred Scripture. Thus they also know how to find
the One who seems weak and fragile but instead has the power to grant the greatest
and most profound joy to the heart of man. In him, indeed, is made manifest the
stupendous reality that God knows us and is close to us, that his greatness and
power are not expressed according to the world’s logic, but to the logic of a helpless
baby whose strength is only that of the love which he entrusts to us. In the journey
of history, there are always people who are enlightened by the light of the Star,
who find the way and reach him. They all live, each in his or her own way, the experience
of the Magi.
They had brought
gold, incense and myrrh. These are certainly not gifts that correspond to basic,
daily needs. At that moment, the Holy Family was far more in need of something different
from incense or myrrh, and not even the gold could have been of immediate use to
them. But these gifts have a profound significance: they are an act of justice.
In fact, according to the mentality prevailing then in the Orient, they represent
the recognition of a person as God and King, that is, an act of submission. They
were meant to say that from that moment, the donors belonged to the sovereign and
they recognize his authority. The consequence is immediate. The Magi could no longer
follow the road they came on, they could no longer return to Herod, they could no
longer be allied with that powerful and cruel sovereign. They had always been led
along the path of the Child, making them ignore the great and the powerful of the
world, and taking them to him who awaits us among the poor, the road of love which
alone can transform the world.
Therefore, not only
did the Magi set out on their journey, but their deed started something new they
traced a new road, and a new light has come down on earth which has never faded.
The Prophet’s vision is fulfilled: that light could no longer be ignored by the
world. People would go towards that Child and would be illumined by that joy that
only he can give. The light of Bethlehem
continues to shine throughout the world. To those who have welcomed this light,
St Augustine said:
“Even we, recognizing Christ our King and Priest who died for us, have honored him
as if we had offered him gold, incense and myrrh. But what remains is for us to
bear witness to him by taking a different road from that on which we came” (Sermo
202. In Epiphania Domini, 3, 4).
Thus if we read together
the promise of the Prophet Isaiah and its fulfilment in the Gospel of Matthew in
the great context of all history, it is evident that what we have been told which
we seek to reproduce in our Nativity scenes is neither a dream nor a vain play on
sensations and emotions, devoid of vigor and reality, but is the Truth that irradiates
in the world, although Herod always seems stronger, and that Infant seems to be
found among people of no importance or who are even downtrodden. But in that Baby
is expressed the power of God, who brings together all people through the ages,
because under his lordship, they may follow the course of love which transfigures
the world. Nevertheless, even if the few in Bethlehem have become many, believers in Jesus
Christ always seem to be few. Many have seen the star, but only a few have understood
its message. Scripture scholars in the time of Jesus knew the word of God perfectly
well. They were able to say without hesitation what could be found in Scripture
about the place where the Messiah would be born, but as St Augustine said: “They were like milestones
along the road though they could give information to travelers along the way, they
remained inert and immobile” (Sermo 199. In Epiphania Domini, 1,
2).
Therefore, we can
ask ourselves: what is the reason why some men see and find, while others do not?
What opens the eyes and the heart? What is lacking in those who remain indifferent,
in those who point out the road but do not move? We can answer: too much self-assurance,
the claim to knowing reality, the presumption of having formulated a definitive
judgment on everything closes them and makes their hearts insensitive to the newness
of God. They are certain of the idea that they have formed of the world and no longer
let themselves be involved in the intimacy of an adventure with a God who wants
to meet them. They place their confidence in themselves rather than in him, and
they do not think it possible that God could be so great as to make himself small
so as to come really close to us.
Lastly, what they
lack is authentic humility, which is able to submit to what is greater, but also
authentic courage, which leads to belief in what is truly great even if it is manifested
in a helpless Baby. They lack the evangelical capacity to be children at heart,
to feel wonder, and to emerge from themselves in order to follow the path indicated
by the star, the path of God. God has the power to open our eyes and to save us.
Let us therefore ask him to give us a heart that is wise and innocent, that allows
us to see the Star of his mercy, to proceed along his way, in order to find him
and be flooded with the great light and true joy that he brought to this world.
Amen.
SOLEMNITY
OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Thursday, 6 January 2011
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
We have celebrated
in the Basilica the Feast of the Epiphany — excuse me for being late — Epiphany
means the manifestation of Jesus to all peoples, today represented by the Magi,
who arrived in Bethlehem from the East to pay homage to the King of the Jews, whose
birth they had learned about by the appearance of a new star in the sky (see
Mt 2:1-12). In fact, before the arrival of the Magi, this event was little known
beyond the family circle, other than to Mary and Joseph, and probably to other relatives,
it was known by the shepherds of Bethlehem .
Having heard the joyful announcement, they had hastened to see the baby while he
was still lying in the manger. The coming of the Messiah, the expectation of the
people foretold by the Prophets, remained thus initially remained hidden.
Until, that is, those
mysterious figures — the Magi — arrived in Jerusalem to ask for news of the “King of the
Jews,” who had just been born. Obviously, as it had to do with a king, they went
to the royal palace where Herod resided. But he did not know anything about this
birth and, very worried, immediately summoned the priests and scribes who, based
on Micah’s famous prophecy (see 5:1), affirmed that the Messiah was to be
born in Bethlehem .
And in fact, setting out in that direction, the Magi saw the star again, which led
them to the place where Jesus was. Having entered, they prostrated themselves and
adored him, offering him symbolic gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
This is the Epiphany,
the manifestation: the coming and the adoration of the Magi is the first sign of
the unique identity of the Son of God who is also Son of the Virgin Mary. From that
moment the question began to be asked that would accompany the whole life of Christ,
and that in different ways passes through the centuries: who is this Jesus?
Dear friends, this
is the question that the Church wishes to awaken in the hearts of all: who is Jesus?
This is the spiritual concern that drives the mission of the Church: to make known
Jesus, his Gospel, so that every man may discover in his human face the Face of
God, and be illumined by his mystery of love.
The Epiphany foretells
the universal openness of the Church, her call to evangelize all peoples. But the
Epiphany also tells us how the Church realizes this mission: by reflecting the light
of Christ and proclaiming his Word. Christians are called to imitate the service
that the star rendered to the Magi. We must shine out as children of light, so as
to attract all people to the beauty of the Kingdom of God
Once again, we feel
within us profound gratitude to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. She is the perfect image
of the Church which gives the light of Christ to the world: she is the Star of evangelization.
“Respice Stellam,” St Bernard says to us: look to the Star, you who go in
search of truth and peace; turn your gaze to Mary, and she will show you Jesus,
light for every person and for all peoples.
EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION
ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE
EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
On the Solemnity
of Epiphany the Church continues to contemplate and to celebrate the mystery of
the birth of Jesus the Savior. In particular, this day stresses the universal destination
and significance of this birth.
By becoming man in
Mary’s womb, the Son of God did not only come for the People of Israel, represented
by the Shepherds of Bethlehem, but also for the whole of humanity, represented by
the Magi. And it is precisely on the Magi and their journey in search of the Messiah
(see Mt 2:1-12) that the Church invites us to meditate and pray today.
We heard in the Gospel
that having arrived in Jerusalem
from the East they asked: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we
have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him” (v. 2). What kind
of people were they and what kind of star was it? They were probably sages who scrutinized
the heavens, but not in order to try to “read” the future in the stars, possibly
to profit by so doing. Rather, they were men “in search” of something more, in search
of the true light that could point out the path to take in life. They were people
certain that something we might describe as the “signature” of God exists in creation,
a signature that man can and must Endeavour to discover and decipher.
Perhaps the way to
become better acquainted with these Magi and to understand their desire to let themselves
be guided by God’s signs is to pause to consider what they find on their journey,
in the great city of Jerusalem .
First of all they
met King Herod. He was certainly interested in the Child of which the Magi spoke;
not in order to worship him, as he wished to make them believe by lying, but rather
to kill him. Herod was a powerful man who saw others solely as rivals to combat.
Basically, on reflection, God also seemed a rival to him, a particularly dangerous
rival who would like to deprive men of their vital space, their autonomy, their
power; a rival who points out the way to take in life and thus prevents one from
doing what one likes.
Herod listened to
the interpretations of the Prophet Micah’s words, made by his experts in Sacred
Scripture, but his only thought was of the throne. So God himself had to be clouded
over and people had to be reduced to mere pawns to move on the great chessboard
of power. Herod is a figure we dislike, whom we instinctively judge negatively because
of his brutality.
Yet we should ask
ourselves: is there perhaps something of Herod also in us? Might we too sometimes
see God as a sort of rival? Might we too be blind to his signs and deaf to his words
because we think he is setting limits on our life and does not allow us to dispose
of our existence as we please?
Dear Brothers and
Sisters, when we see God in this way we end by feeling dissatisfied and discontent
because we are not letting ourselves be guided by the One who is the foundation
of all things.
We must rid our minds
and hearts of the idea of rivalry, of the idea that making room for God is a constraint
on us. We must open ourselves to the certainty that God is almighty love that takes
nothing away, that does not threaten; on the contrary he is the Only One who can
give us the possibility of living to the full, of experiencing true joy.
The Magi then meet
the scholars, the theologians, the experts who know everything about the Sacred
Scriptures, who are familiar with the possible interpretations, who can quote every
passage of it since they know it by heart and are therefore of valuable assistance
to those who choose to walk on God’s path.
However, St Augustine says, they like
being guides to others, they point out the way; but they themselves do not travel,
they stand stock-still. For them the Scriptures become a sort of atlas to be perused
with curiosity, a collection of words and concepts for study and for learned discussion.
However, once again
we can ask ourselves: is not there a temptation within us to consider the Sacred
Scriptures, this very rich and vital treasure for the faith of the Church, as an
object of study and of specialists’ discussions rather than as the Book that shows
us the way to attain life? I think, as I suggested in the Apostolic Exhortation
Verbum Domini, that profound willingness must ceaselessly be born within
them to see the words of the Bible interpreted in the Church’s living Tradition
(no. 18), as the truth that tells us what man is and how he can fulfill himself
totally, the truth that is the way to take every day, with others, if we wish to
build our lives on rock and not on sand.
And so we come to
the star. What kind of star was the star the Magi saw and followed? This question
has been the subject of discussion among astronomers down the centuries. Kepler,
for example, claimed that it was “new” or “super-new”, one of those stars that usually
radiates a weak light but can suddenly and violently explode, producing an exceptionally
bright blaze.
These are of course
interesting things but do not guide us to what is essential for understanding that
star. We must return to the fact that those men were seeking traces of God; they
were seeking to read his “signature” in creation; they knew that “the heavens are
telling of the glory of God” (Psalm 19 [18]:2); they were certain, that is, that
God can be perceived in creation.
But, as sages, the
Magi also knew that it is not with any kind of telescope but rather with the profound
eyes of reason in search of the ultimate meaning of reality and with the desire
for God, motivated by faith, that it is possible to meet him, indeed, becomes possible
for God to come close to us.
The universe is not
the result of chance, as some would like to make us believe. In contemplating it,
we are asked to interpret in it something profound; the wisdom of the Creator, the
inexhaustible creativity of God, his infinite love for us.
We must not let our
minds be limited by theories that always go only so far and that — at a close look
— are far from competing with faith but do not succeed in explaining the ultimate
meaning of reality. We cannot but perceive in the beauty of the world, its mystery,
its greatness and its rationality, the eternal rationality; nor can we dispense
with its guidance to the one God, Creator of Heaven and of earth.
If we acquire this
perception we shall see that the One who created the world and the One who was born
in a grotto in Bethlehem
and who continues to dwell among us in the Eucharist, are the same living God who
calls us, who loves us and who wants to lead us to eternal life.
Herod, the Scriptural
exegetes, the star: but let us follow the journey of the Magi to Jerusalem . Above the great
city the star disappears, it is no longer seen. What does this mean? In this case
too, we must interpret the sign in its depth. For those men it was logical to seek
the new king in the royal palace, where the wise court advisors were to be found.
Yet, probably to
their amazement, they were obliged to note that this newborn Child was not found
in the places of power and culture, even though in those places they were offered
precious information about him.
On the other hand
they realized that power, even the power of knowledge, sometimes blocks the way
to the encounter with this Child. The star then guided them to Bethlehem , a little town; it
led them among the poor and the humble to find the King of the world.
God’s criteria differ
from human criteria. God does not manifest himself in the power of this world but
in the humility of his love, the love that asks our freedom to be welcomed in order
to transform us and to enable us to reach the One who is Love.
Yet, for us too things
are not so different from what they were for the Magi. If we were to be asked our
opinion on how God was to save the world, we might answer that he would have to
manifest all his power to give the world a fairer economic system in which each
person could have everything he wanted. Indeed, this would be a sort of violence
to man because it would deprive him of the fundamental elements that characterize
him. In fact neither our freedom nor our love would be called into question. God’s
power is revealed in quite a different way: in Bethlehem , where we encounter the apparent powerlessness
of his love. And it is there that we must go and there that we find God’s star.
Thus, a final important
element of the event of the Magi appears to us very clearly: the language of creation
enables us to make good headway on the path towards God but does not give us the
definitive light. In the end, it was indispensable for the Magi to listen to the
voice of the Sacred Scriptures: they alone could show them the way. The true star
is the word of God which, amidst of the uncertainty of human discourses, gives us
the immense splendor of the Divine Truth.
Dear brothers and
sisters, let us allow ourselves to be guided by the star that is the word of God,
let us follow it in our lives, walking with the Church in which the Word has pitched
his tent. Our road will always be illumined by a light that no other sign can give
us. And we too shall become stars for others, a reflection of that light which Christ
caused to shine upon us. Amen.
SOLEMNITY
OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Friday, 6 January 2012
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Today, the Solemnity
of the Epiphany of the Lord, I have ordained two new bishops in St Peter’s Basilica,
so please forgive the delay. This Feast of the Epiphany is a very ancient Feast
whose origins date back to the Christian East and which highlights the mystery of
the manifestation of Jesus Christ to all peoples, represented by the Magi who came
to worship the King of the Jews just born in Bethlehem, as St Matthew’s Gospel recounts
(see 2:1-12). This “new light” that was lit on Christmas night (see Preface of
Christmas I) is beginning to shine on the world today, as the image of the star
suggests, a heavenly portent that attracted the attention of the Magi and guided
them on their journey to Judea .
The entire season
of Christmas and Epiphany is marked by the theme of light. In the northern hemisphere
this is also linked to the fact that after the winter solstice the days begin to
lengthen in comparison with the nights. However, Christ’s word applies for all peoples,
over and above their geographical location: “I am the light of the world; he who
follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12).
Jesus is the sun that appeared on humanity’s horizon to illumine the personal existence
of every one of us and to guide us all together toward the destination of our pilgrimage,
toward the land of freedom and peace in which we shall live for ever in full communion
with God and with each other.
Christ entrusted
the proclamation of this mystery of salvation to his Church.
And so it is, as
the Prophet tells us: the world, with all its resources is unable to give humanity
the light to guide it on its journey. We find this in our day too: the western civilization
seems to have lost its bearings and is navigating by sight. Nevertheless the Church,
thanks to the Word of God, sees through the fog. She has no technical solutions
but keeps her gaze fixed on the destination and offers the light of the Gospel to
all people of good will, whatever their nation and culture. And this is also the
mission of Papal Representatives to States and to International Organizations.
This very morning,
as I said, I have had the joy of conferring episcopal Ordination upon two new Apostolic
Nuncios. Let us entrust to the Virgin Mary their service and the evangelizing task
of the whole Church.
EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION
ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE
EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters!
The Epiphany is a
feast of light. “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord
has risen upon you” (Is 60:1). With these words of the prophet Isaiah, the Church
describes the content of the feast. He who is the true light, and by whom we too
are made to be light, has indeed come into the world. He gives us the power to become
children of God (see Jn 1:9, 12). The journey of the wise men from the East is,
for the liturgy, just the beginning of a great procession that continues throughout
history. With the Magi, humanity’s pilgrimage to Jesus Christ begins – to the God
who was born in a stable, who died on the Cross and who, having risen from the dead,
remains with us always, until the consummation of the world (see Mt 28:20). The
Church reads this account from Matthew’s Gospel alongside the vision of the prophet
Isaiah that we heard in the first reading: the journey of these men is just the
beginning. Before them came the shepherds – simple souls, who dwelt closer to the
God who became a child, and could more easily “go over” to him (Lk 2:15) and recognize
him as Lord. But now the wise of this world are also coming. Great and small, kings
and slaves, men of all cultures and all peoples are coming. The men from the East
are the first, followed by many more throughout the centuries. After the great vision
of Isaiah, the reading from the Letter to the Ephesians expresses the same idea
in sober and simple terms: the Gentiles share the same heritage (see Eph 3:6). Psalm
2 puts it like this: “I shall bequeath you the nations, put the ends of the earth
in your possession” (v. 8).
The wise men from
the East lead the way. They open up the path of the Gentiles to Christ. During this
holy Mass, I will ordain two priests to the episcopate, I will consecrate them as
shepherds of God’s people. According to the words of Jesus, part of a shepherd’s
task is to go ahead of the flock (see Jn 10:4). So, allowing for all the differences
in vocation and mission, we may well look to these figures, the first Gentiles to
find the pathway to Christ, for indications concerning the task of bishops. What
kind of people were they? The experts tell us that they belonged to the great astronomical
tradition that had developed in Mesopotamia over
the centuries and continued to flourish. But this information of itself is not enough.
No doubt there were many astronomers in ancient Babylon , but only these few set off to follow
the star that they recognized as the star of the promise, pointing them along the
path towards the true King and Savior. They were, as we might say, men of science,
but not simply in the sense that they were searching for a wide range of knowledge:
they wanted something more. They wanted to understand what being human is all about.
They had doubtless heard of the prophecy of the Gentile prophet Balaam: “A star
shall come forth out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel ” (Num 24:17).
They explored this promise. They were men with restless hearts, not satisfied with
the superficial and the ordinary. They were men in search of the promise, in search
of God. And they were watchful men, capable of reading God’s signs, his soft and
penetrating language. But they were also courageous, yet humble: we can imagine
them having to endure a certain amount of mockery for setting off to find the King
of the Jews, at the cost of so much effort. For them it mattered little what this
or that person, what even influential and clever people thought and said about them.
For them it was a question of truth itself, not human opinion. Hence they took upon
themselves the sacrifices and the effort of a long and uncertain journey. Their
humble courage was what enabled them to bend down before the child of poor people
and to recognize in him the promised King, the one they had set out, on both their
outward and their inward journey, to seek and to know.
Dear friends, how
can we fail to recognize in all this certain essential elements of episcopal ministry?
The bishop too must be a man of restless heart, not satisfied with the ordinary
things of this world, but inwardly driven by his heart’s unrest to draw ever closer
to God, to seek his face, to recognize him more and more, to be able to love him
more and more. The bishop too must be a man of watchful heart, who recognizes the
gentle language of God and understands how to distinguish truth from mere appearance.
The bishop too must be filled with the courage of humility, not asking what prevailing
opinion says about him, but following the criterion of God’s truth and taking his
stand accordingly – “opportune – importune”. He must be able to go ahead and mark
out the path. He must go ahead, in the footsteps of him who went ahead of us all
because he is the true shepherd, the true star of the promise: Jesus Christ. And
he must have the humility to bend down before the God who made himself so tangible
and so simple that he contradicts our foolish pride in its reluctance to see God
so close and so small. He must devote his life to adoration of the incarnate Son
of God, which constantly points him towards the path.
The liturgy of episcopal
ordination interprets the essential features of this ministry in eight questions
addressed to the candidates, each beginning with the word “Vultis? – Do you want?” These questions direct the will and mark out
the path to be followed. Here I shall briefly cite just a few of the most important
words of this presentation, where we find explicit mention of the elements we have
just considered in connection with the wise men of today’s feast. The bishops’ task
is praedicare Evangelium Christi, it is
custodire et dirigere, it is pauperibus se misericordes praebere, it is
indesinenter orare. Preaching the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, going ahead and leading, guarding the sacred heritage of our faith,
showing mercy and charity to the needy and the poor, thus mirroring God’s merciful
love for us, and finally, praying without ceasing: these are the fundamental features
of the episcopal ministry. Praying without ceasing means: never losing contact with
God, letting ourselves be constantly touched by him in the depths of our hearts
and, in this way, being penetrated by his light. Only someone who actually knows
God can lead others to God. Only someone who leads people to God leads them along
the path of life.
The restless heart
of which we spoke earlier, echoing Saint
Augustine , is the heart that is ultimately satisfied with
nothing less than God, and in this way becomes a loving heart. Our heart is restless
for God and remains so, even if every effort is made today, by means of most effective
anaesthetizing methods, to deliver people from this unrest. But not only are we
restless for God: God’s heart is restless for us. God is waiting for us. He is looking
for us. He knows no rest either, until he finds us. God’s heart is restless, and
that is why he set out on the path towards us – to Bethlehem ,
to Calvary, from Jerusalem to Galilee
and on to the very ends of the earth. God is restless for us, he looks out for people
willing to “catch” his unrest, his passion for us, people who carry within them
the searching of their own hearts and at the same time open themselves to be touched
by God’s search for us. Dear friends, this was the task of the Apostles: to receive
God’s unrest for man and then to bring God himself to man. And this is your task
as successors of the Apostles: let yourselves be touched by God’s unrest, so that
God’s longing for man may be fulfilled.
The wise men followed
the star. Through the language of creation, they discovered the God of history.
To be sure – the language of creation alone is not enough. Only God’s word, which
we encounter in sacred Scripture, was able to mark out their path definitively.
Creation and Scripture, reason and faith, must come together, so as to lead us forward
to the living God. There has been much discussion over what kind of star it was
that the wise men were following. Some suggest a planetary constellation, or a supernova,
that is to say one of those stars that is initially quite weak, in which an inner
explosion releases a brilliant light for a certain time, or a comet, etc. This debate
we may leave to the experts. The great star, the true supernova that leads us on,
is Christ himself. He is as it were the explosion of God’s love, which causes the
great white light of his heart to shine upon the world. And we may add: the wise
men from the East, who feature in today’s Gospel, like all the saints, have themselves
gradually become constellations of God that mark out the path. In all these people,
being touched by God’s word has, as it were, released an explosion of light, through
which God’s radiance shines upon our world and shows us the path. The saints are
stars of God, by whom we let ourselves be led to him for whom our whole being longs.
Dear friends: you followed the star Jesus Christ when you said “yes” to the priesthood
and to the episcopacy. And no doubt smaller stars have enlightened and helped you
not to lose your way. In the litany of saints we call upon all these stars of God,
that they may continue to shine upon you and show you the path. As you are ordained
bishops, you too are called to be stars of God for men, leading them along the path
towards the true light, towards Christ. So let us pray to all the saints at this
hour, asking them that you may always live up to this mission you have received,
to show God’s light to mankind.
SOLEMNITY
OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
BENEDICT
XVI
ANGELUS
Saint
Peter’s Square, Sunday, 6 January 2013
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
Please excuse the
delay. I ordained four new Bishops in St Peter’s Basilica and the rite lasted a
little longer. But today we are celebrating above all the Epiphany of the Lord,
his manifestation to the nations, while many Eastern Churches, according to the
Julian Calendar, celebrate the Birth. This slight difference that makes these two
events overlap highlights that that Child, born in the humility of a grotto in Bethlehem , is the light of
the world, who orients the path of all peoples.
It is a juxtaposition
which also makes us reflect also from the viewpoint of faith: moreover, at Christmas
in front of Jesus, we see the faith of Mary, of Joseph and of the shepherds; and
today on the Epiphany the faith of the three Magi, come from the East to worship
the King of the Jews.
The Virgin Mary,
together with her husband, represents the “stump” of Israel , the “remnant” foretold by the
prophets, from which the Messiah was to spring. Instead the Magi represent the peoples,
and we can say even civilizations, cultures, religions that are — so to speak —
on their way to God, searching for his kingdom of peace, justice, truth and freedom.
There was first a nucleus, embodied above all by Mary, the “daughter of Zion ”: a nucleus of Israel , the people that know and have
faith in that God who revealed himself to the Patriarchs and on the path of history.
This faith is fulfilled in Mary, in the fullness of time; in her, “blessed because
she believed”, the Word was made flesh, God “appeared” in the world. Mary’s faith
becomes the first fruits and the model of the faith of the Church, the People of
the New Covenant. But from the beginning this people is universal and we can see
this today in the figures of the Magi who arrive in Bethlehem , following the light of a star and the
instructions of Sacred Scripture.
St Leo the Great
says: “A promise had been made to the holy Patriarch Abraham in regard to these
nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the
seed of faith” (Sermo 3 in Epiphania Domini, 1: PL 54, 240). Mary’s
faith can be compared to Abraham’s. It is a new beginning of the same promise, of
the same immutable plan of God which now finds fulfilment in Jesus Christ. And the
light of Christ is so clear and strong that it makes both the language of the cosmos
and of the Scriptures intelligible, so that all those who, like the Magi, are open
to the truth can recognize it and come to contemplate the Savior of the world. St
Leo continues: “Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family
of the patriarchs... let all people adore the Creator of the universe; let God be
known, not only in Judaea , but in the whole world”
(ibid.). In this perspective we can also look at the episcopal ordinations
which I had the joy of conferring this morning in St Peter’s Basilica: two new bishops
will remain at the service of the Holy See, and the other two will be leaving to
serve as Pontifical Representatives to two nations. Let us pray for each one of
the them, for their ministry, and that the light of Christ may shine throughout
the world.
EUCHARISTIC
CELEBRATION
ON THE
SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers
and Sisters,
For the Church which
believes and prays, the Wise Men from the East who, guided by the star, made their
way to the manger of Bethlehem ,
are only the beginning of a great procession which winds throughout history. Thus
the liturgy reads the Gospel which relates the journey of the Wise Men, together
with the magnificent prophetic visions of the sixtieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah
and Psalm 71, which depict in bold imagery the pilgrimage of the peoples to Jerusalem . Like the shepherds,
who as the first visitors to the newborn Child in the manger, embodied the poor
of Israel and more generally those humble souls who live in deep interior closeness
to Jesus, so the men from the East embody the world of the peoples, the Church of
the Gentiles – the men and women who in every age set out on the way which leads
to the Child of Bethlehem, to offer him homage as the Son of God and to bow down
before him. The Church calls this feast “Epiphany” – the appearance of the Godhead.
If we consider the fact that from the very beginning men and women of every place,
of every continent, of all the different cultures, mentalities and lifestyles, have
been on the way to Christ, then we can truly say that this pilgrimage and this encounter
with God in the form of a Child is an epiphany of God’s goodness and loving kindness
for humanity (see Tit 3:4).
Following a tradition
begun by Pope John Paul II, we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord also
as the day when episcopal ordination will be conferred on four priests who will
now cooperate in different ways in the ministry of the Pope for the unity of the
one Church of Jesus Christ in the multiplicity of the Particular Churches. The connection
between this episcopal ordination and the theme of the pilgrimage of the peoples
to Jesus Christ is evident. It is the task of the Bishop in this pilgrimage not
merely to walk beside the others, but to go before them, showing the way. But in
this liturgy I would like to reflect with you on a more concrete question. Based
on the account of Matthew, we can gain a certain idea of what sort of men these
were, who followed the sign of the star and set off to find that King who would
establish not only for Israel but for all mankind a new kind of kingship. What kind
of men were they? And we can also ask whether, despite the difference of times and
tasks, we can glimpse in them something of what a Bishop is and how he is to carry
out his task.
These men who set
out towards the unknown were, in any event, men with a restless heart. Men driven
by a restless quest for God and the salvation of the world. They were filled with
expectation, not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place
in society. They were looking for something greater. They were no doubt learned
men, quite knowledgeable about the heavens and probably possessed of a fine philosophical
formation. But they desired more than simply knowledge about things. They wanted
above all else to know what is essential. They wanted to know how we succeed in
being human. And therefore they wanted to know if God exists, and where and how
he exists. Whether he is concerned about us and how we can encounter him. Nor did
they want just to know. They wanted to understand the truth about ourselves and
about God and the world. Their outward pilgrimage was an expression of their inward
journey, the inner pilgrimage of their hearts. They were men who sought God and
were ultimately on the way towards him. They were seekers after God.
Here we come to the
question: What sort of man must he be, upon whom hands are laid in episcopal ordination
in the Church of Jesus Christ
Faith’s inner pilgrimage
towards God occurs above all in prayer. Saint
Augustine once said that prayer is ultimately nothing more
than the realization and radicalization of our yearning for God. Instead of “yearning”,
we could also translate the word as “restlessness” and say that prayer would detach
us from our false security, from our being enclosed within material and visible
realities, and would give us a restlessness for God and thus an openness to and
concern for one another. The Bishop, as a pilgrim of God, must be above all a man
of prayer. He must be in constant inner contact with God; his soul must be open
wide to God. He must bring before God his own needs and the needs of others, as
well as his joys and the joys of others, and thus in his own way establish contact
between God and the world in communion with Christ, so that Christ’s light can shine
in the world.
Let us return to
the Wise Men from the East. These were also, and above all, men of courage, the
courage and humility born of faith. Courage was needed to grasp the meaning of the
star as a sign to set out, to go forth – towards the unknown, the uncertain, on
paths filled with hidden dangers. We can imagine that their decision was met with
derision: the scorn of those realists who could only mock the reveries of such men.
Anyone who took off on the basis of such uncertain promises, risking everything,
could only appear ridiculous. But for these men, inwardly seized by God, the way
which he pointed out was more important than what other people thought. For them,
seeking the truth meant more than the taunts of the world, so apparently clever.
How can we not think,
in this context, of the task of a Bishop in our own time? The humility of faith,
of sharing the faith of the Church of every age, will constantly be in conflict
with the prevailing wisdom of those who cling to what seems certain. Anyone who
lives and proclaims the faith of the Church is on many points out of step with the
prevalent way of thinking, even in our own day. Today’s regnant agnosticism has
its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant regarding anything that would question
it and the criteria it employs. Therefore the courage to contradict the prevailing
mindset is particularly urgent for a Bishop today. He must be courageous. And this
courage or forcefulness does not consist in striking out or in acting aggressively,
but rather in allowing oneself to be struck and to be steadfast before the principles
of the prevalent way of thinking. The courage to stand firm in the truth is unavoidably
demanded of those whom the Lord sends like sheep among wolves. “Those who fear the
Lord will not be timid”, says the Book of Sirach (34:16). The fear of God frees
us from the fear of men. It liberates.
Here I am reminded
of an episode at the very beginning of Christianity which Saint Luke recounts in
the Acts of the Apostles. After the speech of Gamaliel, who advised against violence
in dealing with the earliest community of believers in Jesus, the Sanhedrin summoned
the Apostles and had them flogged. It then forbade them from preaching in the name
of Jesus and set them free. Saint Luke continues: “As they left the council, they
rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus.
And every day… they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah” (Acts
5:40ff.). The successors of the Apostles must also expect to be repeatedly
beaten, by contemporary methods, if they continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in a way that can be heard and understood. Then they can rejoice that they
have been considered worthy of suffering for him. Like the Apostles, we naturally
want to convince people and in this sense to obtain their approval. Naturally, we
are not provocative; on the contrary we invite all to enter into the joy of that
truth which shows us the way. The approval of the prevailing wisdom, however, is
not the criterion to which we submit. Our criterion is the Lord himself. If we defend
his cause, we will constantly gain others to the way of the Gospel. But, inevitably,
we will also be beaten by those who live lives opposed to the Gospel, and then we
can be grateful for having been judged worthy to share in the passion of Christ.
The Wise Men followed
the star, and thus came to Jesus, to the great Light which enlightens everyone coming
into this world (see Jn 1:9). As pilgrims of faith, the Wise Men themselves
became stars shining in the firmament of history and they show us the way. The saints
are God’s true constellations, which light up the nights of this world, serving
as our guides. Saint Paul ,
in his Letter to the Philippians, told his faithful that they must shine like stars
in the world (see 2:15).
© Copyright 2014 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Book by Orestes J. González