It was from the East that they came, in the dark of night across deserts, hundreds of miles. They brought gifts, very precious gifts, luxury items. They encountered the false king of the Jews who attempted to thwart their journey and use them to find this threat – the true king. A babe who threatened the insecure false king upon his throne would soon be revealed to the world. But not until they found him. How that star must have moved in the sky, how it did not fail them, how it guided and brought them there.

What must it have been like to witness this babe in the stable? The smells of animals, the stench of soaked hay, with animal waste, the shepherds, the lowliest. What must have been their first impression? But then, the look on the face of Mary, her love, her trust, her knowing eyes. And the babe asleep in the hay. Oh, how far they had traveled, from the throne of the fallen to this loving mass of the lowly. This Christ child who would save the world!

They must have known as soon as they saw him, for when they left, they knew they could not return as they had come. For now the story would be revealed to the world and earthly kings would no longer rule. For on this day, a Christ child was born, who spoke of a new land, the land of the Gentile, and the Jew, the foreigner, the Pharisee, the Samaritan, the tax collector, the adulterer, the sinner and the believer. A new age was about to be born, where there would be no borders and those who sit on velvet thrones must seek the same truth. For there would no longer be two truths. For the lowly and the high, there would be one truth. And it would always lead to the face of God.

It is a world where war is not guns or violence, but a war waged within the self, the human soul.  Where it matters not where you come from but where you are going. Conversion of the heart, salvation, is for all, everyone, all the time. Truth would reveal that for the rest of time, there is only one king and he does not need a throne.

It is no wonder that on this Feast of the Epiphany, the last day of Christmas, that immigrants and refugees, seekers around the globe celebrate. It is a Feast about the “other”, the outsider. It is a reminder that salvation is not meant to be the sole possession of any one people. It is an invitation, a responsibility to pray, to serve and to rejoice for the mystery that Paul refers to in the second reading, that the good news is for all, the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body. Saint Paul reminds us that a Gentile is any non-Jew. He tells us, “… it was not made known to people of other generations as it now has been revealed…”, that the gentiles are the co-heirs, members of the same body and co-partners in the promise of Christ Jesus in the Gospel. 

The magi were the first Gentiles, and we are their heirs.  How that manifests in our lives and the lives of others we cannot always know or understand, but all of us here know it is truth. The magi went searching and followed a star that led to the first worldly awareness of the Incarnation.  

As partners in the promise of Christ Jesus, where is your heart today? Where is your struggle? Do you sit on your velvet throne at times, as I do, in judgement of others? I struggle to be like the magi and the shepherds, in awe of the human manifestation of the God of Love, He who came to love us all and wants to show us the way.