What did they see in the sky that first night? What captured their hearts and their imagination? I don't know what they thought, asked, or talked about. I don't know what was in their hearts; what they felt, dreamed, or longed for. We can only wonder about what motivated them to pack and begin a journey to who knew where? Something had been revealed to them. But what was it?
There is not much historical information about these wise men and their journey. Tradition dictates that they hailed from the East. Some speculate that they were Magi, members of a caste of priests and philosophers which existed for a very remote period in ancient Persia.
The magi were, in many ways, the Levites of the East and performed all public religious rites, they were an authority on doctrine and claimed exclusive mediatorship between God and man. They were the seekers of truth, they practiced divination, interpreted auguries and dreams, and professed to foretell the destinies of men, being particularly famous for their skill in astronomy.
We like to believe there were three of them, but the number has varied throughout the church’s history; that number was deduced from the fact there were three Gifts. The names Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar come to mind, but those names didn't come about until the seventh century. And what about “the star?” It has been viewed as just a regular star, a celestial phenomenon and even a comet.
This lack of historical information is a reminder that this story, this Epiphany journey, is not just the wise men’s journey; it is everyone’s journey. The truth of sacred scripture is never limited to, or contained only in the past, it lives with us very much in the present day.
I do know that there have been times when we each have experienced our own Epiphany; times when our night sky has been lit brightly, times when our minds have been illumined, times when our hearts have been enlightened. Those times have revealed to us a life and world larger than before. They have been moments that gave us the courage to travel beyond the borders and boundaries that usually encircle our lives. Epiphanies are those times when something calls us, moves us, to seek a new place and we see the face of God in a new way; so human that it almost seems ordinary, maybe too ordinary to believe and like the Magi, we are drawn and we follow.
That’s what happened to the wise men. They began to see and hear the stories of their lives. Something stirred in their hearts and they began to wonder, to imagine, that their lives were part of a much bigger picture. Could it be that the one who created life, who hung the stars in the sky, noticed them, knew them, lived within them, and was calling them? Could it be that the light they saw in the sky was a reflection of the divine light that burns within each one of us?
To seriously consider these questions is to begin the journey. We may travel a different route than the wise men did but the answer is the same. God’s work is always beyond our imagination, and yet God breaks into our reality with power and love. He knows us, He touches us and calls to each one of us, continually revealing himself through humanity.
Could it be that your Epiphany was the day you looked down at your first born and saw the wonder of new life. Maybe it was the time you kept vigil at the beside of a loved one who was dying and you experienced the sorrow of parting, but also joy that death is not the end. Perhaps it was that day you said, “I love you” and knew that it was about more than just romance or physical attraction. Or could it have been the moment you really believed your life was sacred, and you gave it gladly in the service of Our Lord?
These are milestones, the stories of our lives, epiphanies that forever change who we are, how we live, and the road we travel. They are moments of ordinary everyday life in which divinity is revealed in humanity and we see God’s glory face to face.
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