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January 6, 2025Today we celebrate a feast full of light, the Epiphany of the Lord. It is a solemnity that the people of God love very much. At the center we find the story of the Gospel about the Magi who came from the East to Jerusalem because they were guided by the rising of a star.
At Christmas, we saw the poverty of Jesus who was born in a cave, celebrated only by humble shepherds, today Jesus is honored by totally different people. The Magi are figures of wise men who came from the East, rich and powerful people, they were researchers and reading the stars, through which they found the indications of the birth of a new king of the Jews. They probably left from our Arab region, making a long journey with their camels and dromedaries, and bringing with them gifts for this child king.
The word Epiphany means manifestation; it deepens the mystery of Christmas. The light that radiates from the small cave of Bethlehem extends to reach everyone. God's salvation is a universal salvation, for every man and every woman. No one is excluded from God's love. The word of God became flesh precisely to be able to address everyone. Pope Francis recently stated that God reveals himself in the beauty of Jesus' humanity.
The feast of the Epiphany brings to fulfillment the prophecy we heard from prophet Isaiah. “The nations come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness. Lift up your eyes and look round: all are assembling and coming towards you.”
Jesus manifests himself in this way as the light of the world, the Gospel is for everyone. No one can confine Jesus within their own borders or to their own nation, or even to their own culture. Jesus overcomes all divisions and barriers and wants to make all nations, the kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace and justice.
Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians presents himself as the Apostle of the Gentiles; his mission is not to remain closed in one nation, but to bring the Gospel to different parts of the world. The mission that Jesus entrusted to the Apostle Paul led him to announce the Gospel in all the countries known at that time, until he arrived in Rome, where he suffered martyrdom.
Dearest people, we cannot confine Jesus in one ethnicity, in one culture, or to a single language. Jesus calls different peoples to form the new people of God. Precisely in the light of the solemnity of the Epiphany, I invite you to look at our Church here in the Gulf. God has called us to be his people in the very land where the Magi left to go and find Jesus in Bethlehem. We are not a Church made up of one type of people, having the same language or culture.
Among us we speak different languages, we come from different nations, we have different traditions, but Jesus has made us his Church, with different gifts, charisms and ministries, to show himself to all peoples.
In this part of the world, one can see in a unique way the universality and internationality of the Church, a family of families, a people of peoples. In this way, we are called to realize the synodality that Pope Francis calls us to: walking together, in unity and in the diversity of gifts and languages.
There is only one danger that can stop us. It is the fear that is represented in the Gospel by King Herod. He fears that the birth of Jesus is a threat to his power. As we know from history, his fear will lead him to exterminate the children of Bethlehem, the holy innocents. Perhaps we too may sometimes feel the others or the Church or even Jesus as a threat to our projects and our power. Sometimes we can feel Jesus as an alternative to our self-realization, because he asks us to transform our hearts. The Magi instead show us that welcoming Jesus opens our hearts, widens our horizons, renews our life.
We too must choose between the fear of Herod, who wants to eliminate Jesus from his life, and the joy of the Magi for the encounter with Jesus. Do not be afraid of Christ, let us open the doors to Christ.
The most beautiful sign of the epiphany for us is when we do not close ourselves in, isolating ourselves in our groups, in our communities, but we feel the joy of walking together, different and united. The Magi became pilgrims, they left their land to go and find Jesus and honor him with their gifts. The Magi became pilgrims of hope, because they recognized in Jesus the hope of the world.
Dear brothers and sisters, a few days ago we began the Holy Year of the great Jubilee of the Lord 2025 which invites us to be pilgrims of hope. Let us imitate the Magi, let us go to meet Christ. Let us allow the encounter with him to change our hearts.
May Mary, Mother of Hope, accompany us on this journey in the new year.
