Vatican Basilica
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Sunday, 6 January 2013
(Video)
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 (cf. 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.
