Dear Friends in Christ,
The great feast of the Epiphany marks the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world. The Magi, the three kings or wise men whom tradition has named Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, come to worship and adore, thus representing the acceptance of the ‘Good News’ by the pagan nations.
Their coming to Bethlehem in order to pay homage to the King of the Jews is significant because it shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the Star of David, the one who will be the King of the nations. The Jewish nation remains God’s special and chosen people. The pagan nations can discover Jesus only by turning towards the Jewish people and receiving from them the Messianic promise latent in the Hebrew Scriptures but revealed fully in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Mission is at the very heart of the feast of the Epiphany because it reveals how those who do not know Christ can be moved compelled and convinced by the gospel (as the Magi were) to bow down and worship. In fact, every effort we make at mission – sharing our faith and giving witness by deeds – is nothing less than an epiphany. Why? Because when we so this God’s world is manifested and fulfilled in the world.
On this most holy feast-day we can re-cover and re-discover a sense of our own mission to make Christ known, not only to the nations but to those we live and work among. If we ask him, the Holy Spirit will imbue us
with a new confidence to witness to Christ. Whatever is good, whatever is pure, whatever is beautiful and whatever is true in other cultures and natures is of Christ and in Christ. The message of Christ won over the Magi and it will win over pagan nations and those who resist the gospel – not by force or power but by the grace of the Holy Spirit, who revel as and convinces that there is only one King for all the nations, and that is Christ Jesus our Lord.
We can be sure that the Holy Family was a happy family, but like all happy families their happiness was forged through trial and suffering and the ups and downs of domestic daily living. Today we cross the threshold into the tranquillity and holiness of Holy Family. Here we find the hearth at which Jesus lived his hidden years. Here we find the first domestic Church, a loving family devoted to God and to each other.
Today we celebrate the feminine genius of Mary and Elizabeth. These two giants of faith reveal in their encounter with the Holy Spirit so much of what it means to live a life of faith. These two women were joined in a sisterhood of faith; they were both on an adventure on which they were overshadowed and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Today’s Gospel contains the heart of John the Baptist’s preaching. His message of repentance in preparation for the coming of the Lord resonated with the crowds who flocked to see him. Just as it stirred the hearers to long for the coming Messiah, so it moves us to worship. Jesus said of John, ‘among those born of women there has risen no one greater’. The effect of John’s holiness on the crowds can be seen in the response even in hardened soldiers and cunning tax-collectors. We might think that John had cause to be humbly satisfied at the success of his mission – what more could be asked for than genuine repentance and newfound faith?
Water has a purifying role in the Old Testament. The law imposed many ritual washings before worship, and the Pharisees baptised Gentile converts to symbolise the cleansing of their hearts and their joining to the people of Israel. John baptised people in the Jordan to symbolise their repentance, but he knew that something more than a symbol was needed to rescue humankind – they needed to be immersed in the Spirit of God.
The Gospel of mercy invites us into a new time of grace. During Advent God’s word challenges us to repent and be renewed: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight…The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth’. As we respond with sincerity, we shall ‘put on the robe of righteousness from God’. 
Jesus is King and today we celebrate the feast-day of Christ the King.
God’s plan form the very beginning was that the Son would reign over us as our Lord and our King. Tradition informs us that Lucifer and his realm were the first to reject God’s plan and refused to bow down before Jesus. We, seduced and led astray by this very same Lucifer (more commonly called Satan or the devil), also rejected and rebelled against our good Creator. God’s plan was thwarted, but, since nothing can prevent God’s will unfolding, the very One who was to be King came instead as our Saviour. Scripture testifies that a time will come when all will bow before Christ the King and declare, ‘Long live Christ the King!’
The imagery of darkness, falling celestial bodies and the heavens shaking is disturbing to the modern mind – as it doubtless was in Jesus’ time, even if the language was more familiar then. Such events, we are told, will precede the glorious appearance of the Son of Man, who will come with his angelic cohort to the earth. When this will happen no one knows (except the Father) – but happen it will! There is a tendency to relegate this vital truth of our faith to the back of our minds. We may think of such language and sentiments as archaic, and find it hard to see it as an essential teaching of our faith. Our scientific world-view makes us uncomfortable with the talk of the end of the world or the consummation of human history.
We need to be wary of those who purport fantastic theories and predictions about the end of the world and return to Christ. However, we need to balance our caution with a desire to renew our faith in the blessed hope of the Church, the return of Jesus. The renewal of this hope sharpens our desire to live by the power of the Holy Spirit. As we pray in our hearts, ‘Come Lord Jesus’, a desire for the Second Coming is awoken within us. This living hope can strengthen and fortify us as we seek to live the power of the Spirit.
Bartimaeus is in such need. Unperturbed and undaunted by those who try to silence him, he shouts even louder. He is full of determination. Despite his blindness, he recognises clearly who Jesus is: ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ His boldness, courage and persistence are rewarded and he is called forward.