Epiphany means: that, like the whole of the Christmas season, we are celebrating the fact that GOD has appeared among his people. Our English word "Epiphany" comes from the Greek word "epiphanein", meaning "to show" or "to reveal". And the feast shows us that Jesus came as Saviour not only for the Jews, but for all peoples - symbolised by the magi who were gentiles.
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Speaking of the Feast, the late Cardinal Hume said in 1993: Two considerations have struck me. The first is the role of the star. It was there to guide the three wise men to where they would find Christ, and that thought reminds us of the importance of praying to God to be given that inner star in our lives - the light of faith - so that we may recognise, in the child born of the Virgin Mary, God who became man ... It must be something which fundamentally changes our lives.
The second consideration is that we must go to Christ and make our act of faith in him. But we must not go empty-handed; we must go bearing our gifts.
Our gift of gold: the talents we have been given, the gifts God has bestowed on us, the oppotunities that have been given to us, realising that we have to use these in our own way for the kingdom of God.
We must come to him too, with our gift of frankincense, that symbol of worship of God which has to be fundamental in the life of each one of us; day by day to spend a short time in acts of worship and obedience to God.
And our gift of myrrh: that is, the offering of our lives entirely to God, prepared and ready to leave this world when he so decrees; to live in this world building up the kingdom of God, but always remembering that our time is limited and we must live in a state of preparedness.
So we celebrate this feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ, true God and true man; and we celebrate it worthily by the dedication of ourselves, worshipping God - and the service of God, living in that expectation of the joy that will be ours when we see Him face to face.
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