Pope Benedict XVI’s Homily on the feast of the Epiphany

(January 06, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday morning celebrated the Solemn High Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, on the feast of the Epiphany or the feast of the Magi. The word Epiphany, derived from Greek, means manifestation. According to the Gospel narrative, Jesus manifested himself to the world through the three wise men from the East who came in search of him. Pope Benedict XVI in his homily explained the deeper significance of this historic event. In his sermon the Pontiff said that they were persons in search of true light that was able to show them their path into life. They were guided by the star which was the word of God that became their guiding light. In their path they encountered several signs and the best way to meet the Magi is to go along the signs they discovered. The Pope then said they first met King Herod, who was a man of power and could see in Jesus only a rival in a negative way and looked for the destruction of the child. After this the Magi met the scholars, theologians, experts who knew all about the Holy Scriptures, who knew the possible interpretations, which were able to quote from memory every step and were therefore a valuable aid to pursue the path of God. But they were guides for others and not for themselves. They also had the sign of the star that normally gives off a faint light, but can have a sudden violent internal explosion that produces a great light. They saw in this gift of creation, the traces of God manifesting his divine glory. In it the magi saw the wisdom of the Creator, his inexhaustible creativity and his infinite love for us. Pope Benedict explained that even though they had the signs before them, when the star disappeared their first thought was to find him in a royal palace but to their surprise the king was not there. Finally the star then led them to Bethlehem, a small town, led them among the poor, the lowly, to find the King of the universe. The choice of God is different from that of men. God does not manifest himself in the power of this world, but in the humility of his love, the love that calls to our freedom to be taken to transform and enable us to get to the One who is Love. The Pontiff concluded that we encounter God in the apparent powerlessness and that's where we ought to go and find him.