The Feast of the Epiphany (2024)

Happy New Year! I've been wishing people Happy New Year all week long. Aside from Merry Christmas and Happy Easter, wishing people a Happy New Year is my favorite. I've been saying it at the end of telephone and personal conversations this week. While out walking my dog, I wished everyone I passed a Happy New Year, even if they were wearing headphones or talking loudly during FaceTime conversations on their cellphones. Okay, that is a little passive-aggressive. I enjoy wishing people Happy New Year because when someone says it, they are wishing others happiness not for only a day or season but the whole year. They are saying they want them to have 365 days of happiness. That is a very generous gesture!

Seeking happiness is everyone's quest in life. We all just want to be happy. We want happiness for ourselves, our families, and our loved ones. We want the world to be happy because we know that our world is better if others are happy. Happiness is everyone's most basic quest in life.

Did you know God doesn't want you to be happy? Now that I grabbed your attention, I'll explain as I go on, but God doesn't want you to be satisfied with being happy. God wants something more for you.

Let's start with today's gospel story. It is the same one we hear every Epiphany. It sums up Matthew's Christmas story. It is the story of the three magi. Matthew tells us that the three magi were looking at the sky one night and saw a star. In those days, people believed a new star would appear in the heavens when a new king was born. The magi supposed that and decided to travel to find the new king and offer homage.

It is surprising for the Bible to focus on the magi because they were soothsayers and astrologers from Persia. They were men who tried to read the sky for answers to people's problems and worries. They attempted to discover the meaning of dreams and natural phenomena. Scripture explicitly condemned these practices in the Book of Leviticus. Leviticus 19:26 outlawed sorcery, and in verse 31, so was the use of mediums.

The Bible shows the uselessness of the occult many times. When the King of Midian tried to get his soothsayer to curse the Israelites in battle, God turned the curses into blessings. When King Saul, King David's antagonist, fails to trust God and consults a medium to conjure up the dead prophet Samuel, Samuel doesn't have good news for Saul, and God strikes him and his family down in battle.

Sometimes, the occult is depicted as innocent entertainment, but it is not. It can cause people to question the usefulness of prayer and our need to trust God. So, I better not see your car parked outside that occult shop on Main Street.

Now, back to the Magi. Here are three pagan foreigners following a religion with practices antithetical to Jewish religious precepts, yet they are desirous of learning about the special significance of the birth of a humble baby in Bethlehem.  

The Magi had reasons not to bother trying to follow the star. For one thing, they had no idea how far they would have to travel. They saw the star rise in the east and travel the heavens to the west but couldn't see where it pointed. Travel in those days was also hazardous and difficult. It was inhospitable, with wild animals on the prowl and thieves lurking on the roadside. They had no promise that the star would lead them to a new king. Setting out, the Magi were risking life, limb, and fortune. Why did they go? They journeyed because they were seekers. They were on a quest and believed following the star would bring them fulfillment.

The Magi already had many of the trappings of happiness. They obviously had wealth, education, and status in their community. Only wealthy men could hire animals, guides, and retainers to make up a caravan for their trip. They brought along expensive gifts for the new king. While they had many material things, they still felt they lacked something to make them happy in life. They were seekers and wonderers on a journey to find it.  

That journey brought them to Jerusalem, looking for the newborn King of the Jews. Matthew tells us that was upsetting because the Jews already had a king named Herod. In addition to the Bible, we know about King Herod from historical sources that tell us he was a ruthless man. Herod was paranoid about someone taking his position from him. He was such a psychopath that he killed his wife and two of his sons because he feared they were plotting his overthrow.   

Herod was so upset by the magi's arrival that he summoned the religious authorities and the scribes, who were scripture scholars, and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. When they told him in Bethlehem of Judea, he suggests the Magi go there, find the baby, and return to report to him.

The Magi go to Bethlehem, and the star locates Jesus for them. They go into the house and prostrate themselves in homage before the tiny baby. Matthew tells us that they were overjoyed when they met Jesus and Mary. They weren't just happy, they were overjoyed!

Humans have three levels of well-being. One arouses our senses. We feel pleasure when something in our environment stimulates one or all of our five senses of sight, smell, taste,  touch, or hearing. Pleasure is a gift from God and is good. We should engage it and seek it in moderation. The problem with pleasure is that it diminishes over time. Our senses need repeated stimulation if we are to continue to feel happiness.

The next level of well-being happens in our minds. Things that bring us contentment, excitement, and gratitude all give us a sense of happiness. They are a little more long-lasting, but they, too, diminish over time. They eventually come to an end. Our minds need continuous stimulation for us to be happy.

The third level of well-being touches our souls and, therefore, is everlasting. This feeling of well-being is joy and is what the three magi felt as they entered the presence of the Christ child. Joy touches the deepest part of our being and is independent of circumstances. Outside forces can't steal our joy, nor can we let it slip away because it defines us as people. Joy in having met and given homage to Jesus Christ is what allowed the early Church martyrs and those of our day to embrace punishment and death. Separation from what brings us joy is something we will not allow to happen.

Unlike happiness, joy can't be manufactured or given to us by others. Only God can touch our souls to provide us with joy. In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul said, "The fruit of the Spirit is joy." Joy is a gift from God given to those who nurture a relationship with Jesus. To live more joyfully, we must grow our relationship with our Savior.

When we seek to be more joyful people, it rubs off on others, and we have a more positive impact on them. Being joyful increases our openness to being loved by others. According to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, the early Christians were people filled with joy from their relationship with the risen Jesus Christ. This life of joy drew others to want to share that feeling and grew their desire to have a relationship with God.

Living in joy is essential for a Catholic disciple. In one of his letters, John wrote that Christians must never tire of telling others the reason for their joy. If we let others see that our Christian faith affects our lives and gives us joy, they will want to come to know Jesus. Our church will grow and influence our culture more if we seek to live with joy. Joy shown in our lives draws others to seek Christ in their lives.

To grow in joy, we need to imitate the magi. We need to be seekers willing to risk to grow in faith. The world can offer us pleasure and much happiness, but like them, only meeting and giving homage to Christ will bring us joy. We must be willing to surrender our false beliefs and notions to accept the teachings of Christ and share them with others.

Joy won't fall into our laps. We must put ourselves in such a position to open our hearts and souls to conversion and the gifts of faith. We must long for joy and willingly seek it for our lives. Like the magi, we must not just go on a quest for happiness but for joy.

You know I could kick myself now. I've been wishing people a Happy New Year all week when I should have been wishing them a Joyful New Year.