We Have Seen His Star
We Have Seen His Star
Gospel Reflection for the Feast of Epiphany, January 7, 2024 - Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.
Saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him.
And king Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born.
But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet:
And thou Bethlehem the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel.
Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them;
And sending them into Bethlehem, said: Go and diligently inquire after the child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come to adore him.
Who having heard the king, went their way; and behold the star which they had seen in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was.
And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country. (Matthew 2:1-12 DRA)
Prior to the institution of the reformed calendar after the Second Vatican Council, the Feast of Epiphany always fell on January 6th. My colleague Chantal covered this for the Saturday reflection. For today, I will reflect on other aspects of Epiphany in adherence to the reformed dating.
The Magi or wise men are among the most famous figures from Scripture and throughout history Epiphany was held in high esteem; before Santa Claus and gift-giving became associated with Christmas at the instigation of Martin Luther, and later through American commercialism, Epiphany was the primary season for gifts, befitting the biblical basis of the feast. The story of the Magi is also one of the most frequently disputed by modern biblical scholars and historians, though for only arbitrary reasons, as the story is both logical and historically plausible. Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong, in his excellent new book The Word Set in Stone, explains that the Magi were a sect of Median or northwest Persian Zoroastrian priests, whose religion forbade sorcery and whose astrology, borrowed from the Babylonians, saw the heavens only as reflecting rather than determining earthly events. They were therefore far from New Age occultists reading horoscopes – they were closer to proto-Jesuits, priests who studied science and philosophy.
Armstrong also notes that the Magi would have known about the prophecy of Balaam – “A STAR SHALL RISE out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel: and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, and shall waste all the children of Seth.” (Num 24:17) – due to the Assyrian king Sargon having settled Israelites in Media centuries before, leaving a legacy of Hebrew culture there. The Church Fathers, extrapolating from their three gifts, maintained that there were three principal Magi, but they were not identified as kings until later; they are called kings by St. Thomas Aquinas, in reference to the prophecies we heard in the first reading and the Psalm. Contrary to modern “experts,” the journey of the Magi is reliably historical: accounting for the capacity of camels for long travel, the likely routes and ancient roads they would have used, etc., their journey would have taken between three to six months, and they likely arrived when Our Lord was around one year old – not a newborn, as is often portrayed – evidenced by King Herod deciding to kill all male children under two years of age in the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents.
The Magi are the first Gentiles to convert and follow Christ, and in this way they were the first non-Jewish Christians, the forebears of most Christians today. They did not convert due to a thorough knowledge of Scripture or a special revelation: rather, they followed their scientific knowledge of Creation, noticing the star which St. Thomas recognizes as a genuinely material star but one which was created specially by God for this event and dissolved immediately after. Their use of human knowledge and reason in service of Christ is one of the great hallmarks of the Catholic faith, distinguishing it from many other religions and from some derivative forms of Christianity. God is immanently reasonable, the Logos or Word whose consistency is a clear sign of His divine goodness. The Magi “came to Jesus, because they recognized from Christ the glory of the wisdom they possessed. They are, indeed, the first fruits of the gentiles, because they were the first to come to Christ.” (Aquinas) God willed to be manifested to the Gentiles by a star, because “they came to a knowledge of God through creatures: "His invisible nature has been clearly perceived through the things that were made" (Rom 1:20).” (Aquinas)
The evangelization of the Gentile Magi through reason, elevating their intellects by grace to perceive His salvation, is an expression of the dignity of the human person as made in the image of God, who is pure Intellect. God’s existence can be proven through philosophical argument and human reason, without any reference to revelation, and although His nature and actions in history surpass human understanding, they can be known to be perfectly rational and providing answers to all of our otherwise open-ended questions. Reason is thus a point of dialogue between Christians and non-Christians, especially those who love reason, as well as atheists who too often perceive belief in God as inextricable from religiosity:
In defending the ability of human reason to know God, the Church is expressing her confidence in the possibility of speaking about him to all men and with all men, and therefore of dialogue with other religions, with philosophy and science, as well as with unbelievers and atheists… Though faith is above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. (Catechism, 39, 159)
On this great Feast of the Epiphany, may we be reminded to appreciate more deeply the gift of reason as a reflection of God. May we pursue all learning, especially Christian philosophy, in a spirit of gratitude to God and always orient it toward its fulfillment in Christ, who is its true origin and who provides moral principles which prevent human learning from devolving into mere pride or abuse. Christian philosophy in particular, and its foundation in the Greek tradition, is not superfluous – as Pope St. John Paul II taught in his encyclical Fides et ratio, Christian philosophy is essential, both to correct superstition and to demonstrate the reasonableness and coherence of the Faith, for Christians as well as non-Christians. The intellect is not merely mechanical or inhuman and it should not be neglected, most of all today when reality itself is denied by those claiming to be “experts,” both in the Church and in the world. For the Magi, “follow the science” meant not obedience to human ideologues but faith in the incarnate Word.