Gospel Reflection Jan 4 – Kim VanHuffel
Sunday, January 4
The Epiphany of the Lord
Matthew 2: 1-12
Gospel:
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.
Gospel Reflection:
When we think of the word epiphany we typically think about suddenly having a new insight into something. However, the Epiphany of the Lord is about manifestation — that God made himself known to the world through his only son. It is also about appearance — of the star in the eastern sky leading anyone who could see it to his son.
The irony of this feast is its association with the Magi, the three Kings, or the Three Wise Men from the East. In reality, they were astrologers or stargazers who were trying to make sense of the world through the stars. In the Old Testament, they might have been called false prophets. But God works in mysterious ways and these men take note of the manifestation of God through the great light in the sky. They had heard of the prophecy about a star coming from Israel (Numbers 24:17), and they took action to follow the star. More irony takes place when they go to Herod and his prophets tell the men to look for the messiah in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and yet these same chief priests and scribes don’t set out to Bethlehem themselves, even though they are awaiting the messiah! Instead, it is the outsiders who go to search for our newborn king. What a scandal!
But therein lies the point. The manifestation of God through the light that hovered over where his son lay in the manger was for everyone to see. Matthew is telling us about the “reach of grace” — that God’s grace and salvation are for all people and all nations, just as he told Abraham thousands of years earlier. Matthew shows us this reach of grace in the genealogy of Jesus, which includes four women and some scandal. And we continue to see the reach of grace throughout the gospel of Matthew, where the same Christ child who drew the Magi to himself, later is taking in sinners and tax collectors and people from all walks of life, not just his fellow Jews.
So the question that is brought to us in this passage is — are we keeping our eyes open like the Magi did, and are we going to follow Jesus no matter where that leads us? Will we reach out to others who don’t look like us, or worship like us, and share Christ’s message of love and hope with all people?
Blessings to each of you in 2026! Please keep our 40 OCIA participants in your prayers as they continue on their journey to become fully initiated Catholics in the new year.
Kim VanHuffel
Pasoral Associate