January 3-4: Preparing to Celebrate Sunday’s Mass / Preparándonos para Celebrar la Misa Dominical

Who are the key “players” in the unfolding drama of the Epiphany of the Lord?

The Magi, of course, are near the top of the list. They were foreigners, pagans, and astrologers – everything that was most base in the eyes of the religious authorities at the time. Though they did not have the benefit of the prophecies, the Magi went in pursuit of the newborn king. Their first mistake, however, was heading for Jerusalem. In all honesty, however, here would we look for a king? In a palace. Who else is likely to be there? A royal family. But the Magi wound up in a cave (or a stable) where they found a poor family, with animals, and perhaps a few shepherds. All the appearances would have told them they had made another mistake, yet they were proven right and “falling to their knees, they did Him homage.”

Another key “player” was Herod, was one of history’s great tyrants. He spared no one, not even his own family, to keep his grip on power. He had been appointed “King of the Jews” by the Roman Senate decades earlier and he had already reigned for over thirty years. He was not interested in hearing of a new king. The Gospel tells us that “he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him.” He was frightened to hear of a rival, and the people were frightened because they knew what he was capable of. 

Other key “players” are the chief priests and the scribes – the religious authorities of the day – who were able to give directions to the Magi, but also to Herod in order to locate his rival. They knew in detail about the expected arrival of “the Anointed one.” They had studied the Scriptures, they knew the prophesies, they knew where to look. And they used all that knowledge to direct a killer to Him. And that wasn’t just a momentary lapse of judgment on their part: Herod would fail to kill him, but later on they would succeed.

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Coming to Mass this weekend, let’s pray that we might be ready to enter into the drama of the Lord’s Epiphany. We, too, are searching for the newborn king and, though we might make some mistakes along the way, we happily discover Him each day – in countless ways, but especially when we are gathered around His Table at Mass. Let us be ready to “fall on our knees and do Him homage.”

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El ejemplo de los Reyes Magos nos demuestra que es necesario salir, ponerse en camino hacia los demás, hacia los humildes, hacia los más pobres. Fue lo que hicieron ellos cuando vieron la estrella. Dejaron su torre de observación y si pusieron a seguirla. También la Iglesia tiene que dejar sus torreones en los que se ha atrincherado muchas veces para salir afuera de si mismo a lo incomodo, a lo totalmente nuevo, a lo difícil.

Es allá donde los Magos descubren que, a los ojos de Dios, una población sin importancia como Belén puede ser el lugar ideal para nacer. No hace falta un palacio … es suficiente una habitación de pastores. Ellos descubren (y nos pueden enseñar) que es entre los humildes, es entre los necesitados, es entre los pobres donde podemos encontrar a Jesús, con María, su Madre, y con San José.