The U.S. church celebrates the Feast of Epiphany on January 7. The story of the three mystery visitors is from Matthew’s Gospel, and they are “from the east.” An often-made point by preachers and Scripture scholars is that Matthew is introducing a main theme of his Gospel, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Lord of all peoples, light to “the nations,” and not only Israel’s Messiah. Today, though, I am struck by the little phrase: “they offered him gifts.” I think of the admittedly sentimental ideas we are familiar with about giving the Divine baby a gift — the little drummer boy song, the Christina Rossetti poem, the operetta Amahl and the Night Visitors …. We are in a still new year. What gift will we give God this year? Being a peacemaker? Being merciful? A pure heart? Our grief? Check out the Beatitudes for more ideas!
– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia