The Epiphany of the Lord, 2025

In the first reading, we hear that dromedaries, which is a type of camel, will bring gold and frankincense to a reestablished and glorified city of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem had been conquered; the people from Jerusalem were kicked out but, now, God promises to bring them back and, as a consolation to those who suffered exile, He's making Jerusalem far more beautiful than it ever was.


And it says that the dromedaries, carrying these tremendous gifts to Jerusalem, are from Midian and Ephah.


What’s the significance of these two cities: Midian and Ephah? Well, in the Book of Genesis, Midian and Ephah were sons of Abraham, and it was the descendants of Midian who became enemies to the Israelites: the Midianites who lived east of Israel, were dreaded by the Israelites.


So, what God is saying through Isaiah about gifts coming from Midian and Ephah is that Jerusalem is going to be such an amazing city that even its non-Jewish enemies will come to honor it.


Which is a foreshadowing of what is happening in the Gospel: We hear that Magi, who were non-Jews from the east, bringing this Jewish king gifts of gold and frankincense, just like we heard Isaiah prophesy.


So, what’s being described by Isaiah and in Mathew’s Gospel is a conversion of people’s hearts: people who were once God’s enemy and enemies of God’s people will have a change of heart and become friends of God.


And isn’t that what happened to Saint Paul? He was an enemy of Jesus and the Church; he was so zealous for his Jewish faith that he was blinded from the fact that Jesus was the fulfillment of that faith as written in Isaiah, and it took Paul an encounter with Jesus to change his mind and heart; it took an epiphany.


…I was listening to a man share of his own epiphany experience. He had died from a heart attack: He was under the influence of drugs, his heart stopped, and, without losing consciousness, he appeared outside his body and was being pulled by his arm to a place that we would understand to be Hell. And he’s seeing all these terrible things and is being brought farther and farther into this place by a demon. And, right before he lost all hope, he described hearing a very authoritative and loud voice say: “Let him go. He does not belong here. I made a promise to his mother.” And the man was rescued from that place by an angel, brought to Heaven, and then finally appeared back in his body. And, now, the God he used to fight against by the way he lived, he honors and worships.


…We all need a conversion of heart in some way, maybe by an epiphany. We know we should always be growing closer in relationship with God. And, I’m sure, we can think of many people who don’t want anything to do with Jesus and his Church. But, like that man’s mother, if we pray for them and ourselves, we have to trust that Jesus will offer a beautiful experience, perhaps an epiphany, that will attract them and us to Him. Even at the point of death, Jesus can give us an epiphany to help us choose Him once again.


And it reminds me of what Jesus said to Saint Faustina: “Every soul believing and trusting in my mercy will obtain it.” Every soul.

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