Seminarian Reflection
A Reflection on Matthew 2:1-12

The Epiphany of the Lord 

This Sunday is called the Epiphany of the Lord. In this Sunday's Gospel, Matthew tells us about the journey of the magi who came to worship the Child Jesus after seeing His star appear in the East.

Matthew shows us the two different attitudes of two groups of people who were looking forward to seeing the newborn king of the Jews. The first group is King Herod and the chief priests and the scribes. King Herod was “greatly troubled,” because he worried that the newborn king would take his reign, so he had the intention to kill the Child Jesus when the magi found him. Meanwhile, the chief priests and the scribes knew the place where the newborn king was to be born because they had learned it from the Scripture; however, they did not search for him. In contrast, the magi is a group that truly was looking forward to seeing the newborn king. They wished and desired to worship the newborn king by making a long journey from the east to Bethlehem and offering the baby Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh when they found him.

Reflecting on the attitudes of these groups of people, we can ask ourselves: Who are we in these two groups? Do we let God be the king of our lives? Or do we let power, money, and pride be the king of our lives? If we let God be the king of our lives, we should “mortify [our] cravings and, with the grace of God, prevail over the seductions of pleasure and power” (CCC 2549). Today, we are more blessed than the magi because we no longer have to search for God on a long journey as the magi did; instead, we have more favorable opportunities to meet God. For instance, under the light of the Gospel, through daily prayer, and especially when attending Mass, we truly find and touch the Mystical Body of Christ. Even though we do not have the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as the magi, we can offer the Child Jesus our hearts through sympathy and love for the poor, needy, people suffering from serious illnesses, etc. I think these will be enough gifts to warm the heart of Baby Jesus this winter.

The Epiphany is the event in which God reveals Himself to each of us, the encounter between God and humanity. God has come to humanity and humanity is invited to recognize Him in the Child Jesus. Like the Magi, each of us is also invited to seek the Child Jesus through our daily prayer and the sacraments. We are also called to be a shining star of faith, so that people will come to know and love God.

Yours in Christ, Vinh Nguyen