A Reflection for Epiphany
JANUARY 3, 2021, MATTHEW 2:1-12

The story of the magi is the story of a journey. Astrologers followed a star and came from the east to give homage to the newborn king of the Jews. They studied the skies. When they found something new they looked for its meaning. What this particular star meant, they weren’t quite sure. So they came seeking, looking for some sort of sign of what that star could tell them.
Along the way they must have pondered what this journey might offer them. Would it give them new knowledge? Would they find some hidden wisdom? They didn’t know. They only knew that they were on the journey and if they were open then the journey would show them the way. In time they would learn more about the star and the purpose of their journey.
The Magi found that in the course of their journey that they were changed. Things were different than they thought they would be. They couldn’t go back the way they came. That wouldn’t work anymore. They had changed in the process. They needed to find a new way.
We too are on a journey – we call it life. This journey has taken us to the place where we are now. It has made us the persons we have become. We have so often thought that we know the road ahead. For example, it was usually easy to plan Christmas because it would be like it was last year. But this year, this covid-19 has thrown a wrench into our plans, into our life. This Christmas has been so different. There are times we wish that we could get back to the way things were before.
Like the Magi, we too are being changed by our journey, by this pandemic. Life isn’t, and probably never will be, the way it used to be. How have we changed in the process? What new have we learned about ourselves? What have we experienced in the process of “staying in place”? Have we grown? Or have we just complained about what we aren’t able to do anymore?
The year 2020 is over. With the beginning of a new year we can, like the Magi, “depart (or begin) by a new way”. We can take advantage of the time of covid-19 to see what God might be asking of us. Is this a time to grow more deeply in our spiritual life? Is it a time to simplify, maybe to let go of some of the frivolous activities that used to take up our spare time? Is it a time to reach out to others to let them know of our love, or to tend to their needs? Is it a time to…?