Readings (Year A):
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Reflection: Even when the world is grim, let Christ be your joy
“On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me… the feast of Epiphany!”
Epiphany is known in Latin America as “Día de los Reyes”—Kings Day, the day the Magi, or “kings,” came to visit Jesus. And the word Epiphany comes from Greek, meaning “to reveal” or “to shine forth.” When Jesus is revealed to the wisdom teachers of foreign powers, God switches on the light—the light of illuminated knowledge, and the light of sheer joy.
Looking at our texts, Matthew’s gospel is the only one that mentions the Magi, because Matthew’s gospel was composed to highlight Jesus as the fulfillment of the Hebrew scriptures. It’s likely that Matthew wrote about the visit of the Magi thinking about today’s Old Testament text from Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied: “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.” It also says they shall come “bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.”
The light in Isaiah’s prophecy may also be the star that draws the Magi in Matthew’s account. “Light” in these passages may have two senses. One meaning is light as spiritual illumination, as the Magi represent the wisdom of the ancient East, which finds its fulfillment in Christ. And light also has the sense of “lightening” one’s face—or “lightening” one’s mood—as the Magi in Matthew’s nativity are filled with great joy when the star delivers them to the holy family.
What do these texts tell us on Epiphany in 2026?
First, they invite us to be open to wisdom from unexpected places. In the first century, the Magi were people whom most Jews would regard as hostile. They were pagan sorcerers, yet in Matthew’s story they understood the signs and sought after Jesus. As an aging hippy, I’m reminded of an old Grateful Dead lyric: “Sometimes you find you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.”
These texts also remind us that the gift of God’s child is for everyone. Christ is not limited to any one culture, ethnicity, skin color, gender, or hemisphere. As John says in his gospel, Christ is God’s way of showing love to the world. And the Greek word in John 3:16 suggests an even greater scope: “God so loved the cosmos that God gave his child.” Christ is God’s gift for all of creation.
Finally, our Epiphany texts remind us that Christ can be our source of joy. Even when happiness eludes us, when circumstances are grim, when the world turns its back on justice, there can still be joy—the abiding sense that all is well in a world that God loves despite its disappointments.
To quote 16th century doctor of the church St. Teresa of Ávila:
Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you,
all things are passing away: God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
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