Jesus: The Only Star There Is

𝐉𝐀𝐍. 𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐘

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐈𝐬𝐚 𝟔𝟎:𝟏-𝟔

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟕𝟐:𝟏-𝟐, 𝟕-𝟖, 𝟏𝟎-𝟏𝟑 “𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐈: 𝐄𝐩𝐡 𝟑:𝟐-𝟑, 𝟓-𝟔

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐:𝟏-𝟏𝟐

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “…𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟏) 

        The unabridged dictionary that I use defines epiphany to mean a manifestation or a revelation. Equated with the birth of Christ, his coming has been translated and referred to as not only a revelation of God’s love (𝐉𝐧 𝟑:𝟏𝟔) and a manifestation of his love: “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬: 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦.” (𝟏 𝐉𝐧 𝟒:𝟗)        

       In a more dramatic form, the epiphany can be likened to lightning that forms a streak of light that sends a bright ray of light across the dark sky and the power that goes with it generates our full attention. At times, lightning evokes fear among children and anxiety and awe for us.

         This is what the coming of Jesus can be likened to as he came not with the pomp and pageantry of a king even if he was the King who had been prophesied as the Messiah but his coming came like a streak of lightning that stirred the hearts of men and created a new faith paradigm.

         There was a time when I was drawn to becoming a merchant mariner and so I took up Nautical Science and we were taught to use different kinds of directional gadgets and one of these that I grew fond of was the Sextant in which you can determine your location at sea by getting the fix on the horizon and the star or the moon.

         In the time when such gadgets were not in use, God used a star to direct the way of the three Wise Men into finding their way towards the spot where the Salvation of the world lay. Though Jesus may have been born in obscurity, the three Wise Men who were moved by both the prophecy and God’s promptings tried to find their way to Bethlehem to pay homage to the newborn King.

         This scenario presents us with the reality that in this life we too need to look for our star that will lead us safely to our final destination in life. However, we should also remember that we cannot make our own star because it would be tragic if we will insist in creating our own star and following it. What this gospel reading is telling us is that the star that only God can provide and light is the only star that can lead us to our salvation.

         Let me quote from St. John Chrysostom who, in his homily on this passage from Matt 2:1-12 said: “𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 “𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮,” 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳.”       

         When I am traveling at night my mind is normally filled by the thought of how it was at the time when the star of Bethlehem guided the three wise men into finding Jesus Christ. And I realized that amidst the perversion, corruption and immorality that permeates in our post-modern world, we need to look to Jesus – the star whom the Father has sent to guide us into finding our way to the path of eternal joy and peace. As the Star for the Church, we must take it to heart that there is only one Star and that is Jesus Christ. He is the Star who will illumine the areas of our lives that remain in darkness.

         If for some reason, the streak of light from the Star cannot filter into our lives, it is because we chose to remain in darkness. To benefit from the light that the Star brings, we must humble ourselves and admit that by ourselves we are nothing and when that light pierces our minds and hearts an epiphany is taking place as we are born anew into new life.

         Divine revelation moved the three Wise Men to recognize Jesus as divine – borne of flesh but sent down from heaven. They left everything to search for the source of true knowledge and wisdom. They brought him gifts fitting for a king. The analogy is that in our lifetime, human knowledge will reach its limits and at times such cannot even offset the difficulties we may encounter in life, and we begin to look for that joy and peace that will last. We may not have gifts to bring when we find Jesus our Salvation, but what pleases him is the gift of ourselves.

         There was also something that the three Magi did that remains etched in my mind. Upon seeing the Messiah, they all bowed down and worshiped him. It brought me back to the time when I gained notoriety as a media practitioner. I was daring and fearless and I took pride in that kind of demeanor that I will not bow down to any man.

         But that was before. When God found me at a time when my life was slipping into oblivion, I bowed down and worshiped Jesus Christ when I was confronted with the truth that he is the Star and not me. That I will forever be stuck in darkness and will remain lost if I will not surrender my life to him. That I will eternally be restless if I will not accept his offer of peace and joy that comes from accepting him as my Lord and Savior.

         The three Wise Men returned to their homes by another route and St. Gregory the Great says that “𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭.” And this is what I did. I went home through another route and this is where I am now – writing reflections, preaching and teaching, doing mission work instead of wasting my life on needless pursuits.

         What is also significant in this passage was that God revealed the Star of Bethlehem to the three Wise Men who are not Jews which means that Salvation is for the Jews and Gentiles alike. As the star rose, its light was seen throughout which also means that the Light of Christ shines throughout the world.

         To each one of us is given the same light of the epiphany to recognize and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We need to rely on our faith which is a gift from God. With the help of the Holy Spirit, our hearts are filled with Grace, and our eyes are opened as we begin to understand, accept, and believe the truth that God has revealed to us through his Son, Jesus Christ.

         Faith thus moves our will and intellect to cooperate with Grace. "𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦" (Thomas Aquinas).

         Our calling is to know God in a personal way and the Feast of the Epiphany should serve as a reminder for us to accept Jesus as our King such that Christ is reflected in everything we do and say. And as baptized Catholics our mandate is to also become a star to guide others to Christ who is the only Star will need to get to heaven. And with Christ in us, we can also become the new epiphany of God’s love. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘑𝘢𝘯. 4, 2026)