This
feast was traditionally the 12th day of Christmas and was celebrated on January
6th. The word Epiphany means to “show”
or “reveal”. The Canadian church has
chosen to celebrate this feast on the closest Sunday so that we can all fully
share in the celebration. This feast, as
with all our feast days, is a teaching tool for an important aspect of our
understanding of the church’s mission.
The Magi who brought gifts to the child Jesus were the first Gentiles to
acknowledge Jesus as “King” and so were the first to “show” or “reveal” Jesus
to a wider world as the incarnate Christ.
The day is now observed as a time of focusing on the mission of the
church in reaching others by “showing Jesus as the Savior of all people. It is also a time of focusing on healing the
divisions of prejudice and bigotry that we all too often create between God’s
children.
