The Epiphany

Picture of the Epiphany is from: http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-2/653261/3Kings.jpg

The entry in http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861608848/epiphany.html defines epiphany thus:

e·piph·a·ny [ i píffənee ] (plural e·piph·a·nies)


noun
Definition:

1. sudden realization: a sudden intuitive leap of understanding, especially through an ordinary but striking occurrence
It came to him in an epiphany what his life's work was to be.

2. appearance of god: the supposed manifestation of a divine being

[Early 17th century. See Epiphany]

ep·i·phan·ic [ èppə fánnik ] adjective

All these years, I thought epiphany meant The Feast of the 3 Kings. Dumb, dumb, dumb. It was my son who opened my eyes when he asked, Mama, does epiphany mean sudden realization? I looked it up in the dictionary and said yes.

Today's Gospel was on the 3 Kings, the Epiphany, it being 6 January. The priest in the Church of the Gesu, Fr. Ted Gonzalez, SJ said the 3 kings had their epiphany after they visited Jesus in Bethlehem. The gospel goes:

Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

But the epiphany of the 3 Kings, as Fr. Ted explained it, goes beyond their traveling back through another route because of their dream. It was not a mere traveling on foot but an active realization to change the path of their lives.

Fr. Ted said in our lives, we experience several earth-shaking epiphanies, not just one. He said our lives have various turning points and we shouldn't be deluded into thinking that after an epiphany, life will proceed smoothly thereafter, because it won't. Life consists of a series of epiphanies, eye-openers, what have yous. How absolutely true.