Guide us to thy perfect light

More than 20 years ago, back when my sister Maureen and her husband, Eric, were young newlyweds, they would throw marvelous Epiphany parties. For those early January celebrations, their lovely home in Pittsburgh became a place of warmth and laughter and lively conversation.

I was a recent college graduate, single and happy to drive my little Geo Prism four or five hours each way for an overnight visit with my sister and brother-in-law. We would cook together in the kitchen and welcome a houseful of Maureen’s fellow theology grad students and their partners—and assorted other guests.

The house was always full for those gatherings, and I loved not being simply myself but also “Maureen’s sister.”

As we were preparing for those Epiphany parties, Eric, Maureen, and I invariably had to make a grocery store run, and almost always there was an ingredient that we struggled to find. You aren’t throwing a party—and certainly not an Epiphany party—if you manage to get everything you need in one trip.

Just as the wise men must have followed the star, we would circle back to the Giant Eagle looking for a certain spice or a jar of pimientos. We might have grumbled and laughed a bit, but we always found it in the end. And the party was always enhanced by the search.

As we celebrate Epiphany, I remember how much fun we had at those gatherings. January can be cold and dreary, but these late Christmas days are happy ones. In our neighborhood, there are Christmas trees lying by the curb, waiting to be hauled away, but our tree is still up and fully decorated.

The rest of the world might be closing the door on Christmas. We’re holding onto it—especially as we greet the three wise men.

After all, Epiphany has a beauty that is all its own. While Christmas brings a sky full of angels singing hosannas, Epiphany finds us welcoming three new visitors to the Christ Child. They bring him gifts and pay him homage. They have traveled far to be there, to honor and greet the son of God.

The shepherds were called out of the fields, caught off guard and unprepared. They met Jesus just as they were—and there is a wonder to that encounter, too.

The wise men, on the other hand, study and prepare and travel miles and miles for months, following a star. They bring Jesus gifts that are full of meaning and understanding and thoughtfulness to prepare him for his life as God made man, as the Lamb of God, as the one who would take on our sins and save the world.

Some days we might be like the shepherd in the fields, meeting God unexpectedly without warning. Other days we might be more like the wise men, following a star, looking for God and answering his invitation to be with him.

“As pilgrims of faith, the Wise Men themselves became stars shining in the firmament of history and they show us the way,” the late Pope Benedict XVI told us. “The saints are God’s true constellations, which light up the nights of this world, serving as our guides.”

As we continue on our faith journey, may we encounter God in new ways, just as the wise men did so many years ago.

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