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Epiphany celebrations have a rich history in the Church. At the core is the story of the Magi visiting the Christ child. Over time, tradition has developed their names, origin stories, and even the number (note it doesn’t say three kings anywhere in Scripture). What we do know: they were nobles from the East who came to pay homage to Christ. This is important because it reinforced the notion that all the ends of the earth are saved by God (cf. Psalm 98). Their visit at Christ’s birth is the dramatic opening act of the Great Epiphany .

While now celebrated separately, traditionally there has been a close connection between the Nativity, the Magi, Christ’s Baptism, and the Wedding at Cana, with these celebrations even being remembered on the same day. Each of these scenes reveal an important element of Christ. At the manger, we have the revelation of the Christ child to all of humanity, as represented by the Magi. God radically breaks into the human story. Things will never be the same again. It was this celebration which captured the minds of the early Christians. Celebrating birthdays was not as common, yet.

The second Great Theophany takes place on our Church calendar the Sunday after the Epiphany: the Baptism in the Jordan. The crowning moment of this story comes with the voice of the Father, inaugurating the Son’s mission with the Holy Spirit.

The third act is the Wedding at Cana. In the Gospel of John, where this story is found, the wedding takes place directly after Jesus’ Baptism. At the behest of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus performs his “first sign.” This is a manifestation of his divinity.

God is with us, a succinct summary of the Great Epiphany. Each year we remember this in a powerful way on Christmas but also the days after. In the arrival of the Magi, we are reminded of our own journey to Christ. We are invited to the crib. We bring the gifts of our lives. While they are not always gold, they are still lovingly accepted.

May we realize the gift which the Epiphany is to each of us. The Lord has come to each of us. Like the Magi, let us be transformed and return in a different way.

Just before Christmas, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (the Church teachings office in Rome) released a controversial document called Fudicia Supplicans. It is safe to say A LOT of ink has been spilled over it. Overshadowed by both secular and religious media was another pronouncement made just prior. This less attention getting story concerned single mothers receiving Communion.

The response from the Vatican was affirmative and encouraging. Now this should not seem like a surprise or a stretch. Yet, an opinion had to be made and presented. I highlight this particular case to show just how hard it is being a global Church.

Something which does not seem like an issue in our backyard, can take on much more weight somewhere else. Conversely, something which seems of utmost importance to our US minds might not register so high in Rome. Here is both a challenge and joy.

A challenge in that my way is not the way of everyone else. Changing a couple words in the Mass is not nearly as big of a deal to a church facing starvation from a famine. Conversations about married priests look much different for nations where sacraments are much easier to access than those in mission areas.

The hidden benefit, we learn our problems might not be as big as we thought. Even though a nation might be powerful, the concerns of its religious leaders must be weighed with the wider spectrum. Unless you’re Italy, but they get a proximity bump.

What I hope to do here is paint the picture of just how hard it is for the Dicastry of the Doctrine of Faith to make any rulings. There is always going to be cultural context which cannot be accounted for. There are going to be issues which are not concerns for everyone and there are going to be topics not responded to. In the end, we trust in the Holy Spirit, which continues to animate the Church!

Many traditions exist around the Magi. One popular custom is to make a “Kings’ Cake” in which a small statue of Jesus is hidden inside the cake. Whoever gets the slice containing the statue wins (and has to bake the cake next year). There is also a popular tradition of blessing your home on this day in honor of the Magi (click here).

Remember, every tradition was new at one point. Why not consider starting your own? Here are a couple ideas for you:

The central element of the story surrounds the gifts of gold, frankincense, myrrh. Consider keeping one Christmas gift wrapped and then opening it on Epiphany.

On the opposite side, as a remembrance of the Magi, consider giving someone a gift, making a special donation at Mass on 12/7 , or supporting a charitable cause.

Lastly, ponder or discuss what the modern gifts would be. If you were visiting the Christ child, what would you bring, Bitcoin??

No matter what you choose, make this day special because it has been quite a special in the Church calendar for centuries!

Not long ago, a short video came across my feed documenting how the confetti is dumped on New Years in NYC. To my surprise, it is individual people, who one hand at a time, throw the confetti down from roof tops. While in retrospect, this might be the easiest method, I was confused as to why there weren’t confetti cannons or some other type of machine available to make this more efficient.

This video popped back into my head while folding laundry the other day. I was getting frustrated that such a menial task takes time. When we seem to be grasping for every possible second, why waste any on folding a shirt? It was then I began to realize just how insistent I have become with time.

Yes, keeping on schedule rests on others' time, but when we value every second of our day as “production,” we become envious of time. It was at this moment I became glad I was “losing time” folding. Every so often we need to lose sometime, it is only then we finally get to enjoy it!