Scripture readings for Jan. 4, 2026, Epiphany of the Lord
Is 60:1-6 Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6 Mt 2:1-12
This Epiphany Sunday, the star of the Gospel is — literally — the star.
Here is the original GPS device, guiding the magi from the East toward Christ. One of my favorite Christmas symbols in New York City is the massive star that hangs over 57th Street. Nothing symbolizes the hope and serenity of this season more beautifully. (Of course, it’s worth noting that if the wise men were to follow that star today, it wouldn’t lead them to a stable and a baby. It would lead them to Tiffany’s.)
But, suspended over the busy, noisy, distracting sounds and sights of New York, that star still captures our imagination. And it should. It represents something transcendent and historic — especially this week. The very word Epiphany means “manifestation.” Webster’s Dictionary elaborates: “An intuitive grasp of reality through something simple and striking.”
Something as simple as a child. Something as striking as a star.
Scripture is silent about just who the Magi really were, whether they were kings, astrologers or “wise men.” Historians will tell you that we don’t know exactly how many of them there were. But because they brought three gifts — gold, frankincense and myrrh — tradition has held that there were three of them.
That, of course, is a number with powerful biblical significance, echoing the number of persons in the Trinity and the days Christ spent in the tomb.
But it also signifies something even more compelling — and a beautiful truth we should seize on this Sunday.
It reminds us that we don’t embark on the Christian journey alone. We are part of a body of believers, a community. Again and again, when Christ is revealed to the world, he doesn’t show himself to just one person at a time.
Think of Christmas night, when the news was announced to shepherds — another group, another kind of community.
This will happen repeatedly. Epiphanies abound. Think of all the times Jesus makes a kind of “manifestation” — at his baptism, when he preaches, when he performs his first miracle, when he reappears after the Resurrection, even when encountering travelers on the road to Emmaus.
The familiar citation from Matthew 18 — “Whenever two or more are gathered in my name, there am I with them” — is prophetic and real.
To consider all that is to consider part of the great message of Christianity. We are meant to receive the Good News together, to live it together, to celebrate it and share it with one another. Christianity is not a solitary experience.
Thomas Merton put it beautifully: “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone. We find it with another.”
And there is something else about this great feast worth noting: the Magi didn’t come to the Lord empty handed. The Gospel tells us “They opened their treasures.” The Magi had priceless gifts to share. So do all of us.
The prayerful question we should ask ourselves is: What do we have to give? What do we have to share with Christ and with the world?
I recently heard a story told by a marketing expert named Barbara Glanz. She gave a talk to a group of supermarket employees on the subject of customer loyalty — how to get people to keep coming back for repeat business. She told those in her audience: “Every one of you can make a difference and create memories for your customers that will keep them coming back.” She challenged them to think about that.
What she was saying was so simple, but so timely. In brief: Don’t be shy about sharing your gift. No matter who we are, or where we come from, or what we do, each of us has a treasure to offer. Each of us is called, in our way, to be members of the Magi.
As we celebrate Christ manifesting himself to the world, think of what that manifestation has meant to each of us, to whatever community we belong to. What can we give in return — to God, and to one another? What are our treasures?
The Christmas season is coming to a close. But this lesson of Epiphany should stay with us: The season of giving doesn’t have to end.
Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog “The Deacon’s Bench.”
