It seems that for many of our contemporaries the Christmas season begins as soon as the pumpkins and skulls of Halloween have made way for tinsel and baubles in the shop window displays in early November. By 26th December the streets of South Kensington are made forlorn by the skeletons of discarded Christmas trees next to the turkey carcasses that have been strewn around the pavements by foxes. Mercifully we Catholics have the liturgical calendar to save us from such premature “holiday burnout”. For us, the festive season only began on Christmas Eve and is still in full swing.
The Feast of the Epiphany reminds us that the Nativity of Our Lord is the ultimate gift that keeps on giving. An epiphany is a “manifestation”, and this most ancient and beautiful feast actually marks three great manifestations. In the Mass for the day we concentrate on the manifestation of His divinity to the Gentiles, when the Magi arriving from the East fall to their knees and offer to the Christ Child the latria, or adoration, which is the highest level of worship reserved for God alone. After Mass we should make some time to visit the Crib to join the Magi in contemplation of the scene at the manger. At Vespers, meanwhile, the full significance of this ancient feast day is expressed in the Magnificat antiphon: "Three miracles glorify this sacred day: today the star led the Magi to the crib; today at the wedding feast water was changed into wine; today, for our salvation, Christ willed that John baptize Him in the Jordan, Alleluia.”
There are certain events in the history of Divine Revelation which might be described as truly seismic in their implications for the relationship of the human race with the Creator. One such “epiphanic” moment is recorded in the third chapter of Exodus, when God reveals His name to Moses from the burning bush: the name “I Am Who Am” (Ex 3:14) expresses profound truth about the very nature of the One True God whose very nature is to be, in a revelation that was granted a thousand years or so before the Greek philosophers began to talk about the source of all existence in terms of “pure being”.
This holy name revealed to Moses is so sacred to pious Jews that it could only ever be uttered by the High Priest, on certain occasions in the Temple and with the greatest solemnity, and even today cannot be written down. The “possession” of this truth was fundamental to the identity of God’s chosen people, who often found themselves in close proximity to pagans enslaved to the superstition of polytheism. It was the role of the prophets of old constantly to remind them of the unique privilege which had been granted to them, and of the responsibilities that accompanied it.
Saint John the Baptist is often described as the last prophet of the Old Testament, because he came “in the spirit and the power of Elias” (Lk 1:17), and when he baptises Our Lord, we witness another of those seismic developments in the history of The Creator’s interaction with His creatures. When God the Son emerges from the waters of the Jordan, God the Holy Ghost appears in the form of a dove above His head, and the voice of God the Father is heard to announce: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). And so it is manifested to us that within the One True God, there are in fact three Divine Persons, between Whom there is an eternal and infinite outpouring of divine love.
That this revelation of the Blessed Trinity occurs within the context of Baptism is of the greatest significance to us, because it is in our own Baptism that the divine life of the Blessed Trinity is infused into our hearts and we are inserted into that dynamic of knowledge and love which flows eternally between the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. It is in Baptism that the Christ Child is enthroned in our hearts, and when we are elevated supernaturally to a state of grace. It is in Baptism that we are made ready to receive the Word Made Flesh in Holy Communion, so that we may enjoy a union with God which is more perfect and intimate than any other union that is possible in this life. It is in Baptism that He ennobles us and shares His life with us so that we may truly be called His friends. This divine friendship is really the essence of the Christian life.
Like God’s Chosen People of the Old Testament, we have been granted knowledge of a holy name. And we do well to follow their pious example by treasuring the Holy Name of Jesus and only ever using it with the greatest reverence. The Feast of the Holy Name is just one of the many beautiful celebrations that adorns the calendar between Christmas Day and the Epiphany. The friendship that God extends to us in Baptism means that we can each of us dare to pronounce the name of Jesus with perfect confidence and trust. Let us resolve to spend 2024 cultivating that friendship.
Father Julian Large