The solemnity of the Epiphany is quite significant for the Catholic Church since it celebrates God’s revelation to all the nations. With this celebration we recall that God didn’t only reveal himself to the Jews but to all the nations, that Jesus Christ became man for our salvation, the salvation of all men and women. The word Catholic means universal; we as Catholics are members of the universal church, the church built by Christ upon Peter, the church sent out to the ends of the earth to proclaim the good news, the church that now speaks many languages and is present almost everywhere. The celebration of the epiphany marks God’s manifestation to the whole world. God revealed himself not only to those who spoke Hebrew and Aramaic but to every single creature over the face of the earth. The Jews thought and hoped that the Messiah was going to be a nationalist king who would repeat king David’s feat but Jesus made it clear that he came into the world to save the world, to save all the nations including the Jewish nation obviously but it wasn’t because of them that he became human but because of all God’s children. He didn’t come into the world to save a single nation but to save all the nations. That’s why all the nations, will be assembled before him (Cf. Mt. 25:32) when he comes again at the end of time.
The celebration of the Epiphany is an invitation for us all to open our minds and hearts to all cultures, races, and languages. We all were created by God, no matter our superficial differences and Christ paid for the sins of us all, no matter our superficial differences. God is the Creator and the Savior of all. You might wonder why then the Israelites were God’s chosen people. The answer is quite simple. They were chosen by God not to be exulted but to accomplish a mission, a mission that could have perfectly been entrusted to any other nation. The Israelites were no better than the Egyptians, or the Sumerians, or the Babylonians, or the Assyrians, or the Persians, or the Hittites, or the Canaanites, or the Amorites, or the Phoenicians, or the Arameans, or the Philistines, or the Ammonites, or the Moabites, or the Edomites. The Israelites were chosen among many other nations not because they were better than the rest; they were chosen just because God decided it that way. It is like when somebody is called to the priesthood: he is not better than the rest; he is just called to the priesthood not because of his worthiness but because God wants him to serve others as a priest. The Israelites were God’s chosen people but they were chosen not because of their worthiness. Now, Jesus was Jewish but his mission wasn’t limited to the Jewish nation; his mission was to redeem God’s creation, to redeem all nations; that’s why He commissioned his disciples to go out to the world, to the ends of the earth (Cf. Mk. 16:15) and proclaim the good news to every creature.
May the celebration of God’s revelation bring about peace and concord among nations. May we all open our hearts and minds to our brothers and sisters from different nations, who speak a different language, who practice a different religion, who have a different culture. May God bless our nation and every single nation on earth.