The Christmas Season, which formally ends tomorrow, is a particularly happy time of year for many because it’s a time when families are reunited ... with family members who live away. Students come home from college on break, and others travel so they can see parents and grandparents and grand babies. It’s a wonderful time of togetherness. My Mom always had a special glow about her over the holidays when she got to have all of her 5 kids home at the same time between Christmas and New Years. You see, once everyone got home, we could attend Mass together, shop together, play sports together, watch football and home movies together, eat meals together and spend time talking and kidding and reminiscing together. My Mom’s joy, as with most Moms ... is to gather their brood together into one happy home.

Well that Motherly desire to gather her children... is the very desire ... of God. Yes, the joy that Mothers experience in gathering... reflects the very joy of God! In our First Reading today, the Prophet Isaiah predicts a time will come when, “They all gather and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.” What does God want? He wants to gather everyone to Himself ... He wants all of us to come to Him. Which means that He first wants everyone to be in His family ... and then He wants every family member to be with Him in His home. Why does God want this? For the joy of it! Yes, just as gathering all their children together gives Moms great joy, gathering all of God’s children together gives Him great joy. Isaiah affirms this today saying, “Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow.” God is family ... He is three Persons ... He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And these three persons are so fully gathered together that they are one.

And God’s design for the human race is that all people would be one in Him. Sadly, man interrupted that plan when he fell into sin and broke the relationship. So God had to start the process over of gathering people together ... and He did it by choosing a certain group of people to be uniquely his own. They came to be known as His Chosen People! It was these people (the Israelites/Jews) that God guarded as the apple of his eye. It was from these people that God would send a Savior into the world. Which brought us to Christmas and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. But even though Jesus was born to Parents, who were members of the Chosen People ... God made it clear from the start that Jesus was to be the Savior ... of all people.

The first hint of this came hundreds of years before Jesus when Isaiah announced as we heard in our reading today, “All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.” Sheba is where the Queen of Sheba journeyed from to meet King Solomon. It was not a land of the Chosen People, so Isaiah’s reference indicates that a day would come when even non-Jews would bear gifts and sing praises for the Lord. In our Gospel, St. Luke announces that day came when Magi from the East traveled to see the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. They came bearing gold, frankincense and myrrh and proclaiming their praises of the Christ Child. What did their gifts represent? In offering gold they were proclaiming Christ’s kingship. In offering incense they were adoring His Godhead, And in offering myrrh they were acknowledging His mortality.

So, this visit by the Magi and the presentation of their gifts was a powerful sign that this newborn baby ... was God ... and Man ... and King. And not just of the Chosen People ... but of all people, the Jews and the Gentiles! Ever since the 3rd Century, this visit by the Magi to worship the infant King ... has been called the Epiphany, a word that means “manifestation”, a word which itself means: revealing something or clearly presenting something.

So, this visit by the Magi manifested two things:
1. It manifested Jesus as God and Man and King ... and
2. it manifested God’s plan that salvation was offered to all people.

In our Second Reading today, St. Paul rejoices in this plan saying, “It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his Holy Apostles by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus.” This is truly Good News, especially for the majority of the world who are non-Jews! Because, Jews & Gentiles ... all men & women are invited into God’s family! Which Jesus clearly expressed in His final command to His Apostles before He ascended to the Father, saying: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” His desire is echoed in the beautiful Responsorial Psalm that we prayed today, “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.” This is God’s plan ... that all people would be baptized and brought into His Family and then that they would come to gather in His house in Heaven!

Realize that within 70 years of Jesus’ death, the Church that He established was already being referred to as the universal Household of God. In the year 107, Ignatius of Antioch referred to the Church in his letter to the Smyrneans as the Catholic Church where the word catholic means “worldwide” or “universal”. Yes, God intended for all of us to be one big family. We affirm this every time we pray our Creed and say, “We believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” How many families does God want? One! And, what would that look like? a worldwide family ... The Catholic Church! At the first Christmas, the Magi witnessed to the Kingship and the glory of Jesus. Today, 2016 yrs. later, we are called to witness to the Kingship and glory of Jesus.

As we celebrate the great Feast of the Epiphany, let’s contemplate the two aspects of God’s plan. That He wants all people to enter into His family on earth ... and that He wants all family members to gather into His home in Heaven. Let’s do our part to invite all people into God’s royal family by Baptism ... and let’s follow Jesus, our King, as He guides us home to Heaven. Having the whole family gathered together in Heaven will bring great joy to God and everlasting joy to all of us!