Hearing is believing

[The Epiphany of the Lord, Year C, 3 January 2016 / Isa 60:1-6 / Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13 / Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6 / Matt 2:1-12]

On this day I put the Three Magi (or Wise Men) directly in front of the child Jesus in our nativity scene because today after a long journey following a star they finally arrive. Falling on their knees they offer their symbolic gifts -- gold for a King, incense for the High Priest, and myrrh, used in burial for the one who will die to save us. Contemplating the manger scene who did God manifest himself to? The wise men were those who followed a star which can represent faith. All those present had faith. Mary had been told, “Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s promises to you would come true.” Joseph had believed what the angel had told him as had the shepherds. All of them had first heard before they had seen and all of them believed what they had heard.