Today on this Feast of the Epiphany we commemorate one of the most famous journeys of all time – the coming of the Magi from the East to the little town of Bethlehem. There they reach their destination and discover the newborn king of kings.
As we listen to this story every year we tend to romanticize their journey. Travel back in those days was very different than it is for us. We tend to pack a suitcase or two or three, get in the car or hop on a plane and in a few hours we arrive.
Riding camels is quite different than that. If you think about, in the desert there were no places to stop for a bite to eat; no motels or hotels to spend the night; no lights when it got dark; and no heaters to warm up the night. Everything they needed they had to carry along with them. So clearly it wasn’t just the three of them; as the first reading tells us, caravans of camels would arrive in Bethlehem – camels loaded down with food and supplies and clothes and sleeping gear. Remember the Magi were royalty but they were so determined to reach their destination, they were willing to sacrifice and to push ahead through all the obstacles that came their way, even King Herod.
In the end they are rewarded for their persistence. They are welcomed to the humble birthplace and immediately they recognize who this baby is. They prostrated themselves, did him homage and presented their royal gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh!
Our own journey of life is not that much different except for the time and culture. Our destination likewise is the place where Jesus is born for us in life. We too encounter obstacles and hardships, darkness and cold; we too know the difficulty of carrying a lot of baggage and of people who get in the way. But in the end we are rewarded with the presence of an all loving and all merciful God who touches our hearts as that babe touched the hearts of the Magi.
This story of the Epiphany is one that has universal appeal and it transcends the ages. And so is the entire story of the Nativity, a story that never gets old but that transforms us anew every year. May we take this new life with us into the New Year and may we find the newborn king at every turn in the road ahead.