"What happened to Three Kings?"
After Mass the other day I was asked that question.
The questioner explained: Last Sunday was the Feast of the Epiphany but what happened to the Feast of the Three Kings? We used to have that feast. So, what happened?
Actually, I was able to explain, it was always the Feast of the Epiphany. Only in popular devotion did some start calling it the Feast of the Three Kings. However, Three Kings was never on our calendar and never an official feast title.
And truth be told, we need to ask if ever there were only just three and if any were really kings!
Check that out in Matthew's Gospel 2: 1 - 12.
No mention of kings or any set number!
But as to the feast - well, it is, has been and likely for all time will continue to be the Epiphany.
Epiphany means "manifestation" or "revelation."
What we celebrate is Jesus revealed to the nations as the Promised One, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Long Awaited One.
The story we tell on Epiphany is of how a star guided these mysterious travelers from some distant places to discover the Promised One.
But we do not stop there.
The following Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus - Epiphany, another manifestation.
This time the Voice is heard: "This is my beloved Son," and the Spirit is seen. Epiphany!
And this year on the Sunday after that we continue to celebrate the Epiphany as Jesus changes water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. Epiphany!
However, while the Epiphanies continue, in the Roman Calendar on the day after the Baptism of the Lord we return to Ordinary Time. This is the time that stretches until Ash Wednesday and so it links our two great seasons - Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter.
Our brothers and sisters in the Christian Faith do not share our return to Ordinary Time. They continue to observe the time of Epiphany right up to Lent. The Sundays between the Baptism and Ash Wednesday are known as Sundays in Epiphany.
As a matter of fact the final Sunday before Lent in Christian denominations other than our own is known as Transfiguration Sunday.
I find that rather significant as in a very real way the Transfiguration is also an epiphany!
And the rationale behind the Sunday before Lent being this epiphany is to strengthen us for the cross and for those crosses which we must bear in our life journey.
When I finished my explanation of Epiphany to my questioner after that Mass, the response was, "Wow! Even at my age I have learned something new."
Perhaps that, too, was an epiphany.
So, what happened to the Three Kings?
Well, they and many, many others down through the ages found the Promised One. And men and women even today continue to discover Him.
Epiphany is a day, a season and a constant.
The star, in its many, many forms continues to lead to the Promised One.
After all, what good is Christmas unless we find and welcome Him?
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