Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Solemnity of the Epiphany, January 5, 2003 Matthew 2:1-2	Listen to Audio

How many of you recognize the name Sydney Omarr, who died a few days before Christmas?  How many of you ever read his column?  (You don’t have to embarrass yourself by raising your hand – we all find it irresistible to check out our horoscope from time to time, “just in case,” even though we really don’t believe in it.  Right?)

Do you realize that the beloved Magi of St. Matthew’s Gospel have far more in common with Sydney Omarr than they do with any of the figures in the Bible?  The only thing we know about them for certain is that they were astrologers, for that’s what the word “Magi” meant in the ancient Near East.  They were undoubtedly not kings, although they may well have been servants of a royal court, and perhaps came as emissaries of a king to pay his respects to the newborn “King of the Jews.”

Where did they come from?  Persia, most likely, which is present-day Iran, and about as far east as the then “known world” – at least to the Jews – extended.  That was the land of Midian and Ephah mentioned in the first reading.  Beyond that was, . . . well, who knows?  They were probably Zoroastrians, a sort-of monotheistic religion that relied heavily on signs of nature and the heavens as communications from God.  There is no indication that there were three of them, only three gifts.  Nor, necessarily, that they were all male.

What was this star?  How would they, as pagan astrologers, know to engage in a search for something as specific as “the newborn King of the Jews”?  There are lots of theories and lots of different depictions in art.  In fact, the images that come to our minds about the Magi and their star rely more on the imaginations of artists and songwriters than on the actual scripture text or historical research.

One very plausible current theory, based on the study of ancient astrological concepts, points to a very complex arrangement of sun, moon, Jupiter and other planets, which would indicate the birth of a most powerful emperor, connected with the constellation Aries, which symbolized the Jews.  This configuration of heavenly bodies can be mathematically determined to have taken place on April 17, 6 B.C., and might have been a sign to those schooled in the astrology of the day.  April 17, 6 BC, is as plausible a date for the birth of Jesus as any.  There is no biblical indication that it actually took place in winter – we celebrate Christmas in December because the early Christians displaced the pagan feast of the “Birth of the Unconquerable Sun,” actually the winter solstice, with the celebration of the birth of Christ.  But it is certain that Jesus had to be born before 4 BC, because that’s when Herod died.  That little quirk of incorrect dating is because of a sixth-century error made by a less-than-perfect scholar named Little Dennis.  No kidding!  [Dionysius Exiguus, literally little Dennis,” died about 545.  Read more about him in the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia and a more recent article on “Dating the Birth of Jesus.”]

The scriptural expression, “we saw his star at its rising,” actually corresponds to astrological terminology of that time, and could well refer to that April 17 conjunction of planets and stars.  It would have been natural, then, for these Magi to set out for Jerusalem and to visit Herod’s court, for he was the “King of the Jews” at that time – actually a puppet-king under Roman domination.  A complex retrograde movement of the planets about eight months later would account for the star becoming visible again, “preceding them” and “stopping over the place where the child was” – again, these expressions are in accord with Middle Eastern astrological terminology of that time.

Now, that’s an interesting theory, and you can read more about it in an article I’ve linked to this homily on the OLA website.  It certainly is at least as plausible as any of the other legendary interpretations that we are so attached to.  In fact, this careful study of ancient astrological concepts serves to support the scriptural account much better than the overlay of legends and fantasies have done.

In whatever way scientific investigations and theories may help us understand the event, it is what we read in the scriptural account itself that is primary, and I think there is a particular lesson in it for us today.  God works in the most unexpected ways, even through the movements, philosophies, and religions that we would consider “in error.”  For pagan astrologers to receive God’s word in ways that the proper religious people missed, for strange foreigners to pay homage to the king whom his neighbors refused to recognize – why, that’s scandalous!  And yet, it seems God delights in confusing those who think they have a corner on the market of righteousness.

The Second Vatican Council Declaration on Non-Christian Religions affirmed that God works even through them to bring his saving grace to all people.  That is not to deny the centrality of Christ and his mission to God’s plan of salvation, nor the truth of the Catholic Church and our faith tradition.  But it is to acknowledge that there are many ways of coming to Christ, and that we have no right to put limits on the ways that God chooses to work.  We are servants of God’s work, not its managers!

There are two distortions of truth that we have to avoid.  One is a sort of indifferentism that holds it doesn’t make any difference what you believe, that all religions are equal in God’s sight.  We can’t be faithful Christians and hold that.  There is genuine reason to be Christian and to see Jesus Christ not only as the center of our faith, but as essential to the salvation of the world.  On the other hand, Christians in their arrogance have often negated any value in the beliefs and customs of those who believe differently from us.  The Church’s teaching tells us we can’t do that.  We have to respect sincerely held beliefs as means by which God reveals himself, even if at the same time we see them as leading to a truth which they do not yet fully grasp.

The vision of Isaiah in the first reading sees the mission of Israel as bringing light to all nations.  Notice that it is the nature of light to reveal something new in what is already there, to bring the present but unseen reality into consciousness.  Light doesn’t change anything, it brings clarity, richness, and fulfillment.

Our mission, too, is to be light, not to shame or convince others or even to convert them by our arguments.  But, recognizing that God, not our words or our logic, is the mover of hearts and minds, our mission is to live in a way that others may come to see the light of Christ in the good of our lives, and in that way, come to believe in him.

© 2003 Thomas Welbers