—Eph. 3:21

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, his "manifestation" or "appearance" to the Gentiles, in the persons of the magi. I would like to begin my brief reflection on the Mass readings by noting that they suggest what one might call a twofold movement: God comes to us, and we respond by coming to him to glorify him. We hear this prophesied by Isaiah, who tells us that God will come in glory to Jerusalem, and the kings and people of the nations will come there to him. And of course this prophecy is fulfilled in the coming of the magi with their gifts.

But I think that we should recall also that Jerusalem is a "type" of the Church, and the Church is the new Jerusalem. The "body" to which St. Paul refers in our second reading is the Church. God comes to us in and through the Church. We come together to him by coming to the Church. We encounter his glory in the life of the Church. We glorify him in that same life.

The life of the Church - the life together of faith, hope, and love. This life is lived by professing together the Church's Faith, as expressed in the Creed and elsewhere; by living together the Commandments; by taking part together in the Church's liturgy and sacraments - by, one might say, believing and doing together all that is taught in the Catechism. If we live this life, we are coming to God in Christ as did the magi of old, and we are glorifying him as did the magi.

I would like to highlight especially the importance of the Eucharist in this context. It is, after all, above all in the celebration of the Eucharist that the Church is most fully realized as the Church. And it is especially in the Church's celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice and banquet that we encounter and glorify God in Christ. In the Eucharist, Christ comes to us really and substantially, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. In the Eucharist, he gives himself to us so that, through, with, and in him, we can glorify the Father.

We might note that this connection between the magi and the Mass is made explicitly in the Prayer over the Gifts at tomorrow's Mass: "Lord, accept the offerings of your Church, not gold, frankincense and myrhh, but the sacrifice and food they symbolize: Jesus Christ, who is Lord for ever and ever. Amen."

Let us, then, respond to the manifestation and revelation of Christ as the light of the Church and of all peoples and nations, by entering more worthily and fully into the life of the Church, and especially into the Eucharist.