The Epiphany - Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons

I was given a lovely little crib as a present this year, made by the Soeurs de Bethlehem in France. The small figures made of resin and dolomite stone are based on the Romanesque 12th C carvings of the nativity scenes in Autun Cathedral. We know who carved them, Giselbertus who is recognized as one of the best exponents of this art. One of the hallmarks of his style is not only the raw direct portrayal of emotions in the biblical narratives but the way he expresses Jesus's compassion, and how he was loving and caring for all. They are fantastic and iconic images!

In my little crib the three Magi approach the Christ child, but unlike the proud intelligent people they would have been, here in a very touching manner (typical of Giselbertus) they seem rather hesitant, lost in wonder at the miracle of God's revelation in Christ the Morning Star found in the infant Jesus.

For me, their tender greeting shows how underneath all power and pretension, honours and titles we are all basically the same, people who need love, security, friendship and hope. In the Epiphany light that is Christ we catch a glimpse of hope for the world.

Alas the Magi have to go home, no doubt to change everything they knew and did because this encounter would have completely altered their understanding of things, a real conversion! They also faced the menace of Herod and saw the danger this child faced as well, TS Eliot's poem 'The Journey of the Magi' conjures up this image: 'We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation'. A bittersweet discovery, for to gain something we also must lose something too!

Yet there is more than just a meeting and a revelation, at the heart of the Epiphany is Hope, a virtue and a grace we need so desperately in this New Year. I just want to share another image of Giselbertus, one in which he portrays the Magi resting, all sleeping (as did medieval people) under one big cover. Two are fast asleep, but one has woken and looking up into the great night sky he sees the Bethlehem Star resting over the place and person they seek. His face is full of hope and wonder, that the story and promise are really all true.

As John Betchmen's poem 'Christmas' puts it;
Can this with single truth compare-
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Britain