Up until recently, the liturgical season of Epiphany meant little to me. One of my Catholic grandmothers refused to take her Christmas tree down until Epiphany, insisting that Christmas didn’t end until January 6th, when the wise men arrived to see Jesus.
I didn’t think much of the tradition. I often had my tree down by New Year’s, a kind of cleaning up of the last year and welcoming in the new. I wasn’t thinking of a church calendar—I was thinking of the “regular-people” calendar. 😉
But the last few years I’ve been drawn to the marking of the sacred seasons. The liturgical calendar offers a reminder of the rhythms of my faith, rhythms that connect me to the global church and remind me of the magnificence of the gospel story. Though I had thrown off any remnants of liturgy with my Protestant faith, I’m finding that there’s much value in observing the seasons of the church.
I still have so much to learn, but I thought to bring any curious readers along with me on my journey beginning today, January 6th, the day of Epiphany.
But what, really, is Epiphany about? Is it only a day that officially ends Christmas? Is it only a day to remember those ancient travelers with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh?
Turns out, it’s actually much more than that!
And guess what? This day is more than a single day (this was news to me!). It marks the start of an entire season that doesn’t end until Fat Tuesday—the day before Ash Wednesday. That makes this season especially, and maybe appropriately, long (in fact, this season won’t end until March 4th this year, 2025).
The word Epiphany means “to bring light” or “to cause to appear.” It asks us to sit deeply in the incarnation, to observe even the dark parts of it (thinking of Herod killing the Bethlehem baby boys), and the dark parts of ourselves. But then it asks us to glimpse God’s glory and light made manifest to the whole world through Jesus—God in human form.
In his book Living the Christian Year, Bobby Gross says that Epiphany “is a time both to inhabit the Story and to tell the Story, for in the telling itself we are further enlightened.”
I love that!
This season is a beautiful time to think about God’s glory being revealed. We can think of the Magi visit and marvel that this is a king meant for all people. We also meditate on the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan (observed on the first Sunday after Epiphany). We remember the prophecies of Simeon and Anna (celebrated on February 2nd as Candlemas) as Jesus is presented at the temple and called a “light of revelation to the Gentiles.” We meditate on the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana that exemplifies his power over creation and invites his disciples to see and believe. We think of his teaching on the Sermon on the Mount and his healing of the outcast. Lastly, on the final Sunday before Ash Wednesday, we meditate on the Transfiguration, a very great climax that reveals Jesus as God’s Son while also setting us up for the season of Lent.
Through all this, we better glimpse his amazing glory. And what we glimpse, we gladly share with those around us.
May this Epiphany draw you ever closer to his love and glory.
“O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”
Book of Common Prayer