Feast of the Epiphany 2026: Light for the Gentiles and Joy for the World
Readings and Virtual Homily for January 4, 2026, Feast of the Epiphany; Wrapping the Sabbatical in London
Readings for Mass this Sunday:
Isaiah 6:1-6
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13
Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Dear Friends and Family,
The Feast of the Epiphany is one of my favorite feast days of the year. Although I think there are several reasons for this (among them the fact that the feast occurs in January, my birthday month), I think the primary reason is simply that this feast celebrates the conversion of the Gentiles --that is, it celebrates the conversion of our ancestors; it celebrates, really, us.
All of today's readings hew closely to this theme, the theme of the conversion of the nations. The day would come, today's readings proclaim, when the peoples of the world would recognize in Jesus Christ their God, their Lord, their Savior, and recognize as well that the God of the Jews IS God. The joy associated with the Gentile conversion is another reason that I so love this feast.
Our Gentile -- that is, pagan -- ancestors are well described by Isaiah in today's first reading: "...darkness covers the earth and thick clouds, the people" (vs. 2). Our pre-Christian ancestors are described in another passage from Isaiah in terms of their joy at the discovery of Christian truth, of the great plan of salvation that God, through the apostles and disciples and their missionary efforts, was now revealing to them.
"The people who dwelt in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who lived in a land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing" (Isaiah 9:1-2).
The heart of the Christian message -- that God had become one of us -- electrified our ancient ancestors. There was nothing to compare with it, in any of the pagan religions. That God "so loved the world that he gave his only son" (John 3:16) was astounding news to the Gentiles. It was, indeed, THE Good News. Suddenly there was a new understanding of life itself, its meaning and its purpose, a new understanding of our ultimate destiny. And these new understandings astonished the Gentiles. Astonished them and gave them great joy, gave them a literally out-of-this-world hope.
In the lyrics of the Christmas hymn, "Long lay the world in sin and error pining, 'til he appeared and the soul felt its worth" express well the response of the Gentiles to the Good News. The elevation of human nature inherent in the Christian message, the assurance to our ancestors of their worth, their value, their pricelessness to the God who had made them, was a deep and astonishing revelation to the Gentiles. It is the reason they responded with such enthusiasm to the preaching of the apostles.
The descriptions of the Savior in today's psalm resonate with this sense of wonder and awe, on the part of the Gentiles. Psalm 72 describes a Messiah of gentle and forgiving love; a Messiah, too, of cosmic dimension and power. And the psalm describes in some detail how the nations, that is, the Gentiles, will flock to the worship of the Jewish Messiah (vss. 10-13).
The reading from Ephesians underscores the reality of Gentile conversion; Paul writes that the "mystery of Christ...was not made known to human beings in other generations as it has now been revealed...that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body and co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus" (vss. 5-6).
The Gospel account from Matthew is that of the wise men -- the first of the Gentiles to recognize that the newborn King of the Jews is in fact also their king. They traversed many hundreds of miles (they were likely Persian -- modern-day Iran) to reach Jesus and when they found him they offered gifts of great value, and "overjoyed...they prostrated themselves and did him homage" (vss. 10-11).
A substantive homily could be focused solely on the magi, this Feast of the Epiphany. It is intriguing, to say the least, how they came to know that a new king had been born among the Jewish people, a king to whom they -- Persians -- owed homage. Clearly, these men were receptive to the graces of the Holy Spirit, as of course, were the many, many joyful Gentile converts in those first decades, those first generations of the preaching of the Christian faith.
I work in Gentile territory, so to speak; the Land of the Teens. For over thirty years now, I have made myself available to the Spirit for the evangelization of the young. That fact may be another reason why I so love the Feast of the Epiphany. It is no small thing, for me, when I see the light break in a student, when I see one of my teens suddenly make a connection with the God who so loves them that he became one of us and died that death for us. These breakthrough moments happen -- it seems --- randomly; I am always surprised when one of my students at O'Dowd suddenly "gives testimony" to his or her experience of God.
But it happens. It happens with some regularity, and it always leaves me -- joyful -- in the recognition that the conversion of the Gentiles is an ongoing process, and that I am at the heart of it, at Bishop O'Dowd. I never planned to be a missionary, but in fact, that is very much what I am, in the Land of the Young, at Bishop O'Dowd.
Speaking of the high school, I am back on campus this coming week. Classes start Tuesday. That is, classes start the actual traditional date -- January 6 -- of the Epiphany itself. I am just realizing that and I am smiling. I am in London, as this is arriving. I DID finally travel, this sabbatical! But as I am writing this in advance of the trip (the homily goes out on a pre-timed release) I have nothing to report. I am with very good friends in both London and Paris this week, and we are all very grateful that this trip actually came together and is happening!
Take good care. God bless.
Happy New Year!
Cheerio!
Fr. Brawn