Today is Jan. 10, Friday after Epiphany.
We read in the Gospel for today’s Mass: “It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, ‘Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I do will it. Be made clean.’ And the leprosy left him immediately” (Lk 5:12-13).
The Christmas season draws our hearts to the mystery of Christ’s first coming — a moment of humility, when the Son of God was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Yet, as St. John Henry Newman reflects, the feast of the Epiphany extends this mystery, focusing on the manifestation of Christ’s glory. In his miracles, we behold not only the child in the manger but the King of Kings, whose power and majesty shine forth in manifestations of glory.
At Christmas, the Christ Child appears surrounded by simplicity — shepherds, a manger and a star. But as his life unfolds, his divine nature is revealed in ways that astonish and inspire. The miracles of Christ are evidence of his divine kingship, signs of the glory hidden beneath the veil of his humanity. Each miracle, from the turning of water into wine at Cana to the stilling of the storm, reveals his kingly might as both creator and redeemer.
Marveling at the majesty of Christ’s life
And in the Gospel passage we read at Mass today, we see a man offering our Lord homage. The leper throws himself at our Lord’s feet. Like a subject beseeching his king, he begged for mercy. And it’s all so fitting for this Christmas season. As Cardinal Newman says, “the only display of royal greatness, the only season of majesty, homage, and glory, which our Lord had on earth, was in His infancy and youth.”
This Christmas, let us marvel not only at the humility of the manger but also at the majesty revealed in Christ’s life and miracles. In him, we see the fullness of divine glory, a glory that heals and transforms. Let us throw ourselves at his feet, as the leper did, offering our hearts in homage to the king who came to dwell among us.
Let us pray,
Grant, we ask, almighty God, that the Nativity of the Savior of the world, made known by the guidance of a star, may be revealed ever more fully to our minds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
