A Different Route

They went home by a different route!

This little detail from the Gospel for the Solemnity of the Epiphany always sticks out for me. Given the fact that this Sunday is all about the manifestation of Jesus as God, King and human, it may not be all that important. Yet it always manages to evoke a response whenever I read this Gospel.

Doing things differently is never easy. If it were, conversion would not be all that difficult. If that were the case, then the prophets would not have had such a difficult life. The first words out of the Baptist's mouth would not have been "Repent!" Is there any possibility that St. Matthew slipped this little detail into the narration of this incident as a cleverly concealed message about the need for all of us to turn to the Lord? Probably not.

The infancy narrative of St. Matthew's Gospel is heavily influenced by the fact that this culture is driven by the need to protect one's honor and to avoid any hint of shame. It takes a message from an angel to get Joseph to take Mary into his home even though he knows that the child she carries is not his. The angel plays the "honor card" by telling Joseph that God is honoring him by giving him the care of His Son. St. Matthew begins the Gospel with an elaborate and honor-filled genealogy tracing Jesus' origin back to Abraham and David.

This is followed by the visit from the East by the magi. In their search, the magi encounter King Herod, the epitome of dishonor and shame. Herod deals with the message about a newborn King in secret. Anything done in secret in this society is, by definition, a cause of shame and dishonor. So when the magi find Jesus, do him homage, and decide to return to their own country by a different route, St. Matthew is making the point that these honorable men are not entering into the dishonorable plot that King Herod has already concocted.

However, I am also convinced of the fact that anyone who truly encounters Jesus, either in the Gospel or through prayer, cannot come away from the encounter without being changed. In fact, conversion can only happen through such an encounter. When we meet Jesus, the personification of God's mercy and compassion, our lives cannot help but be changed. It is for this reason that I cannot read this story without thinking about my own need to repent and turn toward the Lord.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator