The year 2014 has kicked off! Happy New Year!
As it is the year of the horse,
according to the Chinese zodiac calendar, may this year bring the strengths to complete
missions that we must carry on respectively.
The Chinese zodiac believes that the horse symbolizes the power to fuel
unremitting efforts.
By the time we exchange new year’s
greetings, we tend to feel Christmas is over. But, it is still Christmastide.
Therefore, Merry Christmas, again!
In this first blog article of the year
2014, I want to touch a bit of Christmas as the Christmas season, rather than
the Christmas day. Then, I would like to put horses in light of the feast of
Epiphany, which is an important component of Christmas.
As the celebratory season, Christmas
lasts 12 days. Yes, there is a popular song, “12 Day of Christmas”. And, there
are actually 12 days in Christmas. These
12 days are called Christmastide, between Christmas day (December 25) and the
feast of Epiphany (January 6). But, in
the Roman Rite, Christmastide ends with the feast Sunday of the Baptism of the
Lord, which is the Sunday after Epiphany.
Now, the feast Sunday of Epiphany
(Theophany) is just upon us to suggest that this Christmastide is about to end,
signaling to the feast Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord, which is the Sunday
after the feast of Epiphany (January 6 – making the 12 days of Christmas).
Since 1970, the Roman Catholic Rite celebrates the feast of Epiphany on Sunday that
falls between January 2 and January 8. So, this year, according to the Roman
Rite, Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday, January 5, 2014.
The 8 days between Christmas (December
25) and January 1, the fest of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (Theotokos), are
called the Christmas Octave – the eight festive days of Christmas. That is why
January 1, the New Year’s Day is also called the Octave of the Nativity of the
Lord in the liturgical calendar, also commemorating Jesus being presented in
the Temple for circumcision (Genesis 17:12, Leviticus 12:3). In Judaism, which
Jesus was brought up with, the 8th-day circumcision is called the brit milah , meaning, "covenant of
circumcision". Given the nature of covenant establishment with God, the
Jewish circumcision is like the Sacrament of Baptism in the Catholic tradition.
In fact, it was Cyprian of Carthage in the 3rd century who paralleled
the Jewish brit milah and infant
baptism in his Epistle 64.
So, the Octave of Christmas celebration
make up the first 8 days of the Christmastide, the 12 days of Christmas – until
the feast of Epiphany.
Now, the coming Sunday, the Epiphany
Sunday, is also commemorating the magi (three wise men, three kings) paying
tribute to baby Jesus, because he is the King of all kings.
The word, “epiphany” is derived from the
Greek word, ἐπιφάνεια (epiphaneia), meaning “manifestation”, “revelation”, and “appearance”. It is to celebrate when God appeared in the
human flesh of Jesus also to the magi, who are foreigners (non Jew). The magi have a connotation to
Zoroastrianism, meaning “fire keepers”. Zoroastrianism is an ancient Persian
(Iranian) religion, which worshiped Ahura Mazda, the creator god.
The magi are plural of magus, which
means a magician or astrology scholar, in the Zoroastrianism. In this ancient religion, fire is the symbol
of divine purity. Thus, in keeping the fire, the magi were also considered to
have played priestly roles in this ancient religion of Persia. Thus, it makes
sense to consider the magi in the Matthew’s Gospel narrative as “wise men”. Also, given the priestly role and Melchizedek’s
identity as a priest and king in Genesis 14:18-20, the magi can be understood
as kings.
So, if the magi were kings, then, they
should ride on kingly animals, which are usually horses. But, given the
geographical nature of the route that they had to take to seek the baby Jesus,
the King that they pay tribute to, their transportation animals were likely to
be camels. However, King Cyrus of
Persia, who preceded the magi, came to liberate Jerusalem from the hands of the
Babylonians with his great chariots. So, a possibility of horses to be the magi’s
kingly transportation cannot be denied.
Given not only that this is the year of
the horse, but also that I was born in the year of the fire horse, I prefer to
stretch my biblical interpretation of Matthew’s Gospel account on the magi and
imagine that the magi were riding on their horses in search of the Jesus, the
King.
The Matthew’s original biblical text
does not specify what animals the magi were riding. It has been popularly assumed that they were
riding on camels. But, they can be
horses!
Now, I invite you to sing this popular
Epiphany carol – We Three Kings of Orient Are.
We three kings of
Orient are
Bearing gifts we
travel afar.
Field and
fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder
star.
O star of wonder,
star of night,
Star with royal
beauty bright,
Westward leading,
still proceeding,
Guide us to thy
perfect Light.
Born a king on
Bethlehem's plain,
Gold I bring to
crown Him again,
King forever,
ceasing never
Over us all to
reign.
O star of wonder,
star of night,
Star with royal
beauty bright,
Westward leading,
still proceeding,
Guide us to thy
perfect Light.
Frankincense to
offer have I.
Incense owns a
Deity nigh.
Prayer and
praising all men raising,
Worship Him, God
on high.
O star of wonder,
star of night,
Star with royal
beauty bright,
Westward leading,
still proceeding,
Guide us to thy
perfect Light.
Myrrh is mine:
Its bitter perfume
Breaths a life of
gathering gloom.
Sorrow, sighing,
bleeding dying,
Sealed in a
stone-cold tomb.
O star of wonder,
star of night,
Star with royal
beauty bright,
Westward leading,
still proceeding,
Guide us to thy
perfect Light.
Glorious now
behold Him arise,
King and God and
Sacrifice.
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Sounds through
the earth and skies.
O star of wonder,
star of night,
Star with royal
beauty bright,
Westward leading,
still proceeding,
Guide us to thy
perfect Light
The magi traveled very for in their search of the King
they wanted to pay homage to. For this mission, they journeyed through field,
fountain, moor, and mountains. The kept on going and going – still going and
going, as long as the star guides.
This carol depicts that the journey of search that the
magi took was really of endurance.
Now, I must rethink that the magi could have actually
ridden on camels, rather than horses, because camels are known to have more
endurance than horses – though they are not as powerful and fast as horses.
Yes, this is the year of the horse. And, the horse is
really great as it is fast and strong. But, as the seekers and searchers in
faith, let us also know that there is a time to ride on camels, as probably the
magi did in search of baby Jesus.
Starting the new year, the year of the horse, and celebrating
the feast of Epiphany, let us be as strong as horse and as enduring as camel in
our search for the truth, wherever it manifests and is revealed.
As the star guided the magi on their long challenging
journey of search, let our faith and the Holy Spirit continue to guide our
journey of seeking and searching – including our search of meaning.
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