VATICAN - Benedict XVI on the solemnity of the Epiphany in the Year of St Paul: “What was the life of St Paul after his conversion, if not a 'race’ to carry the light of Christ to the nations and viceversa, to lead people to Christ? The grace of God made Paul a ‘star' for the nations. His ministry is an example and an encouragement for the Church to rediscover that she is essentially missionary and to renew her commitment to announce the Gospel”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – On Tuesday 6 January, the solemnity of the Epiphany, the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, celebrated Mass in St Peter's Basilica. In his homily the Pope dwelt first of all on the “ multiform mystery” of the Epiphany, the "manifestation" of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which takes on different connotations in the Latin and Eastern traditions. “And what should we say dear brothers and sisters, - said the Pontiff - especially those of us who are priests of the new Covenant, every day witnesses and ministers of the ‘epiphany’ of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist? The Church celebrates all the mysteries of the Lord in this most holy and most humble Sacrament, in which He both reveals himself and hides His glory”.
Recalling that the year 2009, the 4th centenary of the first observations of Galileo through a telescope, is dedicated in a special way to astronomy, the Holy Father reflected on the symbol of the star, “so important in the Gospel narration of the Three Wise Men”, who were probably astronomers. They “ noted the appearance of a new star and interpreted this heavenly phenomenon as the announcement of the birth of a king, and precisely, according to Sacred Scripture, the King of the Jews. The Church Fathers saw in this singular episode told by Saint Matthew, also a sort of cosmological 'revolution', caused by the entrance of the Son of God into the world … whereas pagan theology divinised the elements and forces of the cosmos, Christian faith, bringing Biblical revelation to completion, contemplates one God, Creator and Lord of the entire universe … Therefore cosmic elements are not to be divinised, indeed on the contrary, in everything and above everything there is a personal will, the Spirit of God, who in Christ revealed himself as Love”. In this reality, the Holy Father explained, human beings are not slaves of the "elements of the cosmos", they are free persons, capable of relating to the creative freedom of God, who is at the origin of everything “and governs everything, not like a cold and anonymous motor, but as a Father, Spouse, Friend, Brother, as Logos, ‘Word-Reason’ who united himself with once and for all our mortal flesh and shared to the full our conditions, revealing the superabundant power of his grace”.
The Holy Father continued his homily recalling that Christian thought likens the cosmos to a “book”, “considering it the work of an Author who expresses himself through the ‘symphony’ of creation”. In this symphony there is, at a certain point, a "solo", a theme entrusted to one instrument or one voice so important that on it depends the significance of the whole opera. This "solo" is Jesus, “likened by the early Christian writers to a new sun … the earthly Jesus is the culmination of creation and history, but the Risen Christ is even more: the passage, through death, to eternal life, brings forward the ‘recapitulation’ of all things in Christ… and with the resurrection of the dead he obtained ‘primacy over all things’… no shadow, however dark, can obscure the light of Christ. This is why believers in Christ never lose hope, even today, in the face of the serious social and economic crisis which travail humanity, in the face of hatred and destructive violence which continues to shed blood in many regions of the world, in the face of the selfishness and arrogance of man who makes of himself a god, and doing so tends to dangerously thwart the divine plan with regard to human life and human dignity, the family and the harmony of creation ”.
Benedict XVI went on to recall that “Christ exercises his universal Lordship in a special way over the Church” and therefore the “the Epiphany is the manifestation of the Lord and as a reflection, the manifestation of the Church, since the Body cannot be separated from the Head… The Church knows that her humanity, her limits and poverty, highlight the working of the Holy Spirit. She can boast of nothing except her Lord: the light comes not from her, hers is not the glory. And precisely this is her joy, which no one can take from her”.
The Holy Father concluded his homily with a call to live the missionary dimension of the Epiphany in the light of the testimony of St Paul the Apostle, in this special Year of St Paul: “What was the life of St Paul after his conversion, if not a 'race’ to carry the light of Christ to the nations and viceversa, to lead people to Christ? The grace of God made Paul a ‘star' for the nations. His ministry is an example and an encouragement for the Church to rediscover that she is essentially missionary and to renew her commitment to announce the Gospel, especially to those who have yet to hear it.” Lastly, contemplating St Paul Paolo and his preaching nourished by Scripture, the Pope reaffirmed “ the Church and individual Christians can be light which leads to Christ, only if they nourish themselves with the Word of God assiduously and profoundly. It is the Word which illuminates, purifies and converts, certainly not us.” (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 7/1/2009; righe 56, parole 852)