Saturday, January 6 was the ancient and meaningful Christian feast of Christ's Epiphany - His appearing or manifestation to the world. In the early Greek Church, the day was about all of Christ's manifestations, from His birth onwards. Over time, especially in the Western churches, Epiphany itself became associated with the coming of the Wise Men, and the Sundays afterward focused on other events in His early life and ministry.
In modern times, Epiphany is often forgotten. In the secular world and among secularized Christians, people are tired of celebrating after Christmas and New Year's Day. And this year, the fact that Epiphany fell on Saturday made the neglect even more noticeable. I searched online for celebrations of Epiphany in my metropolitan area. I didn't come across much, even among liturgical churches.
Personally, I have long thought that it would be an important Christian witness if we could emphasize Epiphany more. Epiphany is an ancient Christian observance of great theological importance. It is older than Christmas, and with all the nonsense associated with modern Christmas, Epiphany is more specifically Christian. Of course, we cannot ignore Christmas, but churches might do well to scale back some of the yuletide hoopla and put a little more emphasis on Epiphany. So let us look for ways to emphasize the value of Epiphany and make it the finale of our Christmas observances.
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