By Sister Catherine Cleary, OSB

Recently I met a woman who said, “I understand the season of Advent, I surely understand Christmas, but I do not get the feast of the Epiphany.”

We talked a bit about the meaning of King Herod,  panicky at the thought of a new king who would take his power, and the 3 wise men seeking a new king to pay him homage.

As we parted she said, “I still don’t understood why it is so important. But I’ll pray about it.”

When I next saw her, her face glowed with the news that she now understood the feast. Words flowed from her heart.

“I sat down to pray and asked that I be like the wise men searching for God, who would lead me, teach me, who would be my north star.

“I told God that I wanted to surrender all in my search. And then I stopped saying any words and just sat in the quiet, resting in God’s presence.

“And it seemed God did appear to me, not as a star, shining and clear, but as an assurance; a presence. I cannot describe anything else, except I really now know what the Epiphany is all about.  It is the seeking of God above all else. It is the finding and seeing with the eyes of my heart.”

The woman went on to say that her discovery led her to understand that she needn’t wait for any special feast to have her own epiphanies.

That’s a good thing for us all to remember. God is in and with and around us, always. We have only to see it.