The Epiphany of the Lord

To The Family of the Epiphany Parish 
The Epiphany of the Lord 
Magnus Deus in Parvulo Latet: The Great God Hides in the Small 
(Second Sunday after Christmas, Matthew 2:1-12, 04 January 2026) 

God’s Manifestation Confounds Expectation: The Infinite is Found in the Fragility of a Child Today, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, we contemplate the episode of the Magi (Mathew 2:1-12). They faced a long and difficult journey to go and adore “the king of the Jews” (Mathew 2:2). They were guided by the wondrous sign of a star, and when they finally reached their destination, rather than finding something spectacular, they found a baby with his mother. They could have protested: “How many roads and how many sacrifices, only to find a poor child?” And yet, they were not scandalized. They were not disappointed They did not complain. What did they do? They prostrated themselves. “Going into the house”, the Gospel says, “they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him” (Mathew 2:11).  (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2022) 

Beloved Brothers and Sisters, Today, on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, the Church invites us to contemplate a mystery that overturns our expectations and re-educates our vision: God manifests Himself not through power and spectacle, but through humility and hiddenness. The Epiphany is not merely the revelation of Christ to the nations; it is the revelation of how God chooses to be God. 

Learning to Recognize Greatness in the Small- A teacher once gave her students a simple assignment. She placed a sealed box on her desk and told them: inside this box is something very important. Something valuable. All day long, the students speculated. Some imagined money, others a rare object, still others something powerful or impressive. At the end of the day, the teacher opened the box. Inside was a small, ordinary mirror. The students were confused. Seeing their puzzled faces, the teacher said: what you see here is what most people overlook. What is truly important is often right in front of us, but because it looks ordinary, we fail to recognize its value. 

The Epiphany tells us something similar. The Magi traveled far, guided by a star, expecting greatness in splendor. What they found was a child—small, vulnerable, unimpressive by worldly standards. And yet, unlike the students who were disappointed, the Magi understood. They recognized that true greatness does not always announce itself loudly. Sometimes, it waits quietly to be acknowledged. 

This is the wisdom of the Epiphany: God does not overwhelm us with brilliance; He invites us to kneel before humility. The great God hides in what is small—and only hearts willing to look closely will recognize Him. 

A God Who Disappoints Our Expectations-The Magi set out in search of a king. Guided by a star, they undertake a long and costly journey, sustained by hope and desire. Everything in their imagination—royal birth, political influence, visible glory—points toward grandeur. And yet, when they arrive, they encounter none of these things. Instead of a palace, a house. Instead of a throne, a child. Instead of power, poverty. 

From a philosophical standpoint, this moment exposes the fragility of human expectation. We tend to associate greatness with dominance, truth with visibility, and divinity with force. The Epiphany dismantles these assumptions. God refuses to meet us on the terms of our projections. As Pope Francis reminds us, the Magi could have protested, could have been scandalized by the disproportion between the journey and the destination. Yet they were not disappointed—because they allowed their expectations to be purified. 

The Infinite Revealed in the Finite-Here we touch the heart of the mystery: Magnus Deus in parvulo latet—the great God hides in the small. Philosophically, this is a paradox; theologically, it is the Incarnation. The infinite does not abolish the finite but chooses to dwell within it. The eternal enters time; the uncontainable accepts containment; the omnipotent becomes vulnerable. 

This child is not a symbol of God—He is God. Not God disguised, not God diluted, but God fully present in human fragility. The Epiphany proclaims that divinity is not compromised by humility. On the contrary, humility becomes the very language of God’s self-disclosure. In the child of Bethlehem, we learn that God’s greatness is not measured by distance from humanity, but by proximity to it. 

The Wisdom of the Magi: From Seeing to Adoring-The Gospel tells us that the Magi fell down and wor-shipped him. This gesture is not sentimental; it is profoundly philosophical and theological. They move from knowledge to wisdom, from observation to adoration. True wisdom begins when reason knows when to kneel. They do not fully understand the mystery before them, but they recognize its truth. They allow them-selves to be taught by what is small, silent, and vulnerable. In this, the Magi become the first theologians of the Incarnation: they confess with their bodies what words cannot yet articulate. Adoration, then, is not es-cape from reason—it is reason brought to fulfillment. 

A God Who Is Found, Not Where We Expect, but Where He Chooses-The Epiphany confronts us with a spir-itual question that is also deeply existential: Where are we looking for God? Like the Magi, we often search in places of power, success, certainty, and control. But God chooses to be found elsewhere: in the small, the poor, the fragile, the ordinary. He is found in a child, in bread and wine, in the face of the vulnerable, in the quiet fidelity of daily life. The star leads not to spectacle, but to surrender. To recognize God, then, we must learn to see differently—not with eyes trained by ambition, but with hearts formed by humility. 

Epiphany as a Call to Conversion of Vision-The Magi return home by another way. This is not merely geo-graphical; it is spiritual. Once one has encountered God in humility, one cannot return unchanged. Epiphany transforms our path because it transforms our vision. 

To worship the God who hides in the small is to be converted from the logic of domination to the logic of gift, from control to trust, from self-sufficiency to dependence. 

Cumulative Summary of the Homily-The Solemnity of the Epiphany reveals a God who overturns human ex-pectations by choosing humility over spectacle and closeness over power. The Magi, guided by the star, set out in search of a king, anticipating grandeur and authority, yet they encounter a child in poverty and simplici-ty. Rather than being scandalized or disappointed, they allow their expectations to be purified and respond with adoration. 

In the child of Bethlehem, the great paradox of faith is unveiled: Magnus Deus in parvulo latet—the Infinite dwells within the finite, and divine greatness is revealed through human fragility. The Incarnation teaches that God’s omnipotence is expressed not through domination but through self-giving love and nearness. 

The Magi’s act of prostration shows the journey from knowledge to wisdom, where reason finds its fulfillment in adoration. Epiphany thus becomes a call to a conversion of vision, inviting believers to seek God not in pow-er or success but in the small, the ordinary, and the vulnerable. Having encountered God in humility, the Magi return home by another way, symbolizing the transformation that flows from true encounter. The feast ulti-mately proclaims that God’s glory shines most brightly when He hides Himself in simplicity, inviting every heart to recognize, adore, and be changed by His quiet presence among us. 

Dear brothers and sisters, the Epiphany proclaims that God’s glory shines not by overwhelming us, but by in-viting us to kneel. The Infinite is found in the fragile, the Eternal in the child, the Great in the small. May we, like the Magi, allow our expectations to be purified, our vision to be converted, and our hearts to recognize that the God we seek is already near—quietly waiting to be adored. 

On this Feast of the Epiphany, our parish community is reminded that God still chooses to reveal himself not through spectacle or power, but through humble presence. Like the Magi, we are invited to recognize Christ not only in distant signs or extraordinary moments, but in the small and often unnoticed realities of parish life—in quiet prayer, faithful service, struggling families, the poor, the elderly, and the everyday acts of love that build communion. Epiphany teaches us that when we learn to kneel before God hidden in the small, our parish itself becomes a living manifestation of God’s light for our city and our world. 

Prayer for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord 

O God of light and mercy, who revealed your only Son to the nations by the guidance of a star, draw us also from the shadows of our certainties into the radiance of your truth! 

As the Magi set out in trust, leaving behind familiar paths, grant us hearts willing to seek you even when the journey is long and the signs are fragile! Teach us to recognize your glory hidden in humility, your power veiled in weakness, your majesty dwelling in the child of Bethlehem. May we never pass you by because you come to us quietly! 

Like the Magi, may we fall down in adoration, offering not only gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but the gifts of our lives: our faith, our hope, and our love! Having encountered Christ, lead us home by another way—transformed in mind, purified in desire, and committed to walk as children of the light! 

We ask this through the same Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.! 

Fraternally,
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor