From the time of the apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished by a journey and initiation in several stages. This journey can be covered rapidly or slowly, but certain essential elements will always have to be present: proclamation of the Word, acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion.
John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. He baptized people to call them to repentance. The baptism he administered included the confession of sins. The “goal is truly to leave behind the sinful life one has led until now and to start out on the path to a new, changed life.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, 15-16.) Already back then, immersion in the water was understood as purification, as “liberation from the filth of the past that burdens and distorts life.” It symbolized death and resurrection, and rebirth.
The Solemnity of the Epiphany commemorates the Magi’s journey to worship Jesus. It represents the coming of Jesus to all– to Gentiles and Jews alike.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small village about seven miles south of Jerusalem.
The Shepherds and the magi were first visitors to the newborn Child in the manger. In one of his homilies on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the fact that the magi were seekers after God. The magi were men with a restless heart, men driven by a restless quest for God. They were longing for something deeper, they were not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in society. Deep down, they knew that there was something greater that was missing in their lives. Their journey from the East to Bethlehem was an expression of the inner pilgrimage of their hearts, a pilgrimage of faith. They were men who sought the true and living God.