The Antiques Road Show is one of my TV favorites. I am fascinated by the surprises that people experience when the experts describe the history and value of the various antiques brought in. I can easily imagine how eager the owners of these antiques are to share the discovery of hidden value with their family and friends, a value they were often completely unaware of.
The feast of the Epiphany tells the story of the magi who experience a similar discovery hidden in the Christ child. They are the first to behold the immeasurable beauty of God's plan for our salvation. The gifts they offer to Mary and Joseph cannot begin to honor the dignity and divine/human presence of the Son of God. No doubt they also went home and couldn't wait to share the excitement of their discovery.
Pope Francis has this meditation to offer us as we begin a new year:
"With this newness God is always able to renew our lives and our communities, and even if the Christian message has known periods of darkness and ecclesial weakness, it will never grow old. Jesus can also break through the dull categories with which we would enclose him and he constantly amazes us by his divine creativity. Whenever we make the effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today’s world. Every form of authentic evangelization is always 'new'." The Joy of the Gospel, par. 11