Epiphany

I began my day by installing the brackets and the rod for the curtains and then ironing the curtains before hanging them up.  That became a full mornings work. (see extra)

With it now being Epiphany, I plan to spend the afternoon really getting to it and getting Christmas decorations put up.

I was just getting my lunch ready when FedEx delivered and it was our Kings' Cake for Epiphany.  We order ours from a bakery in Louisiana, and so it is Mardi Gras themed. Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday), the feast that concludes the extended season of Epiphany.

Just as the Magi made a careful search for the child king upon his birth, so we should acknowledge that an important component of our faith involves seeking and searching for the Lord in unlikely places.


One delightful way to celebrate Epiphany in the home is to prepare and eat a Kings' Cake with friends and family.  In this symbolic search for the baby Jesus, children and adults gather to eat a delicious cake or pastry wit a toy baby hidden inside.  The person who finds the baby Jesus in his/her piece of cake is awarded the honor of providing the next year's cake.

Kings' Cakes are made in many shapes. One tradition involves a wreath-shaped cake, which symbolizes the circuitous route the Magi took to avoid King Herod, who hunted for the Christ child to harm him. Also, in some parts of the world there is a tradition os using a bean instead of a figurine.

The Kings' Cake tradition is as meaningful as it is enjoyable.  Beside the element of searching involved, any time Christians gather around the table it evokes images of the Lord's Supper at which we share in the presence of Christ. Even as the risen Christ was made known to his followers in the breaking of the bread, so on Epiphany celebrants discover the incarnate Christ as they break and eat the Kings' Cake.

There is also an important link between hospitality and the Epiphany: did not the Magi enjoy the hospitality of the Holy Family? Did not King Herod display a considerable lack of hospitality when he deceived and exploited his guests? As we give and receive hospitality during Christmas and Epiphany, we participate in the story of the Magi and their search for the Christ child, we celebrate the joy of Jesus' appearance, and we find God at a surprisingly familiar place: the table.