This weekend we celebrate the official end of the Christmas season, the twelve days of Christmas, with the Feast of the Epiphany. However, according to the USCCB, Christmas ends on the feast of the Baptism of Jesus. According to the Old Calendar, however, Christmas ends on Candlemas (Feb. 2)–the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple.

As the Church celebrates the biblical event where the Magi, also called the Three Wise Men or Three Kings, traveled from the East to pay homage to the newborn King, Jesus Christ. This feast tells us that Jesus created space around himself equally for the poor (the shepherds, the first poor to give Him homage) but also for the rich represented by the Magi (the three 3 Kings). BUT both shepherds and Magi were rich with the virtue of humility and open to the Holy Spirit at all times: BOTH recognized the Messiah in BABY JESUS.

At this moment in time, Christianity became a very revolutionary religion because in the Ancient World, other religions turned inward and stayed inside their own communities. It was only the Christians who turned out, spreading their beliefs throughout the whole world. The Bible is translated into 2,527 languages and it tells how Christianity became a worldwide and universal religion.