At the heart of today’s Feast of the Epiphany is a truth both beautiful and perplexing.
The essential truth proclaimed in today’s feast is that God wills the salvation of all people and it is Jesus Christ who is the Savior of the world. For Christians, this may seem to be a routine proclamation of faith, but, in fact, it presents a challenge to our understanding of how God effects the salvation of all persons of good will. The first Christians, who were Jewish, confronted this issue directly when St. Paul preached the Gospel to non- Jews, the Gentiles. The Jewish-Christians wanted these Gentiles to become Jews in order to become Christian. But St. Paul demanded that the Church accept the Gentiles as members of Christ’s body simply through their proclamation of faith in Jesus Christ and baptism. Ultimately, the Church embraced the position of St. Paul and so the Christian faith, rooted in Judaism, assumed its own identity.
If Jesus is the source of the salvation that God desires for all people, does this mean that non-Christians cannot be saved? No! It is within the power of God to decide how the saving deed of Jesus Christ is efficacious for all people even those who do not make an explicit profession of faith in Jesus Christ. As Catholic Christians, we believe that the Jewish people represent a special case. We recognize that God never abrogated the Covenant God established with them. As long as the Jewish people remain faithful to that Covenant, then we believe that they will be saved. They may not embrace Jesus as their Messiah, but their lives reflect the Covenant values that Jesus himself embodied. For all others, we have to trust that if they are persons of good will, God will lead them on a path that will enable them to enjoy the salvation Jesus won for all through his suffering, death and resurrection. The power and desire of God to save is simply greater than our ability to comprehend.
As Christians, we rejoice today in our Savior Jesus Christ and give thanks that it is the will of God that all people be saved.