On this “Twelfth Night” Sunday, the eve of Epiphany itself, Crossroads hosted the story of the travellers from the East who visited the Christ child, found in Matthew 2:1-12. Rev. Cari set the scene as a time of intrigue and danger thanks to King Herod. She then introduced the Magi as “complex characters” — the “wrong” characters, even — by comparing them to Jean Valjean of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.

Like Jean Valjean, their lives were apparently transformed by their encounter with love incarnate. They were “overwhelmed with joy” on finding the child, and returned home by another way. Though we know little about their lives afterward, this other “way” suggests the Way of Jesus.

Rev. Cari closed then sermon by inviting the congregation to spend some time in reflection upon God’s presence and guidance in the year that has just ended, using a “Yearly Examen” guide found here on Crossroads’ website. Our tradition invites more than our own private or personal “betterment” resolutions. God is actively guiding us more deeply to love.

God is always reaching into our lives, inviting us to love more completely. The Epiphany of Jesus is one more way to understand that invitation: Jesus is light and life for all people.