CHRISTMAS is over? You’d think so by the world’s standards. The “top forty” has replaced Christmas music; sales signs have replaced ornaments; lights have been dimmed and Christmas trees kicked to the curb. But for us as Catholic Christians, we are still in the midst of a contemplative gaze at the Word who has become flesh—God become man. Or at least, it should be so. We still await the revelation of Jesus to the Gentiles, to those Magi who travel from afar to see the Messiah, the one who is to “shepherd” God’s people. This “epiphany” (commemorated this Sunday) is, in fact, the pinnacle of Christmas, because it reveals that Jesus is no longer “just” for the Jews, but for every man, woman and child who wanders in darkness.