The Christmas tree is out of the house, the wrappings tossed and the lights put away, but something else is stirring. Those wise enough can see it. It is the Epiphany of the Lord, a revelation of the meaning of Christmas that lingers into January and insinuates itself into the real situations of life as much as Christmas stirs our dreams of a fuller life.

Epiphany is the great showing off of the Son of God to those who have the wisdom to search the signs of the times and not be intimidated by the scandals and violence that accompany them.

The Magi searched the night sky and discovered a star which promised the birth of a new king who would rule with justice, the very thing that throws fear into the hearts of the politically corrupt. Herod, who ruled in Jerusalem, was no political amateur. He obtained his throne by currying favor with Rome; he kept it by killing his own children lest they oppose his rule. The kind of corruption and violence that kept him in power is still practiced, but we usually think of it as going on in some other place, not here.

The truth of the matter is it goes on here in other ways. Which is worse, offering to sell a Senate seat to accumulate power or selling large vehicle licenses to the dangerously unqualified to accumulate money? How about economic recession, home foreclosures, job losses, international terrorism and assorted wars?

Then there are the hapless taken without warrant in the U.S. and sent to foreign jails to be interrogated and forgotten. There is the local drug trade that poisons so many of our towns and Internet pornography that poses as harmless while leaving a trail of scarred lives and violated bodies.

There are the assorted wars, so incongruous with the message of our Christmas carols but not enough to make us raise our voices for peace the rest of the year. And there are the political and economic brokers intoxicated on success whose favorite tactic is seeking personal power and ignoring the common good. Justice is as far from them as truth.

Among all of this, how could the cry of one child in Bethlehem be heard?

Yet it was heard. And the cry of that one child, whisked to the tentative safety of being an alien in a foreign land, was joined by the masses of children who witnessed with their blood to the justice and truth he would bring. The Innocents murdered by Herod's troops at Bethlehem have been joined by countless armies of children over the 20 centuries since. Their witness goes on all over the world. Mine fields tear the limbs of innocents who play near their homes; abortion clinics tear innocent life from mother's wombs; and parents who refuse to get help with addictions and emotional turmoil tear their children from their childhood and make them adults too soon.

The gifts of the Magi to Christ and his mother were comments on this situation. Gold: a king who honors truth and rules with justice is sorely needed. Frankincense: only God with us - Emmanuel - could be that kind of ruler. Myrrh: a man willing to enter into this corruption and violence and endure even death is God's chosen way to inaugurate the rule of divine justice.

Will we have the wisdom in the year ahead to heed the gifts of the Magi and do the justice of God in our personal and political decision-making?

Father Richard Chiola is a certified counselor, pastor of St. Cabrini Parish in Springfield and diocesan director for the ongoing formation of clergy.