The Epiphany of the Lord
Lectionary: 20
Reading I
Is
60:1-6
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your
light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps
72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
R.(cf. 11) Lord, every nation
on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Reading II
Eph
3:2-3a, 5-6
Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Alleluia
Mt
2:2
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mt
2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
"Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage."
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel."
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
"Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage."
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.
MY
BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
It is very
true that we live within a broken world. We ourselves can be considered broken
people who, if it wasn’t for Jesus Christ, would be lost and consumed by this
same world. The Christmas Season
continues with this acknowledgement. If we were not sinful and broken, then
there would be no need for Jesus Christ, thus we would all be in a continuous
state of grace and in a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a true
wantonness for this from God. That is why He sent His only son to suffer, die,
and to be resurrected for our salvation and redemption. The methodology for us
to receive the forgiveness for our sins and for us to obtain eternal life is
first ask for forgiveness, then we must also repent (a changing of our ways).
Committing ourselves to doing better in the future sets us on the right path and
naturally opens ourselves up to God as a direct result. This can be termed
metanoia, or a “change of mind.” A confession of sin can lead to metanoia or
metanoia can lead to a confession of sin. Regardless of which is done first,
the different roads lead to the same result. Through a relationship with Jesus
Christ, we can all achieve both
. In the First Scripture Reading today, God gives us
a vision of Him through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Light always
overcomes darkness and that light is Jesus Christ. We learn that, reference to
light leads us back to Jesus Christ. This concept is enforced by the Apostle
John:
“What
came to be through him was life, and this life was the life of the human race; the
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
A
man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the
light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came to
testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming
into the world.”
What a beautiful message and a beautiful vision,
enforcing a promise of, not only salvation, but a total transformative
experience. Metanoia is only the beginning. A person’s mind cannot be the only
thing to change when someone is affected.. Whatever one part of a person does,
(mind, body, sprit), the other two parts usually follow, being led by the first
part. If our thought change, our body and soul will follow. We cannot separate
the three parts of us and expect that the action of one part will not have an
influence on the others. We do not have the capability of sealing off one from
the other. Yes, we can ignore and even devalue, but we can never “cut it off”
from a that which is part of a complete person. With God comes all of the gifts
of grace and the Holy Spirit. These supernatural things will affect us, if we
let God do the work that He promised to do.
It is alluded to further that with an absence of
Jesus Christ, the darkness returns. The three Magi traveled a great distance to
pay homage to the Child Jesus, They were Medes, a priestly class from the
Persian Empire. They followed the designated star for over 900 miles until they
arrived in Bethlehem. The Medes were well known for their Astrology, and the
reading of constellations in the night sky. Yet, here they were following a
star to pay homage to a supposed king with an understanding that He was also a priest
and prophet. Their race and religion offered no barriers to their salvation,
making us understand that there are also no barriers to our salvation; only the
ones that we create ourselves. The Magi, being who they were, knew fully well
what the scripture readings from the prophet Isaiah entailed. It wasn’t
promising a king, but someone and something far greater. It was fitting that
they were the first few to understand it without the truth being revealed to
them by someone else. They then accepted the truth and went to pay him homage. That
truth can be revealed to us in a variety of ways, but usually not with what can
be considered Divine Revelation. Interestingly enough, all the Magi were
foreigners, not Jewish, and did not even worship God. Yet, they came bearing
gifts and prophecy.
Our faith-life will always be brought back to the
manger because of what it represents. It is a dogma of our faith that the Word
became flesh and dwelt amongst us. It is also a Dogma that He is the Son of
God. Not minimizing this, can bring increase the impact of this Christmas
Season with us and gradually encourage us to stop reducing God to a secondary
roll in our lives. As the star guided the Magi and as the light shines from
Jerusalem, so too can Jesus Chrise shine in our hearts, bring about a change of
everything; our body, our mind, and our soul.
Deacon Tom
