The Epiphany of the Lord
Lectionary: 20
Reading I
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
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
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
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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,
Today we continue our celebration of The Birth of Our Lord Savior Jesus Christ. The Second Sunday of The Christmas Season brings us to The Solemnity of The Epiphany. It is here where 3 great mysteries of our faith are revealed and meditated on. The first is marked by the Visit of the Magi and is most associated with this day. The second is the Baptism of The Lord. Lastly comes the Wedding Feast of Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. All three of these revelations are important moments in the life of Jesus and should be very important to us. They can lead us to a deeper understanding of Jesus and who He is in relation to us. There is a reason why these events are brought up during The Christmas Season. The Magi did not arrive immediately after Jesus was born and His Baptism, along with the Miracle at Cana, did not occur until Jesus was an adult. All of these events are intricately linked and provide us with Divine Revelation which are central to our faith.
The Magi were Medes, a priestly class from Northern Persia who were known to practice astrology. They were Pagans and had different religious practices than The Jews. Even though this was the case, they recognized the importance of the birth of Jesus and The Word becoming flesh. With that, they came bearing gifts to give Jesus homage: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold represents Jesus as a king, frankincense as a prophet, and myrrh to foreshadow His death for our salvation. The first to witness Jesus and to come forward to give Him homage were shepherds in the field. Shepherds were low stature in Jewish Society. The Magi, being foreigners and gentiles, were the same. Yet these two groups of men were called to come glorify Jesus. We are the shepherds, and we are the Magi. Jesus Christ came into this world for the salvation of everyone. It is from our brokenness and wounds that He calls us to love Him. It is then through Him that we are healed and are eventually led to perfection. Some are wounded more, while others are wounded less. That doesn’t mean Jesus loves others more or less. We are all the same in the eyes of God: we all are His children. Every person within God’s creation is on their own personal journey towards Christ and will find Him in their own time. It is then that they will ultimately accept Him or reject Him. The shepherds were called, and they answered. The Magi were called, and they answered. We have been called. Will we answer?
The Baptism of the Lord reveals The Holy Trinity in its totality to the world. Jesus, being baptized by John, rose from the water. At that moment, The Holy Spirit descended like a dove upon Him, and God the Father spoke: “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” Through this event, no doubt can be left as to who Jesus is and His divinity. It also presents the relationship of The Holy Trinity. Jesus has authority to speak on behalf of the Father and The Love of God flows through Him. As The Apostle John proclaimed: “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” These words as well as the events at Jesus’ baptism presents us with a clear picture of The Trinity and the relationship that we are invited to participate in. We are part of this relationship because we are God’s children and have been invited to love Him. To love Him is to know Him and to know Him is to enter into relationship with Him. At Cana, Jesus turned water into wine. This marked the beginning of His public ministry. It was also the first miracle He publicly performed. The water and wine gain deeper meaning especially during The Last Supper and when water and blood flowed from Jesus’ side when He was pierced by a lance: The Blood of the New Covenant, first represented at Cana then the Last Supper, is then brought to full revelation through The Crucifixion.
These three events have been absorbed into our faith and our practices. We as Christians are defined by having received the invitation to love God and responding to it. Our baptism makes us members of The Church and receivers of Sanctifying Grace. We then receive The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and are sealed with The Gift of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation. Spiritually we live the mysteries of The Epiphany daily through the practice of our faith. When we worship, the Epiphany comes alive as we come forward broken to recognize our sins, beg for forgiveness, and recognize that we have been forgiven. We are then fed through The Living Word and then through The Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, all the while joyfully praying and giving praise to our God. Today we are invited to live The Epiphany always. Receive these mysteries as gifts and cherish them as much as gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Use these gifts and live these gifts as we are encouraged to do. When we do this then we can more fully realize just how awesome the event of the child Jesus coming into the world is.
Deacon Tom
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