| First reading |
Isaiah 60:1-6 © |
Arise, shine out, Jerusalem, for your light has come,
the glory of the Lord is rising on you,
though night still covers the earth
and darkness the peoples.
Above you the Lord now rises
and above you his glory appears.
The nations come to your light
and kings to your dawning brightness.
Lift up your eyes and look round:
all are assembling and coming towards you,
your sons from far away
and your daughters being tenderly carried.
At this sight you will grow radiant,
your heart throbbing and full;
since the riches of the sea will flow to you,
the wealth of the nations come to you;
camels in throngs will cover you,
and dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;
everyone in Sheba will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing the praise of the Lord.
| Psalm |
Psalm 71:1-2,7-8,10-13 |
| Second reading |
Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6 © |
You have probably heard how I have been entrusted by God with the grace he meant for you, and that it was by a revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery. This mystery that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was unknown to any men in past generations; it means that pagans now share the same inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise has been made to them, in Jesus Christ, through the gospel.
After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east. ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’ they asked. ‘We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.’ When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem. He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ‘At Bethlehem in Judaea,’ they told him ‘for this is what the prophet wrote:
And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah,
for out of you will come a leader
who will shepherd my people Israel.’
Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and sent them on to Bethlehem. ‘Go and find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.’ Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward, and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.
REFLECTION:
Epiphany means appearance or manifestation. Today’s solemnity points to God reveals himself to all people. This is evident by the presence of the MAGI or commonly deemed as the 3 Kings, or the 3 Wise Men from the East.
These wise men, though not exactly known if there are three of them, but only thought so by the number of gifts they’ve given to the Holy Child, symbolize the whole of human race. They come from the East guided by the light of the Star, to look for the new born King.
The feast of the Epiphany tells us three things:
First: God wishes to reach out to all people, not only to those who thought they are the chosen ones.
Second: God, in Jesus, as human like us, draws people to himself.
Third: It is the mission of the Church to proclaim this wonderful plan of God to all people.
As a Church then, let’s go and tell the whole world that God loves us so much that he gave his only Son for our sake and for the sake of all creation.
Happy feast day….
Junjun FAITHBOOK 