January 05, 2014
SUNDAY, EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6
Gospel Reading: Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, during the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw the rising of his star in the east and have come to honor him.” When Herod heard this he was greatly disturbed and with him all Jerusalem. He immediately called a meeting of all high-ranking priests and those who taught the people of God his Law, and asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
“In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they told him, “for this is what the prophet wrote: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the clans of Judah, for from you will come a leader, the one who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod secretly called the wise men and asked them the precise time the star appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem with the instruction, “Go and get precise information about the child. As soon as you have found him, report to me, so that I too may go and honor him.”
After the meeting with the king, they set out. The star that they had seen in the East went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. The wise men were overjoyed on seeing the star again. They went into the house and when they saw the child with Mary his mother, they knelt and worshiped him. They opened their bags and offered him their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.
In a dream they were warned not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their home country by another way.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
God’s plan was not only to come down to earth to be with his people but also to win their acceptance. For this he had to disclose himself in time. In appearing to the wise men he manifested himself to the world since they were foreigners and represented the outside world. Today’s feast of Epiphany (which means manifestation) commemorates this event aptly described by Scriptures as the moment when “the kindness and generous love of God our Savior (has) appeared’ (Titus 3:4).
The wise men had reasons to expect the birth of the Messiah to be grandiose since according to Scriptures “The Lord’s throne is in heaven” (Ps 11 [10], 4).” Thus the wise men brought with them gifts fit for a king. But they found exactly the opposite of what they expected. Before them lying in a manger was a child wrapped in swaddling clothes. Nonetheless they still presented to him their gifts: gold to acknowledge him as God, and frankincense to acknowledge him as king. The myrrh which they presented was a prophetic symbol, for it pointed to the child’s role as Savior destined to die for his people.
Today’s feast of the Epiphany invites us to come to the Lord with our gifts: our golden hearts committed to forgiveness; our acts of adoration which shall serve as frankincense offered to the only God of our life; our willingness to die to self which shall serve as myrrh to preserve God’s presence in our hearts. We shall then live in wisdom as the wise men live in us to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website:
Prayer for the day: God our Father, grant us the gift of fidelity so that our lives may always be pleasing gifts to the newborn child – Jesus Christ who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.
CHRUCH BULLETIN:
SAINT OF THE DAY: JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN was born in Bohemia, Czech Republic in 1911. Since he had a great desire to dedicate himself to the American missions, he was sent to the United States when still a seminarian. He was ordained in New York in 1836 and worked for four years for the German immigrants near Buffalo. In 1840 he entered the Redemptorist Congregation and became a traveling preacher. After his appointment as Bishop of Philadelphia, he established new seminaries, churches and schools. He died in 1860 and was canonized in 1977.
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