The Epiphany of the Lord Solemnity
January 6th, 2010
“The story of the Magi is a miniature Gospel”
Matt. 2 : 1 – 12
The good news of salvation that Matthew wrote about was met by two kinds of responses – some believed and came to worship the exalted Jesus, others rejected the message. The Jews as a people did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. But many of the pagans did. The pagans, deprived of the Sacred Scripture have knowledge of God only through nature, and so the Magi receive a revelation through astrology. Herod and the Religious leaders conspire against Jesus. On the other hand the pagans, with the help of Scripture, find and adore Him. The Story of the Magi is a miniature Gospel. Many of the Israelites, the wise and the clever did not accept Jesus. God chose the lowly and deprived. The Soleminity of the Epiphany draws out in us praise and thanksgiving to God who has revealed His Son to all.
Prayer
We pray that the people who have not heard of the Gospel message may find the Lord as the Magi did, two thousand years ago.
The prayer for each day has been prepared by various members of the Holy Family Association. All who visit our website are remembered in prayer. If you would like us to pray for a particular need, simply complete and submit the form on the right hand side of this page. You may wish to leave a comment in the space below.
Just a Thought
Hope
John XXIII, referred to as the ‘caretaker Pope’, realising the widening gap between the Church and the world of his day, wrote: “An old world is disappearing. Another one is being formed, and with this I am trying to conceal some good seed or other that will have its springtime, even if it is somewhat delayed, and comes after I’m dead.”
Thomas Merton writes: “One must not give in to defeatism and despair: just as one must hope for life in a mortal illness which has been declared incurable.”
Even when dark clouds surround us, even when everything appears to be falling apart, we must continue to believe for a better future. Whatever the problem, there is a way forward.
So, my hope is in God alone because I believe in him; this is my faith. It is in him I put my faith and that faith, my belief in God’s love for me and all his creation, is the bedrock in which like an anchor, I put my hope. Together with that hope and faith is my love and fidelity in responding to that God in whom I live and move and have my being. In him I place my hope.
“Hold fast to the hope that lies before us. This we have as an anchor of the soul” (Heb 6:15-19).
