SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY OF THE LORD, JANUARY 3, 2021

THE STAR THAT GUIDES ALL NATIONS

1. Light Revealed to the Nations

2. A Saviour for All the World

Greeting (cf. First Reading)

Arise, people of God, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines on you. Other people come to your light. May the light of the Lord be always with you. R/ And with your spirit.

Introduction

1. Light Revealed to the Nations

The celebration of Epiphany, meaning “manifestation,” is like a second Christmas. It is, in fact, the Christmas of the Eastern Churches. It proclaims that the child Jesus belongs to and is given to the whole world as its Saviour. With the magi the world brings to him its variety of gifts: its culture, its many facets, its different identities. And we here, like people from other nations, bring him the gift of ourselves: our faith, our fidelity, our love, as we meet him in prayer and in people, especially in the poorest.

2. A Saviour for All the World

We celebrate today the great feast of Epiphany. In the Western part the stress of Christmas was and is on the birth of Christ as a little human child. In the Eastern part the stress is more on Jesus coming as the Lord and Saviour of all. This is the reality the liturgy stresses today: Jesus came to save and bring life to all. No one is excluded, no one is a stranger to him. May all come to know Jesus, alive here among us.

Penitential Act

One of the offerings we bring to Jesus today is our sorrow for the sins we have committed. Let us ask him to forgive us.

(pause)

Lord Jesus, you radiate your light on all the nations of the earth: All praise to you! Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, you offer justice and peace to all willing to accept you: All praise to you. Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you have pity on the weak and save the lives of the poor: All praise to you! Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

May your judgment on us be a judgment of mercy and love, for we recognize our poverty. Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to God our Father that Christ may be the light of all (pause) God of all nations, peoples and cultures, this is the day you have made bright with your light and your love destined for all. Guide us in the new ways of your Son. Let your kindly light shine everywhere, that all peoples may praise you in their own language and enrich your Church with their own gifts. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour for ever. R/ Amen.

First Reading: God’s People a Light to All

In a vision the prophet sees an immense number of peoples flocking from everywhere to God’s light.

1 Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6

Rise up in splendour, 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.

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.

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.

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.

Second Reading: All Nations Called in Christ

Jesus Christ came to unite all: all peoples, with-out any discrimination, are called to join God’s people.

2 Reading: Ephesians 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 co-partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Alleluia Matthew 2:2

Alleluia, alleluia. We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage. R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: We Followed His Star

Those who are familiar with God’s promises do not seek him; the powerful fear him. But those who come from afar to seek the Saviour, find and recognize him. God accepts all with their own gifts and potentials.

Gospel: Matthew 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 new born 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.

Commentary

The Magi give us the word ‘magic’. In ancient times a ‘magus’ was someone with occult knowledge, particularly astrology. Surely, they are not unlearned. The significance of the Magi in today’s gospel reading is that they were non-Jews, and they represent the pagan world paying homage to Jesus, while his own world rejects him: a particular theme of Matthew’s gospel. It is not the gospel but early mediaeval legend that makes them kings, and three in number (possibly due to the three gifts they offered). All the details in the story refer to biblical texts. The Magi came from “the East”, proverbially the land of the wise (Job 1:1; Jer 49:7); the “star” (Num 24:17); “Bethlehem” (Mic 5:1-3); the “gifts” (Ps 72:10); etc. Clearly, the symbolic meaning is uppermost. We are entitled to ask, then: what is the symbolic meaning of this story for me today? Perhaps this, among other meanings: there are many pagan elements in my life, areas where the gospel has not been heard, where the baptismal waters have not soaked in! I need to take the riches of those places and lay them down at the cradle of the New-born. I need, not only to recognize Christ in my life, but, most importantly, to live his life, a life in his light. And, like the Star, bring (reveal) him to others, to the world around me.

Intercessions

On this day when peoples from afar came to worship Jesus the Lord, let our prayer be as wide as the world. Let us say to the Father: