The Epiphany of the Lord

Is 60:1-6

Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6

Gospel: Mt 2:1-12

GROW: The Christmas tree has become a fire hazard, shedding needles everywhere. The kids have cast aside their new toys. Perhaps we’ve overspent this holiday season and are vaguely anxious about the bills. The bookmark in our Advent devotional is stuck at Dec. 9, and we’ve already blown a couple New Year’s resolutions. And yet, the words of prophet Isaiah shake us out of our doldrums: “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you … Raise your eyes and look about.” Freed from the busyness of the holiday season, we get a kind of do-over. Even on the grayest of winter days, Christ’s light breaks through in this new year and presents new opportunities to open ourselves to the activity of the Holy Spirit acting in our lives. Let us pray for the grace to recognize it.

GO: I love the feast of the Epiphany because I went into labor with my oldest son that night; he came into the world on a rainy, blustery Monday morning in 1998. I remember the joy my healthy baby boy brought to me and my husband, his grandmas, aunts, uncles and cousins. Imagine the joy the Wise Men must have felt when they followed that star and saw baby Jesus for the first time! They praised the Christ Child with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. God still dwells among us today, and the Light of Christ beckons us all to follow it. As we bless our homes this Epiphany and pray, “May all who enter this home find Christ’s light and love,” let us witness to God’s presence in our homes and in our hearts by offering Christ our very own gifts – of our lives and our abiding faith in him.

PRAY the Blessing of the Home and Household: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling place among us. It is Christ who enlightens our hearts and homes with his love. May all who enter this home find Christ’s light and love.”