Today's Gospel Reading - Sunday, January 6, 2013 with Reflection

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

1^ST READING - Isaiah 60:1-6

P S A L M - Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13

R: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; 2 he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (R) 10 The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. 11 All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him. (R) 12 For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. (R)

2^ND READING - Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.

Matthew 2:1-12

1 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,2 saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 6‘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.’” 7 Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. 8 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.” 9 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. 10 They were overjoyed at seeing the star, 11 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. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

SABBATH

DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING, STAND THERE! I don’t know who said the above line, but this is something we need now. Today is the solemn feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany literally means the unveiling, the revelation, the manifestation. Today, the Child Jesus is manifested as Savior of humanity. But what is the value of something unveiled, revealed and manifested if it will not be recognized and appreciated? God always manifests Himself: in the Scriptures, in the Sacraments, in the people we encounter, in the events of daily life. The problem is with humanity not being attuned to God’s many epiphanies. The Scriptures bid us, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Being still is not simply being passive; rather, it is an active engagement of the mind and the heart, orienting our inner senses to the essential. Our generation is fond of “chilling out,” a.k.a. “doing nothing.” Mr. Hahn (Jackie Chan) of the movie Karate Kidsaid it beautifully, “Being still and doing nothing are two totally different things.” When we do nothing, we achieve nothing. When we keep still, we get more out of life. One social experiment bears this out. A man was asked to play the violin in a busy subway in New York. In the 45 minutes that the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while. When he finished playing, no one applauded. No one recognized that the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth $3.5 million. Two days before this, Joshua Bell sold out his concert at a Boston theater at an average of $100 a seat. The experiment proposed an insightful challenge: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing? Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it has become just a memory. Are you missing God’s epiphany in your life? Savor every moment of God’s epiphany. Don’t let Him fade into a distant memory. Don’t just do something, stand there (read: be still)! Fr. Joel Jason REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you paying enough attention to savor each moment before they become memories? Help me to put order in my life, Lord, that I may savor each moment, especially with You.

St. Andre Bessette, religious, pray for us.

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