The Epiphany of the Lord
The Epiphany of our Lord
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves” (Mt 11:28-29). The Lord invites us to find peace and joy in Him this Sabbath as we set aside time to worship and rest.
PREPARE
“Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God.”
Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat”, which literally means “to stop.” Keeping holy the Sabbath is not just a commandment, but an invitation. An invitation from the Lord to stop our work, stop our worrying, stop our striving. An opportunity to fid rest and to be renewed. A chance to refocus on the things that truly matter - the Lord, family, community. In our culture, Sunday has become a day to “catch up” on everything that didn’t get done during the week, and any time left over is often seen as an opportunity just to “get ahead” for next week. But we Christians have a chance now to remember what it means to keep the Sabbath. During this pandemic the Lord is calling us back to Himself, offering us a chance to reclaim the gift of the Sabbath, reminding us again what it means to “keep it holy.”
A basic principle for observing the Sabbath is only to do things that can be considered “rest” or “worship”. Here are a few ideas to consider to begin more to enter into the Sabbath. Maybe pick just one thing to focus on this Sunday, then next Sunday keep that practice in addition to a second one. And then the next Sunday add a third, to slowly over time begin to enter into this great gift of the Sabbath more and more.
Keep the Lord at the center - read the Mass readings ahead of time, participate in Mass, make more time for prayer, spend some extra time in silence focusing on the Lord
Try not to work - resist the urge to check your email, or catch up on a few things, and leave it for Monday
Plan ahead - take care of what needs to be done before Sunday, so plan the rest of your week to make sure you get the laundry done, have gone grocery shopping, etc.so you don’t have to do any of it on Sunday
Spend the day “screen free” - try to stay off social media, internet news, and your phone as much as possible. If you can’t make it the whole day try to go for at least a few hours
Be intentional with others - if you live with others (ie. family, roommates), is there something you can do together like play a game or go on a hike? If you live alone, can you reach out to a good friend and catch up?
Leisure, not entertainment - try to do things that are life giving; binge-watching a favorite show or playing video games for hours rarely leaves anyone with a new zeal for life. Read a good book, go on a long walk, develop a hobby.
PARTICIPATE
“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). Each Sunday we are called to “keep holy the Sabbath” and although that may look different for right now we will still come together as a St. Ann community through the gift of technology.
MASS READINGS
GIVING
Take a few minutes to give to St. Ann Parish. Please give generously and sacrificially as an act of faith during these difficult times. You can give online:
After giving, offer ways to be generous of your whole self during this trying time for our world.
“Each must do as already determined without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.”
PROCESS
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 newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."
On this feast of the Epiphany, we commemorate the arrival of the Magi from far-off lands to worship the infant Jesus, the newborn King. They represent the fulfilment of the prophecy that all nations would come to pay homage to the Messiah: "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" (Ps 72:10-11). These magi came from Mesopotamia in the East (current day Iraq and Iran) and were pagan astrologers who believed that the divine will could be seen in the arrangement of the stars and the conjunction of the planets. Their belief that the future is written in the stars is a superstitious one, and is not compatible with our Judeo-Christian faith in creation and free will. Yet God was still able to work with their imperfect and superstitious understanding, drawing the Magi to Himself by invisible cords of grace through their misplaced faith in the stars.
The Magi were able to arrive at Jerusalem by following this star, but notice how they needed the help of the Scriptures to make it to Bethlehem. The light of their own understanding of God only got them part of the way, and needed to be corrected and illuminated by the divine revelation contained in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus Christ, the newborn king and son of God whom they came to worship, is the fullness of revelation (cf. Heb 1:1), and is the light that illumines every darkness. His birth and subsequent recognition by the magi, fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah: "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" (Isa 60:2-3).
As the people of Israel were entrusted with the light of God's revelation in the Law and the Prophets, so we are entrusted with the radiant light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bearing it within us as a light for all nations. We play an important role in God's plan as missionary lampposts, able to illuminate the way for those who seek God by introducing them to the Gospel. We might be amazed to think that in this time of globalization and rapid access to information that there could be people who have never heard of Jesus Christ, but the truth is that few have really heard, understood, and accepted His Good News. We live in a time of New Evangelization, and we Christians are tasked with bearing the light of Christ to all those who seek Him, missionaries to the modern-day magi, helping them to find their way to Bethlehem.
PRACTICE
We see so beautifully in the readings for the Epiphany of the Lord how our God is always calling all people to Himself, even those that seem the most unlikely or who seem like they would be the most uninterested. Perhaps as we look around at the culture and the people that we know, they also seem to us that they would be uninterested in the Gospel. But just like the Magi on a journey to find what they were looking for, so many people in the world are searching. Searching for happiness. Searching for meaning. Searching for answers to what life is all about. They might need someone to point them in the right direction.
For the practice this week take some time to reflect on the following questions:
What holds you back from mission? Maybe fear, lack of conviction, busyness, thinking people would not be interested? Try to identify the things that keep you from being willing to take steps to help others grow in friendship with Jesus.
What are you going to do about it? Once you identify the reasons it is hard for you to be on mission, then try to come up with one concrete way to more intentionally embrace your calling to be a missionary disciple. Maybe praying more fervently for someone you know that needs Jesus. Maybe saying “no” to something in your life to have more time to be involved in ministry. Maybe taking a risk to speak about faith to someone you know is struggling. Maybe asking the Holy Spirit to move in you to bring greater courage and greater opportunity to witness to the Lord.
How are you going to support the mission? One of the values of St. Ann is “Boundless Mission.” We as a parish are trying to live out this value through extraordinary ministries and bold initiatives. We invite you to look at some of the great things that have been happening at St. Ann here. It is only possible to do these things through the generous financial support of our parishioners! If you have already made a financial pledge for 2021, thank you so very much for supporting our mission! If you have not yet been able to make a financial pledge, please prayerfully consider what you could give to St. Ann in this coming year to continue the great work the Lord is doing!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Think about how you can continue to reflect on God’s word to you this week, and how you can invite others into the conversation. You can use the questions below for personal reflection, or to grow with others. Be creative! You could consider gathering with friends and family, or starting a group text, or a group FaceTime, to discuss the questions below.
What stands out to you from the readings this week? What might God be speaking to you at this time?
Did you do anything differently last week to help your family grow after the example of the Holy Family?
It’s remarkable that the magi would travel so far to greet a baby king of a people they were not a part of! Have you ever done anything that was unexpected or seemed maybe a little crazy to others? (this does not have to be related to faith)
The Gospel tells us Herod and all of Jerusalem was “greatly troubled” by the announcement of the newborn King. Why do you think the people of Jerusalem were troubled? Do you see ways our world is “greatly troubled” by the message of Jesus Christ?
One of the St. Ann values that we see strongly in the Feast of the Epiphany is Boundless Mission. Are there ways you see this value lived out at St. Ann? Are there ways you think that St. Ann could live out this value better?
The Gentiles (non-Jews) would have seemed to be very unlikely people to be so interested in the birth of Jesus. Who are the people in our life that we might think are unlikely to be interested in coming to know Jesus? Is it possible that we are wrong in thinking that?
One reason we might be hesitant to share our faith with others is that we think they won’t be interested. But what are other reasons?
What is one thing you could do this week to help someone else take one step closer to a relationship with Jesus Christ?
KIDS
ACTIVITY
Make a paper crown! Draw a 1inch strip on the long ways of the paper. Then draw triangles on top of the strip. Cut it out and decorate it. If it’s too small, add another 1 inch.
CONNECTION
Today is the Feast of the Epiphany. It is the day we celebrate the Magi (or the three wise men) finding Jesus and bringing him gifts. The Magi traveled a long way to see the newborn King and they were changed by their encounter with Him. May we be changed this new year by Jesus too!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What is the best gift you have received? What made it special?
What is the best gift God has given you?
Can you name some ways we seek Jesus like the Magi did?
What are some ways you can change/grow this year closer to Jesus?