Scripture References:
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72
Ephesians 3:2-6
Matthew 2:1-12
First Reading Is 60:1-6
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah
The glory of the Lord shines upon you.
Rise up in splendor, 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.) 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.) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
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.) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
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.) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
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.) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Second Reading Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians
Now it has been revealed that the Gentiles are coheirs of the promise.
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 copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel
Gospel Mt 2:1-12
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.
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.”
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.
Questions:
1. Please read all of the Scripture readings for today and try to discover a unifying them in all of them.
2. Now focus on the Gospel reading:
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east – probably Iran or Syria – they 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.”
Did you notice anything rather amazing in those few verses?
3. Please read the following and discuss: “Yes, they knew what the stars were declaring and what was that? The King of the Jews had been born! And how did they know? They saw HIS star. The Creator of all creation had set apart one entire star to declare His Son’s arrival and then caused it to move in such a way to show these wise men where the newborn King was to be found.
I have no trouble in believing that our Magnificent God could do such a thing. If He can make all of this and zillions of other stars and Galaxies. If He can turn wine and bread into the Blood and Body of our Lord then I have absolutely no trouble in believing that He could spring a star loose to do His bidding!
But while this is a staggering spectacle the bigger reality for us is that this miracle told those experiencing it that this child was to be King not just of the Israelites but of all humanity.
Think about that just for a moment.
Because God FIRST revealed Jesus’ arrival NOT to His chosen people the Jews but to others – the Gentiles – the unclean ones – God was clearly saying loud and clear that Jesus was to be the Messiah of all!”
4. Please read the following and discuss: “What does it mean that He came to SAVE us?
I don’t believe that just because you or I once said ‘I believe that Jesus is my Lord” that we’re automatically saved. If that were true then magic would be true.
Say the right words, cut off the chicken’s neck, spill the blood in a circle and smoke juju tobacco over it and you will get what you want – that’s voodoo!
So what does it mean to be saved?
We were saved from the penalty of sin when we trusted in Christ and believed in our hearts that He was Lord and Savior of our lives.
Now that we have been saved from the penalty of sin through the death of Christ, we are now being saved daily, hourly, and moment-by-moment from the power of sin through the intercessory work of the risen Christ and His indwelling Spirit and through our ongoing submission to His Lordship in our lives.
We shall also be saved from the presence of sin when we see Jesus face to face in glory, and we will most assuredly be fully conformed to His image.”
5. But what we saved for? Please read the following and discuss: “Ah! Intimacy with God! Jesus, God incarnate is our brother, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Helper and God the Father is our papa – our beloved Father. Saved for the peace and rest that comes when a creature rests humbly and happily in the Presence of His Creator.
We are saved for a growing relationship with our Triune God.
To try to explain this has been the job of theologians throughout the 2 millennia of the Christian faith. But at the end of the day it’s not about theology or doctrine it’s about the reality of our relationship with Christ! Do you know Him?
But there is one last terrible enemy of ours that we must never forget. This may sound peculiar to some of us but this needs to be said. There is a being, an extremely powerful and wickedly evil being known as Satan. Scripture reminds us in First Peter 5: 8 to . . .
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Satan hates God and he hates us. His desire is to incarcerate us in ourselves - in our self-pitying, our self-loathing, our bitterness, our anger, our unforgivenness, our addictions and ultimately in our insane choice to be as God to ourselves. Such a pathetic choice but one being made, it seems, by more and more today.
God wants to save us and all of humanity from this terrible pit.
You and I are saved so then let us share with courage the good news that there is a God and that He loves us with an infinite love that knows now bounds.
God wants to save all! The bums, the kings, the engineer, the housewife, the hooker, the well mannered urbanite, the winey lazy charity case! We all need God to save us and continue to save us until we are home with Him!”
