20190106
THE LIGHT TO THE
GENTILES
06 JANUARY,
2019, Sunday, Epiphany of the Lord
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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Isaiah 60:1-6 ©
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Above you the glory of the Lord appears
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Arise, shine out, Jerusalem, for your
light has come,
the glory of the Lord is rising on you,
though night still covers the earth
and darkness the peoples.
Above you the Lord now rises
and above you his glory appears.
The nations come to your light
and kings to your dawning brightness.
Lift up your eyes and look round:
all are assembling and coming towards you,
your sons from far away
and your daughters being tenderly carried.
At this sight you will grow radiant,
your heart throbbing and full;
since the riches of the sea will flow to
you,
the wealth of the nations come to you;
camels in throngs will cover you,
and dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;
everyone in Sheba will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing the praise of the Lord.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
71(72):1-2,7-8,10-13 ©
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All nations shall fall
prostrate before you, O Lord.
O God, give your judgement to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice
and your poor in right
judgement.
All nations shall fall
prostrate before you, O Lord.
In his days justice shall flourish
and peace till the moon fails.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the Great River to
earth’s bounds.
All nations shall fall
prostrate before you, O Lord.
The kings of Tarshish and the sea coasts
shall pay him tribute.
The kings of Sheba and Seba
shall bring him gifts.
Before him all kings shall fall prostrate,
all nations shall serve him.
All nations shall fall
prostrate before you, O Lord.
For he shall save the poor when they cry
and the needy who are
helpless.
He will have pity on the weak
and save the lives of the
poor.
All nations shall fall
prostrate before you, O Lord.
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Second reading
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Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6 ©
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It has now been revealed that pagans
share the same inheritance
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You have probably heard how I have been
entrusted by God with the grace he meant for you, and that it was by a
revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery. This mystery that has
now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was
unknown to any men in past generations; it means that pagans now share the same
inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise
has been made to them, in Jesus Christ, through the gospel.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt2:2
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Alleluia, alleluia!
We saw his star as it rose
and have come to do the Lord homage.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 2:1-12 ©
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The visit of the Magi
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After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in
Judaea during the reign of King Herod, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the
east. ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’ they asked. ‘We saw his star as
it rose and have come to do him homage.’ When King Herod heard this he was
perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem. He called together all the chief
priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ
was to be born. ‘At Bethlehem in Judaea,’ they told him ‘for this is what the prophet
wrote:
And you, Bethlehem, in
the land of Judah,
you are by no means
least among the leaders of Judah,
for out of you will come
a leader
who will shepherd my
people Israel.’
Then Herod summoned the wise men to see
him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and
sent them on to Bethlehem. ‘Go and find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and
when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.’
Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front
of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward, and halted over the
place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and
going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to
their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered
him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But they were warned in a dream
not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.
THE LIGHT TO THE GENTILES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ IS 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13; EPH 3:2-3.5-6; MY 2:1-12 ]
What is the purpose of a
star? A
star is a tiny light that gives direction to sailors in those days. That
is why Mary is called the Star of the Sea. But the star is far
away. It is a tiny light. The star in today’s gospel is
Jesus the Light of the World, and the light to the Gentiles. He is
a light in the darkness. Just imagine a star shining so brightly
when there is darkness. How much more Jesus shines as the light of the
world in darkness and sin. This is what the prophet Simeon prophesied.
“My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence
of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your
people Israel.” (Lk 2:30-32)
Indeed, Jesus is called to be the hope for those in darkness and in
sorrow. He is the fulfillment of Israel and the Gentiles. “Arise, shine
out, Jerusalem, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord is rising on
you, though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples.” He
came for the forlorn and the downhearted. He came not just for Israel but for
all nations.
Jesus is the star by
being the fulfillment of everyone’s dreams. Sometimes we speak of reaching out for the
stars, meaning to realize the impossible dream. He was the dream of
Israel come true, the dream of being a united nation worshipping God, living in
peace and prosperity. “At this sight you will grow radiant,
your heart throbbing and full; since the riches of the sea will flow to you,
the wealth of the nations come to you; camels in throngs will cover you, and
dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; everyone in Sheba will come, bringing gold and
incense and singing the praise of the Lord.”
On this feast of
Epiphany, we too are called to be His stars. We are called to be a light in the
darkness. We too are called to be a sign of hope for the forlorn. We are
to be His agents for justice and mercy. Through our works of mercy and
compassion, we are called to reach out to those who are living in the shadow of
death and in darkness. That was what Christ did when He was on
earth. He came for the poor, the sick, the wounded, the marginalized and
the outcasts. Through His works of mercy, healing and compassion, He
brought many to God. But most of all, you are called to be witnesses of the
family of God.
In the final analysis,
we are to reveal the mystery of God’s plan in Christ as St Paul did. The
whole purpose of Christ’s works, that is, the miracles were not just to help
the sick or deliver those who were possessed but to point them to the mercy and
love of the Father so that they would know the goal of life, their origin and
destiny. We are called to help people discover their real identity as
children of God in Christ, their calling in life, purpose and destiny. In
other words, we are called to be the family of families. This is our
dream, that all nations will be one, where every barrier would be removed and
there will be peace and unity. But all this begins with establishing
beautiful, stable, loving and united families. If the basic unity
of the family is untenable, how can we ever dream of the entire nation as one
big family of God, much less the entire world?
We do this by living
authentic lives, strengthening marriages, building strong families. We need to be a model of faith and family
life. We must be examples of loving marriages and families so that we can
form our young people to contribute to the community and to society through our
talents and selfless services. We go beyond ourselves to reach out
to the poor. In our humanitarian works, we must be careful that we do not
simply stop at saving the lives of people or making them feel loved and cared
for but we want to give them Jesus.
Most of all, against
threats to the family, we must also proclaim the truth about love, that marriage is between a man and a
woman, about the indissolubility of marriage, speaking against surrogacy of
motherhood, and promoting the culture of life by defending the weak and the
vulnerable, speaking out against abortion, IVF, euthanasia and the destruction
of human embryos by science. We must proclaim the beauty of
marriage and the importance of family life. This is where we need to
teach our young people to prepare for marriage. That is why we are asking for a
year’s notice before marriage, so that the Church can prepare them for a
life-long journey. At the same time, there are programs in our Church to
help young couples to continue the ongoing formation after marriage, such as
Couples for Christ, Couple Empowerment Program, Couple Mentor journey and
Marriage Encounter to help them to build strong relationships as couples and
with their families and children.
All these programs and
organizations of the Archdiocesan Commission for the Family are not meant to
compete with each other but to supplement each other in the journey of life. We need to work
together in unity for the greater good of our families and our nation.
Just as it took many people to help the wise men to find Jesus, we too
must make use of all the resources we have to build our families.
Different stages of marriage, whether it is before, after or when we need to
repair the marriage (Retrouvaille), the Church has all these different programs
to assist couples in strengthening, healing and repairing their marriages.
Hence, we must be
mindful that there are Herods around to deceive us. He said, “Go and find out all about
the child and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do
him homage.” We must be prudent and not be deceived by the world and be
tempted by the world to substitute the truth for falsehood. We must
strive against the dictatorship of relativism and secularism. We
must expose fake news, especially through the use of mass media and digital
media. We must use technology wisely for the good of our people and not
for their destruction. We must dissociate ourselves with those who use
power and money and pleasure to seduce people into living a life of debauchery
that is not holistic, intellectually, affectively, socially and spiritually as
the Magi did with Herod who used deceptive means to achieve his selfish
interests. We must not be deceived by the short-sighted values of the
world where they promote cheap and transient love that cannot last, even in
marriage and relationships.
Rather, like the Magi,
we must be willing to invest our time in searching the scriptures and studying
how to build strong and loving marriages and families. We read that the Magi took the risk
of searching for Christ. They were humble enough to inquire from anyone
who knew about His birth. They continued to search and study even at
times when the star disappeared. They never gave up hope. So too,
in our marriage life, there will be times when the marriage gets difficult and
we feel like giving up on our relationship. This is where we must turn to
the Lord and seek His guidance. We must remain calm in our struggles and
eventually, the star will reappear again as it did for the Magi. We must
pray and find all means, through study, formation and counselling to strengthen
our family, otherwise we will be deceived by the Herods of the world.
At the end of the day,
we must walk by a different path from that of the world, like the Magi. “They were warned in a dream not to go
back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.” We
too will walk a different path if we encounter His love and mercy. Our
path is not to take the route of cheap and selfish love motivated by lust and
pleasure. But we walk the path of genuine love. Only that kind of
love can convince others that the love of God exists and that God is
real. Only love can reveal to others the face of God. The love of God is
seen of course through our genuine and sincere love for others. It is by
our examples, words when needed, actions and silence when necessary that make
us credible witnesses of God’s love. We do not curse the darkness
but be a light to the world as to how life can be lived meaningfully, joyfully
and in freedom in love and truth.
When we do that, we will
also be richly rewarded. We will experience the same joy of the Magi. “And there in front of them was the
star they had seen rising; it went forward and halted over the place where the
child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the
house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they
did him homage.” We too will bow in worship when we celebrate our wedding
anniversaries over the years, knowing the hand of God and His grace in our
married life.
We too will bow in worship of this God
who became man. Like the Magi and our Blessed Mother, only by
contemplating the humble and selfless love of God in Christ Jesus, can we be
moved to love the same way. Knowledge alone cannot change us as in the
case of the Jewish leaders. They knew where the Messiah was to be born
but they were indifferent. So what moves us to continue the work of Jesus
in living amongst man and being His light of truth and love is when in awe and
reverence we fall in love with Jesus as the Magi did.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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