An expansive Love:
The Epiphany 2025
January 5, 2025
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Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72; Ephesians 3:2-6; Matthew 2:1-12
Last week, the Christmas readings showed us that Christ’s love must always expand outwards as the consciousness of Jesus in the Temple moved beyond the Holy Family to all Israel. This week, this outward expansion continues as the three wise ones, representing the Gentile cultures and kingdoms outside Israel, come to meet God in humanity. Starting in Israel, God grants the promise of salvation to all peoples. This is the gift of Epiphany. God’s presence cannot be contained; God’s love is universal. You can feel the joy in Isaiah when the people recognize that their path to salvation is withing sight.
Not all in this world care about the gift of salvation. The Herods of this world are more concerned with earthly power and wealth, honored status, and human glory over care for those in their responsibility. The wise men recognized that they needed to treat Herod uniquely and cleverly to avoid getting pulled into his dynamics of drama. They were able to discern the truth beyond his false words and to trust their gut on assessing his true motives. We Christians must learn to do the same with the Herods of our lifetime. We must be able to act on goodwill and to build up the common good.
A question we must always ask is “What does Herod need?” Obviously, he was fearful of a rival king, and he thought he could manipulate people’s lives in his pursuit of destroying Jesus, his rival. What did Herod need? How could his advisors assuage his fears so that he did not feel compelled to slaughter 2,000 innocent boys? What would remove his fear? When we encounter fearful or power-seeking Herods in our times, how can we replace fear with nourishment or satisfaction? How can the heart of Herod be filled with love, so his fear dissipates? That is our task. We are to bring love to places in the world where it does not exist, and that is not easy, but it is being clever like the Wise Men who are grounded in truth and are not swayed by human deception. We humans are complex, and we must creatively, lovingly deal with people in pursuit of their own, often selfish desires. This is not easily, and we cannot do it well unless we stayed balanced.
Epiphany is not merely the story of three kings seeing the infant Jesus. It is a story of an expanding love reaching out into a dangerous world and clinging onto hope. It is a story of wisdom and beauty. It is a story of people who are different from us grasping the essence of God’s universal love and living it faithfully. It is a story of doing the right thing even if it makes us vulnerable for today’s tyrants and those who misuse their authority. It is the love of Christ as the star we must follow. It is never far from us. It is tucked neatly within our conscience, and it will speak to us when we must act prudently and with charity. This is the place called home, our soul, that we cannot betray. It is the place where we encounter the truth. From this place, we pray for courage to act as the Magi did. The Magi were overjoyed when they saw the guiding star. They saw human love in action, and this love needed to be brought forth into dangerous times. We need to trust this love because love is the most unknown power in this world, and it is only love that can stop the progress of hatred and evil. This love saves lives and offers people the hope of salvation. This love endures.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday: (1 John 3) We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
Tuesday: (1 John 4) Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us.
Wednesday: (1 John 4) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
Thursday: (1 John 4) If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Friday (1 John 5) Who is the victor of this world? The one who believes in Jesus, who came through water and Blood, and the Spirit testifies to him.
Saturday (1 John 5) We have confidence that if we ask anything according to his will, God hears us.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 4) He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.
Tuesday: (Mark 6) When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Wednesday (Mark 6) After the five thousand had eaten and were satisfied, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray.
Thursday (Luke 4) Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
Friday (Luke 5) It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Saturday (John 3) Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, for John had not yet been imprisoned.
Saints of the Week
January 5: John Neumann, bishop (1811-1860), emigrated from Bohemia to New York and joined the Redemptorists in Pittsburgh before being named bishop of Philadelphia. He built many churches in the diocese and placed great emphasis on education as the foundation of faith.
January 6: Andre Bessette, religious (1845-1937), was born in Quebec, Canada. He joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross and taught for 40 years at the College of Notre Dame. He cared for the sick and was known as a intercessor for miracles. He built St. Joseph’s Oratory, a popular pilgrimage site in Canada.
January 7: Raymond of Penyafort, priest (1175-1275), was trained in philosophy and law and was ordained in 1222 to preach to the Moors and Christians. Though he was appointed bishop of Tarragon, he declined the position. Instead, he organized papal decrees into the first form of canon law. He was later elected Master of the Dominican Order.
This Week in Jesuit History
- January 5, 1548: Francis Suarez, one of the greatest theologians of the church, was born at Granada.
- January 6, 1829: Publication of Pope Leo XII's rescript, declaring the Society to be canonically restored in England.
- January 7, 1566: Cardinal Ghislieri was elected pope as Pius V. He was a great friend of the Francis Borgia and appointed Salmeron and Toletus as apostolic preachers at the Vatican. He desired to impose the office of choir on the Society and even ordered it. He was canonized as St. Pius V.
- January 8, 1601: Balthasar Gracian was born. A Spanish Jesuit, he wrote on courtly matters. He is the author of "The Compleat Gentleman" and "The Art of Worldly Wisdom."
- January 9, 1574: Fr. Jasper Haywood died at Naples. He was superior of the English mission. As a boy he was one of the pages of honor to the Princess Elizabeth. After a brilliant career at Oxford, he renounced his fellowship and entered the Society in Rome in 1570. An able Hebrew scholar and theologians, he was for two years professor in the Roman College.
- January 10, 1581: Queen Elizabeth signed the fifth Penal Statute in England inflicting heavy fines and imprisonment on all who harbored Jesuits and Seminary priests.
- January 10, 1567. Two Jesuits arrived in Havana, Cuba, as a base for evangelization.
- January 11, 1573. At Milan, St Charles Borromeo founded a college (the Brera) and placed it under the care of the Society.
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