We are Seekers: The Epiphany of the Lord 2026

                                                              We are Seekers:

The Epiphany of the Lord 2026 

January 4, 2026

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Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72; Ephesians 3:2-6; Matthew 2:1-12

 

The Christmas picture is complete as the magi from the East come to the crib to pay homage to the Christ child. The Christmas creches have all the pieces in place with these three final figures and their camels. The story is crucial for the Christian faith because it is the moment when all the spiritual seekers of the world are welcomed into God’s realm. Humankind pauses to humbly honor God and to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over existence. For those who are searching, it is a meaningful moment to gaze upon the infant and to know they are with God. 

 

Christians think of Epiphany as the event in which all the nations of the world meet the God of Israel. The magi are depicted as wise men, perhaps astronomers, who show wisdom by seeing through the deception of Herod and choosing not to associate with the man. They do not make a scene. They do not give any power to Herod. They simply disregard Herod and make their own way home. 

 

The story is about us and about all who seek God. We really do want to know if God knows us and remembers us. We all want that God moment when our hearts are overjoyed just as the wise men were when they saw the star. We want to know that God touches our lives, and through this story, we are given a clue. God’s presence is almost undetectable. It is gentle, soft, tender, and is experienced through our senses. God’s voice is spoken through invitations, whispers, nudges, and memories, and when we experience it, our hearts and senses brighten with joy. God came to us through a vulnerable child who needed our love to sustain him and nourish his life. Our lives depend upon this love exchange. 

 

Very many people seek God but might not have the religious language. Those who are weary of religion remain spiritual seekers and they want the same experience that we want and often get. Religion would be more attractive if it paid less attention to rules and teachings and spent more time teaching people who to pray, how to notice God’s presence in one’s life, or how to discern the spirits that guide us through life. People want to know the meaning of life. They want to know that they matter. They want to know that they belong. How can we let people know they matter and that we like them and want to care for them? 

 

          Imagine the good we could do for the world if we recognized that each person we pass by fundamentally wants to know God. People take different paths throughout life and sometimes they are not ready, but our disposition towards them can help them realize they belong. Everyone wants to belong and feel accepted. This is one of the reasons we return home to our families for holidays because they, act like God, even in their dysfunctional state, they will take you in and accept you just because you are one of them, one of us. No one deserves to feel lonely. No one needs to feel alone or on the outside. Epiphany is the moment in which God reveals to us that you matter, you belong, and God becomes very vulnerable to you, and wants your acceptance. God asks, “Will you pick up the child and hold him, please?” By doing this, God wants to hold you and embrace you in all your vulnerabilities. 

 

          Epiphany says to us: God is here. God is here for you. God embraces you as you reach back to God. This is the moment in which thin space that separates humans from the divine is penetrated and blessed with a kiss. Go forth, with your vulnerabilities, and know that the world is full of seekers and that is a place of privilege. When we seek God, we often find God right by our side. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

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 4: Elizabeth Ann Seton, religious (1774-1821), was born into an Episcopalian household where she married and had five children. When her husband died, she became a Catholic and founded a girls’ school in Baltimore. She then founded the Sisters of Charity and began the foundation for the parochial school system in the U.S. She is the first native-born American to be canonized.

 

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 4, 1619: The English mission is raised to the status of a province. 
• 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.