Epiphany of the Lord
Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3 & 5-6; Mt 2:1-12 (year a)
‘Arise, shine out Jerusalem, for your light has come. Above you the Lord now rises, and above you his glory appears. The nations come to your light, and kings to your dawning brightness.”
The Gospel narratives surround the birth of our Saviour with a wealth of domestic detail, thereby underlining a new and intimate communion between God and humanity.
Matthew’s account of the Wise Men who had travelled from afar to worship the newborn King emphasises the global significance of his birth. Christ’s birth brings light to the darkness of every people in every generation. In the words of St Paul, Christ is the revelation of the Father’s will that all peoples, regardless of nationality or culture, should share the same inheritance and promise; that they should, in Christ, become parts of the same body.
