Sunday, January 8
Epiphany of the Lord
Roman Ordinary calendar
Book of Isaiah 60,1-6.
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.
Psalms 72(71),1-2.7-8.10-11.12-13.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Letter to the Ephesians 3,2-3a.5-6.
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, as I have written briefly earlier.
which was not made known to human beings 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.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 2,1-12.
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 Messiah 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.
Blessed Guerric of Igny (c.1080-1157)
Cistercian abbot
3rd sermon for Epiphany ; SC 166
“O God, on this day you revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations” (Collect)
“Arise, be enlightened Jerusalem, for your Light has come!” (Is 60,1). Blessed is the Light which has “come in the name of the Lord”, “The Lord is God and has shone upon us” (Ps 118[117],26-27). In virtue of it this day also, you are sanctified by the enlightening of the Church. Thanks be to you, true Light, you that “enlighten every man coming into this world” (Jn 1,9), you who for this very purpose have come into this world as a man. Jerusalem has been enlightened, our mother (Gal 4,26), mother of all those who have deserved to be enlightened, so that she now shines upon all who are in the world. Thanks be to you, true Light, you who have become a lamp to enlighten Jerusalem and to make God’s word “a lamp for my feet” (Ps 118[117],105)… For not only has the Church been enlightened: it has been “raised aloft on a candlestick”, one all of gold (Mt 5,15; Ex 25,31). The city sits on the mountain of mountains (cf. Mt 5,14)… so that its gospel may shine out far and wide, as far and as wide as the world’s empire spreads
God, you who give light to all nations, of you we will sing: “Behold the Lord will come and enlighten the eyes of his servants” (cf. Jude 14). Behold, you have come, my Light: “Enlighten my eyes, that I may never fall asleep in death” (Ps 13[12],4)… You have come, O Light of the faithful, and behold you have granted us today to rejoice at the enlightening of faith, that is, of our lamp. Grant us also to rejoice always at the enlightening of the darkness that remains in us…
This is the way in which you should advance, O faithful soul, in order that you may cast off the darkness of this world and arrive at your home country of eternal brightness, where “your darkness will be like midday” (Is 58,10) and “night will be lit up like day” (Ps 139[138],12). Then indeed, then “you will see and be radiant, your heart will thrill and rejoice” (Is 60,5), when the whole earth is filled with the majesty of unbounded light and “his glory is seen in you» (Is 60,2)… “Come and let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (Is 2,5); as “children of light” let us walk “from brightness to brightness, as led by the Lord who is Spirit” (2Cor 3,18).
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
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