Dear Parishioners:
FEAST OF EPIPHANY OF THE LORD …
- Just as Christmas (the “Nativity/Birth of Jesus” was the revelation of God to people of Faith Tradition (Mary, Joseph, “Elizabeth-Mary’s relative” … etc …) and to the simple-minded and open-hearted for God’s, the shepherds came to know and see the “the Messiah – Anointed One of God – Jesus Christ” when they hurried to Bethlehem and saw what was told to them by the Angels.
The Church celebrates the “Feast of Epiphany – to show forth” the presence of God to ALL who are willing and open to seek and discern God in their lives. This is traditionally represented through the “Journey of the Magi” that came from afar to search and encounter the presence of God in this “new born King” who was made known in the Scripture.
The Magi’s coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the Messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations. Their coming to Jesus means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the Messianic promise as contained in the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
Today we can truly exclaim, with deep and abiding joy: “Lord, every nation on earth will adore you!” This poem from the Shaker tradition illustrates what the real work of Christmas and of Christ is all about:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings are back home,
When the shepherds are once more with their flocks,
When Simeon and Anna have gone to their Master in peace … …
Then the work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost, to heal the broken,
To release the prisoners, to rebuild nations,
To bring peace to all people,
To make music in the heart. Amen.
- A long-standing tradition in our Church is to announce the important the Church’s Liturgical celebrations in the new year on the Feast of Epiphany; today, the new yearly calendar takes over this announcement. For 2020, please note that Ash Wednesday will be on February 26 and Easter will be on April 12.
- Please keep your teenager son/daughter or grandson/granddaughter as they will continue to prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation to growing deeper in their faith with the gifts of the Holy Spirit in which you have begun in them when you first brought them to be baptized in the Church a few years ago.
This is the process of completing their “initiation into the Catholic Church” through the three main “Initiation Sacraments – Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist”; just like an adult who later was initiated into the Catholic Church
- Wishing you and all your families a very Blessed and Happy New Year 2020 and Epiphany; May the Lord continues to bless you, your families and our world in this coming New Year.
Christ’s Peace,
Fr. Phuong Hoang