Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!!!
Yes, as Catholics, we still celebrate the Christmas for another week, until the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord.
It is an honor to once again be with you as we journey deeper to God’s heart this 2021. And so, on the first Sunday of the new year, let us worship the babe we worship along with the Magi, or Wise Men, on this Feast of the Epiphany.
Once again, Happy Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord. You might be asking, what does ‘epiphany’ mean? It’s a moment of sudden and great revelation or realization! And as Christians, we understand this word to be the moment when Christ is manifested to the Gentiles as represented by the Magis. They were the second group who visited the newborn, the first group being the Jewish shepherds. Isn’t it interesting when you think that the Jewish people, God’s own chosen people, were the ones waiting since the beginning of time for the Messiah. But when He does finally arrive, he is welcomed by the unexpected. The party from the chosen people are the shepherds who are basically the rejects of society. And the second party are royalty, but they are Gentiles (non-Jewish people). It’s just a reminder that God really is God, and we are not, because the things He does usually goes beyond our realm of understanding.
As we celebrate this Feast of the Epiphany only 3 days into the new year, I personally thank God for the reminders of what my perspective should be throughout the rest of the year. Through the gifts of the Magi of gold, frankinsence and myrrh, we are invited to also offer our own gifts in our own capacity the son of the Most High.
And so my dear brothers and sisters, I invite you all to pray with me, that with the Magi, we too may kneel and worship at the wooden crib that holds the Divine made man.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jesus, we thank You for this chance to come and pay homage at your feet. You who are the most High have deemed to clothe yourself with our humanity to come closer to us. And though we know we are not at our best, we take this chance to approach you with the gifts that we bring.
Like Gold, I offer to you the very best of myself. Everything that makes me shine. My beauty, my talent, my family, the work of my hands, all of my achievements I have gained throughout my entire life. Because I know that I could not claim any of those without You bestowing them to me.
Like Frankincense, I offer to you my worship and adoration. Because You are God and I am not. Like the song, may my life sing, “King of endless worth, No one could express how much You deserve, Though I'm weak and poor, All I have is Yours, every single breath”. May the prayers that reside in the depths of my heart rise with the smoke of the burning incense to give You the praise You deserve.
Like Myrrh, the anointing oil that will one day be used to anoint your body at Calvary, I also offer up all hurt and pain. The burdens I carry in my heart. The times when I can’t do anything but cry and scream at not knowing what to do. I have nowhere else to place this heavy load except at your feet. All the bitter and sorrowful sides of my life, I offer them to you because I know you were born to redeem me from it.
With these gifts I bring to You Lord, I pray that on this Feast day, you may transform them too so that everything in my life, the good things and the bad, will bring glory to Your Name.
Amen.
You are blessed. You are loved. Have a beautiful soul Sunday!
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Listen to this reflection on #DEEP
https://anchor.fm/deepdaily/episodes/DEEP-88---Soul-Sunday-by-Apple-Defante-eofoq7
