Happy Epiphany!!!<\/p>\n
TODAY, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. This observance was originally called the \u201cFeast of the Wise Men\u2019\u2019 from The East, who arrived in Bethlehem to adore the newborn Messiah.<\/p>\n
Epiphany means \u201cto make known\u2019\u2019 or \u201cto reveal.\u2019\u2019 Today\u2019s celebration focuses on our Lord\u2019s manifestation to all men and women of goodwill of his divinity, albeit through his human form\u2014 in the person of the infant Jesus Christ. The Gospel reading today reminds us of the magi\u2014 the number, however, was not specified in the Scripture\u2014 who represent the Gentiles and all non-Jewish peoples of the world, paid homage to Jesus. This act of worship by the wise men, which is related to the prophecy of Simeon, that this child Jesus would be \u201ca light for revelation to the Gentiles\u2019\u2019 (Luke 2:32), was one of the first signs that Jesus was sent by the Father to save all mankind, regardless of race or gender, and that the work of God in the world is universal.<\/p>\n
This day is set aside by the Church to remember that our Lord Jesus came for all and not for a select few. The light of Christ illumines all men and women and must likewise be radiated by all who believe in him so that more and more people may come to know, worship, and serve him and thereby share in the gift of salvation.<\/p>\n
The Solemnity of the Epiphany is a fitting time to nourish our oneness and Christian fellowship and to heal all wounds of division in our communities brought about by man\u2019s sinfulness. We thank the good Lord for shedding the light of his love and life upon us. We pray for his continued presence among us so that we may not only come to worship him, who is the true \u201cLight of the world\u2019\u2019 but also radiate his saving light to all by our witnessing to his Gospel values.<\/p>\n
Happy Solemnity of the Epiphany!<\/p>\n
P. S. There is a beautiful Catholic tradition of a House Blessing associated with the Feast of the Epiphany. We invite you to adopt this custom in your family. The family gathers to ask God\u2019s blessing on their home and on those who live in or visit the home. It is an invitation for Jesus to be a daily guest in our home, our comings and goings, our conversations, our work and play, and our joys and sorrows.<\/p>\n
The traditional way of doing this is to use chalk to write above the home\u2019s entrance, 20 + C + M + B + 21. The letters C, M, B have two meanings. They are the initials of the traditional names of the three magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. And, they also abbreviate the Latin words, : \u201cMay Christ bless the house.\u201d The \u201c+\u201d signs represent the cross.<\/p>\n
Instructions for Blessing the Home <\/strong><\/p>\n Using the blessed chalk mark the lintel of your front door (or front porch step) as follows:<\/p>\n 20 + C + M + B + 21 while saying:<\/p>\n May Christ bless our home and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen. <\/em><\/p>\n Then offer the following prayer: Visit, O blessed Lord, this home with the gladness of your presence. Bless all who live or visit here with the gift of your love; and grant that we may manifest your love to each other and to all whose lives we touch. May we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of you; guide, comfort, and strengthen us in peace, O Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen<\/strong><\/p>\n The Chalk will be blessed in the church on Saturday January 2nd at the 5 pm Mass. After each Mass, you will be able to pick up one chalk and take it with you to your home. May this tradition bring so much peace and invite God\u2019s blessing on you in 2021.<\/p>\n Fr. Tom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy Epiphany!!! TODAY, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. This observance was originally called the \u201cFeast of the Wise Men\u2019\u2019 from The East, who arrived in Bethlehem to adore the newborn Messiah. Epiphany means \u201cto make known\u2019\u2019 or \u201cto reveal.\u2019\u2019 Today\u2019s celebration focuses on our Lord\u2019s manifestation to all men and women of goodwill of his divinity,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fr-tom","ctfw-no-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7677"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7678,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677\/revisions\/7678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}