January 3-4, 2009
The Epiphany of the Lord
Isaiah 60:1-6 Ephesians 3:2-6 Mathew 2:1-12
The roses adorning the floats are starting to wilt, the bleachers are being dismantled, the curbsides are now decorated with discarded trees that are brittle and dangerous. In the midst of celebrating the freshness of the New Year the Christmas story hangs on with our celebration of Epiphany, or ‘Little Christmas’ as it is called in many European countries. Translated as ‘to make manifest’, Epiphany is symbolized by the three Magi, or men of wisdom who sought out the infant child by following ‘the light’ of a star. They present their gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh Pretty much everything about this story is allegorical and filled with layers of meaning: those who are wise seek Jesus, the magi consult others for directions, the presence of Jesus is troubling and upsetting, the gold represents his royal status as our King, frankincense is used for liturgical ceremonies and represents Jesus as our High Priest and myrrh is used in the preparation of a body for burial, finally, the magi must be wise in living in the midst of a conniving world. As we move into 2009, each of these interior meanings is offered to us as wisdom by which to traverse the pitfalls and struggles that will be part of the New Year. We rely upon each other to discern the proper path to follow in life, a whole and full life must necessarily include the presence of Jesus, we are encouraged to follow the light of Christ no matter where it leads and to be wise in the living of our lives in the midst of a very big world. With the New Year we resume the cycle of events by which our lives are defined: birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, vacations. Epiphany reminds us to live each day with our eyes and hearts WIDE open to perceive the grace of God in startling and unusual ways. Epiphany urges us to look beyond what our eyes can see to what our hearts tell us might hold possibility. Epiphany pushes us to be curious, to explore, to step outside our familiar safety nets to find ever fresh and new manifestations of God’s grace. 2009 beckons, it will hold the usual challenges, hopes, discoveries, possibilities, pain, joy, delight and sorrow as previous years….and in it all will exist the grace of God. Hold on, it’s a brand New Year….. here we go…..
Thank you for joining with our Corpus Christi Community as we celebrate Epiphany. DID YOU KNOW??????? It was on Sunday, January 4th, 1998 that we celebrated the FIRST regularly scheduled Mass in Aliso Viejo at (St.) Oak Grove Elementary School. Indeed, ‘The Epiphany of the Lord’ was one of the options considered as a name for our parish when it was officially established in 1999…but a name that lost out to ‘Corpus Christi’. Please take a Bulletin with you as you depart at the end of Mass, lots of new things coming up in 2009….and you don’t want to miss out on any of them! As mentioned above, the arrival of the New Year brings a resumption of the familiar cycle of birthday’s anniversaries, holidays which pull us forward into 2009. Amongst those familiar events is another very special occurrence which also resumes, the 2009 Pastoral Services Appeal. Please keep an eye out for the mailings you will begin receiving in the weeks ahead. This being our 10th Anniversary as a Parish, the PSA material is VERY special. Entitled ‘Handing on the Body of Christ’, our 2009 PSA is likely to become something you will keep and treasure (just wait, I’m not kidding!). In these early days of 2009, remember, you are loved. FKB
