MARY, OUR MOTHER: EPIPHANY

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

EPIPHANY

Tribulation Times

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/january.asp?version=63&startmmdd=0101

January 6, 2008

(Mat 2:11) And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him: and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

EPIPHANY PRAYER VIA Nadine: Dear Jesus, as You led the Three Kings to You by the light of a star, please draw us ever closer to You by the light of Faith. Help us to desire You as ardently as they did. Give us the grace to overcome all the obstacles that keep us far from You. May we, like them, have something to give You when we appear before You. Mary, Our Mother, help us to know Your Son. Amen.

VIA MANILLA BULLETIN ONLINE: Feast of the Epiphany

The Epiphany is the feast of the manifestation of the majesty and divinity of the newborn Savior. As early as the third century, the Eastern Church, in celebrating the birth of the Redeemer, viewed it primarily as the manifestation of God to man. Hence, the name Epiphany, which means manifestation. Toward the end of the fourth century, as the feast gradually came to be known and celebrated in the West, the adoration of the Christ Child by the Magi or Wise Men was stressed.

In today's celebration, the light that appeared on Christmas extends its rays – it is the light of God's Epiphany. It is no longer only the shepherds of Bethlehem who see and follow it, it is also the Magi, who came to Jerusalem from the East to adore the newborn King (Matthew 2:1-12). The same light which led the shepherds and the Magi to the stable in Bethlehem now shines brightly for all men and women who long to meet God.

Various interpretations have been given for the gifts which the Magi offered the Christ Child. The Church teaches us that the gold represents kingly power, incense the great High Priest, and myrrh the burial of the Lord. Thus, the Wise Men offering their gifts to Christ depicts Christ's three-fold character of King, High Priest, and Man. St. Gregory, in his reflections, looks at the Magi's gifts from the viewpoint of the givers. He invites us to see in the gold, the quest for wisdom; in the incense, the power of prayer; and in the myrrh, the mortification of the flesh.

To fully understand the Feast of Epiphany, it will have to be viewed from two aspects: That of God who manifested Himself to man, and that of man, exemplified by the Magi, who responded with wholehearted faith and love. As we join the Magi in offering our gifts to the newborn King, we realize that Jesus is the true gift, God's gift to the world. He is the One we must receive, in order to bring Him, in turn, to everyone we will meet in our life journey.

Today, the world has greater need than ever to experience the divine goodness, to feel God's love for every person. People need to hear the message of light and hope and give glory to the Father. With joy, we ask the Lord of time, God from God, Light from Light, to make His star, the Epiphany star, continually shine in our hearts.

Happy Three Kings!

EPIPHANY RESOURCE: T.S. Eliot and W.B. Yeats poems about the Three Kings

EASTERN PERSPECTIVE: The Feast of Epiphany

CHURCHYEAR.NET: Epiphany History, Information, Prayers, Resources, Traditions, & More

POPE BENEDICT XVI: "May the Lord bless all those— they are many!—who work daily in the service of the new generations, helping them to be the protagonists of their future. In addition, the World Day of Missionary Childhood, which is celebrated on the feast of the Epiphany, is an opportune occasion to show how children and young people can play an important role in the spreading of the Gospel and in the works of solidarity towards their peers most in need. May the Lord reward them!"

Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 13- "On despondency"

4. Community life is opposed to despondency. But she is a constant companion of the hermit. She will never leave him till his death, and wrestles with him daily till his end. Seeing an anchorite's cell, she smiles, and creeps up and camps near by.

Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com

This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.

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Quotes from 'The Glories of Mary':

‘I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head.’

(Gen. 3:15)

“Since the devil is the head of original sin, this head it was that Mary crushed: for sin never had any entry into the soul of this Blessed Virgin, which was consequently free from all stain.”

Saint Augustine

Journeys of Faith

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PSALM 71 SPEAKS TO MY HEART

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!

Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.

I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.

For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who watch for my life consult together
and say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”

O God, be not far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who seek my hurt.

But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for their number is past my knowledge.

With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?

You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.

I will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.

And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

EPIPHANY

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