Today’s Readings:
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-2,7-8,10-13;
Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Wayne Cordeiro visits China as a missionary from time to time. On one memorable visit, he discovered the following:
He trained 22 Church leaders from the Hunan Province of the country.
These 22 leaders were in charge of over 20 million Christians.
These 22 leaders travelled 13 hours by train to meet with Mr Cordeiro.
During the three-day training, these leaders all sat on the floor; no chairs and no ACs.
18 out of the 22 leaders had been to prison for their faith.
The penalty for meeting with missionaries from abroad was three years imprisonment.
Most of the leaders had memorised whole chapters of the Bible, which were smuggled to them in hand-written pieces of paper while in prison.
When he asked them what they wanted him to pray for, they said they wanted the opportunity to gather freely and worship God just as people do in other countries.
If you were in Wayne Cordeiro’s shoes, would you pray for that?
The meaning of today’s feast of the Epiphany is summarised in the opening prayer which we call the “Collect”: O God, who on this day revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations by the guidance of a star, grant in your mercy, that we, who know you already by faith, may be brought to behold the beauty of your sublime glory…Amen.
God has revealed Jesus Christ to us through the light of His Church.
We have received the gift of faith in Baptism.
We have God’s word preached to us daily.
We have God’s promise of eternal life.
We walk daily in the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Sadly, we are far from God.
We doubt God at the slightest opportunity.
We won’t attend Mass if we have to travel for more than an hour.
Mass is too long if it is longer than an hour and a half.
We identify ourselves by star signs and sexual orientations instead of our identity as “children of God”.
We write “God first” or a bible verse in our bio on social media but hardly touch the Bible.
We claim that Jesus is Lord, but we live like people under demonic manipulation.
We feel no qualm for missing Mass but work like slaves from week to week.
We comfortably remain in mortal sin for weeks on end.
We are the ones more in need of prayer for wasting the wealth of time and freedom we have
been given.
The Magi who visited Jesus followed a star. We have the light of God’s word to light our feet and guide our path (Psalm 119:105). The Magi missed their way and ended up in Herod’s court. We must retrace our steps back to God through prayer, frequenting the Sacraments/Communion, avoiding evil company and erroneous content. The Magi presented Jesus with gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Jesus demands the sweet-smelling sacrifice of our lives, lived in obedience to His will (Romans 12:1) . Your true purpose is to fall on your knees in the presence of your God and King and find your joy and peace in serving Him.
JUDE-MARY OWOH
To surrender your life to Christ, say this prayer aloud. “Father, I acknowledge my sin against You. I repent and ask for forgiveness in the name of Jesus. I surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, take control of my heart and lead me in Your path of righteousness. Thank you, Lord.”
If you said the prayer, Congratulations! Prayerfully look for a living church and meet the resident reverend, pastor or priest.
Prayer:
Lord, you have no need of my worship. But by loving you, I become more loving. By serving you, I grow in my capacity to serve others. In offering the gifts of my time, talent and treasures, I make you known and loved and draw closer to You. Let my joy proceed from my service to you and my neighbour, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
At the beginning of the second quarter of the year, may God reveal the light of His grace to you, save you from evil and slavery to sin and renew in you the commitment to serve Him with your time, talent and treasures through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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