To all my readers: I am trying a new Theme, one that changes color with each picture. I am happy to hear your comments regarding this change of theme . . . whether or not I should keep it or go back to the older one. Thanks! Pat
From today’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 97) we read:
Let all God’s angels worship God.
The heavens proclaim God’s justice and all people see God’s glory. All gods are prostrate before the Lord.
Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Today’s Entrance Antiphon for the Sunday Liturgy is from Matthew 3:16-17.
Artwork from the Vatican Library in Rome
After the Lord was baptized, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
The world as pure object is something that is not there. It is not a reality outside us for which we exist….It is a living and self-creating mystery of which I am myself a part, to which I am myself, my own unique door.
– Thomas Merton Contemplation in a World of Action
The twelve days of Christmas come to an end on January 6, and the season of [Ordinary Time] begins. But Epiphany not only ends Christmas, it also fulfills it by celebrating the revelation of the Christ to the whole world. The coming of Incarnate God to all people, especially to those of us who are Gentiles, is the bridge from birth into life, the event that makes Easter possible for most of us. The light of the Epiphany illuminates the church’s year as it illuminates the human race from whom the kings came.
– Phyllis A. Tickle
Bridges have often been powerful spiritual symbols. This one, Ponte Vecchio, in Florence, is one teeming with life and commerce – a powerful symbol to St. Catherine of Siena. She understood Jesus to be our Bridge.
When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, then the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit, to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all peoples, to make a little music with the heart…
And to radiate the Light of Christ, every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say. Then the work of Christmas begins.
Your Light has come!
Rise up in splendor…your light has come, The Glory of the Lord shines upon you!
Let the work of Christmas begin, and let it begin with you.
The world as pure object is something that is not there. It is not a reality outside us for which we exist….It is a living and self-creating mystery of which I am myself a part, to which I am myself, my own unique door.
At this time of making resolutions for the new year, let us remember that every effort counts.
OPreach 