POST CHRISTMAS- EPIPHANY

Post-Christmas Prayer: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CONNECTIONS, Jan.1, ‘95 "Long after the angels disappear into the heavens, the shepherds return to their flocks, the magi journey home and the great star sets, Jesus remains. The Child in whom we rediscover God’s great love for humanity becomes the adult Redeemer who challenges us to imitate his selflessness and compassion in order that we might transform our world in love… May we allow the miracle of Christmas to continue long after the holiday trappings have been packed away; May we welcome the adult Messiah and his challenging Gospel to recreate our lives, making the peace, justice and hope of this holy season a reality in every season of the new year." Message of Hope . . . . . . . Pope John Paul II, January 1, 2000 Pope John Paul II, in his message "Peace on Earth to Those Whom God Loves!" for January 1, 2000 says: "At the dawn of the new Millennium, we wish to propose once more the message of hope which comes from the stable of Bethlehem: God loves all men and women on earth and gives them the hope of a new era, an era of peace. His love, fully revealed in the Incarnate Son, is the foundation of universal peace. When welcomed in the depths of the human heart, this love reconciles people with God and with themselves, renews human relationships and stirs up that desire for brotherhood capable of banishing the temptation of violence and war." Wise Men, Return to the World . . . . . . . Pope John Paul II (Epiphany homily, 2001) "…we are like the 3 Wise Men who journeyed to Jesus. Now, like those Wise Men, we return to the world from which we came, to the everyday life where we will witness to what we have seen. …"indeed it compels us to start out afresh on a new stage of the journey on which we become proclaimers and heralds.…The Wise Men were in a sense the first missionaries. Their encounter with Christ did not keep them in Bethlehem, but made them set out anew on the paths of the world. "We need to ‘set out anew from Christ,’ with the zeal of Pentecost, with renewed enthusiasm. To set out from him above all in a daily commitment to holiness, with an attitude of prayer and of listening to his word. To set out from him in order to testify to his Love by living a Christian life marked by communion, charity, and witness before the world." Light of the Epiphany . . . . . . . . . . Phyllis A. Tickle, "What the Heart Already Knows" A Book of Christmas, Nashville: Upper Rooms, 1988, p. 13 "The twelve days of Christmas come to an end on January 6, and the season of the Epiphany 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."