THE COLLECT
O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE EPISTLE. Romans 12. 1-5
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
THE GOSPEL. S. Luke 2. 41-end
NOW his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Clerical Musings
Have any of you ever been in large crowds with your children and lost sight of them for a moment? This was a fear that I often had with my siblings when we would go to a theme park or a largely crowded beach. The Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph were also travelling in a large crowd as this was one of the required pilgrimages that one had to make throughout the year: The Feast of the Passover. It is quite intriguing that this is really the first event that we see in the ministry of Jesus and that it would culminate in another Passover Feast when the disciples would not know where he was and that they would only find him when they came looking for him after the Resurrection. However, we see in this event that Jesus knew His purpose and that his parents were frightened.
Light can not be contained completely and often it escapes from where we are trying to contain it. Jesus could not be contained and He did what He was supposed to do, but his parents could not see that. They saw only what most parents would see: The fact that they had to come back to get him.
The Epiphany is about the manifestation of the Light. The light shines and displays itself to all regardless of what we want or feel that it should. Jesus wants us all to share that Light and sometimes it means doing things that perhaps society or even our families do not think are right ideas. Why do we stand up for social issues? Why do we share our faith? Why do we not just go quietly. Jesus does not want His people to live in the shadows. He did not come so that we just be in churches and say we have faith. The Epiphany is about living that faith and being a beacon in a lost and dying world. Let us be torches to guide a lost and dying world back to Christ.
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