Monday after Epiphany, January 5, 2025

Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”  From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people. His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

As St. Matthew tells it, the Lord Jesus began his ministry only after hearing that John the Baptist had been arrested.  This was his impression as one of the last called of the Apostles.  John the Apostle, who was with both Jesus and John the Baptist, remembered a brief period in which their ministries overlapped.  In his Gospel, he noted that at a time before John the Baptist was arrested, some of his disciples said to him, “Rabbi, he that was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you gave testimony: behold, he baptizes and all men come to him” (John 3, 26).  It would seem that while Jesus had begun his preaching ministry, it was limited in scope until the arrest of John the Baptist, and with the exception of the miracle at the wedding in Cana, he was not yet performing miracles, at least in the open. 

“The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.”  Isaiah was foreseeing two events, here.  The first involved the return of northern Israel to Judaism.  After the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, they largely depopulated the land, driving most of its inhabitants into exile.  They brought in Gentiles from other lands they had conquered to live there, and some of those who lived north of Israel eventually migrated down.  Not until a few hundred years later did the Jews in the south attempt to make the land Jewish again, and they did this through resettling it, but also by converting those already living there.  And so, for the people in the northern part of Israel, “a great light” dawned — they became children of the Covenant.  Secondly, this prophecy refers to the Lord, who was born to a family descended from migrants from the south.  These Jews were always looked upon by the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem as somehow second class, even as outsiders.  This explains some of their initial hostility to the Lord.  They did not enjoy criticism or a potential challenge to their power from anyone, let alone from a Jew who came from outside Judea, with his odd clothing and accent, his lack of scholarly education, and his suspect orthodoxy in matters of religion.  

The Lord’s message was a simple one: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  According to the Greek, this should read, “for the Kingdom of heaven has drawn near” or “has approached”.  The Kingdom has come to the people, for without grace they cannot come to it.  God so desires the human race to fill the everlasting hills (cf. Genesis 49, 26) with his loved ones that he comes down to us.  The condition for entering the Kingdom is repentance: sincere contrition for sin, the resolution never to sin again in any way, and the desire to make up for these sins — to make restitution and to do penance.  This making restitution is no small thing, to be put off as long as possible since it is inconvenient and humiliating, for it is when Zacchaeus the tax collector tells the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wronged any man of any thing, I restore him fourfold” (Luke 19, 8), that Jesus says to him, “Salvation has come to this house.”

“He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.”  Matthew summarizes the Lord’s public life in this way.  He emphasizes that his preaching and miracles occurred in Galilee, not in Judea (with significant exceptions).  He proclaimed “the Gospel of the Kingdom” like a herald sent by a king to announce a new law or a royal wedding to all the towns in his domain.  And, in fact, this is what the Lord does: he announces the new Law of love, and the coming Nuptials between himself and his Church (cf. Revelation 21, 2).  And this Herald has been given the authority (cf. Matthew 28, 18) to enact the new Law and to contract the Nuptials, which he does on the Cross.

Matthew tells us that the Lord cured “every disease and illness” and healed those “racked with pain”.  This reminds us of the seriousness of sin, much worse than a physical ailment or injury, and also of how Jesus can forgive every kind of sin.  “Great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.”  They followed him, hungry for his teaching, and for hearing about the Kingdom of heaven.  We note that all these people “followed” him.  They did not try to lead him to where they wanted him to go, they did not put words into his mouth.  They submitted to his words and did the hard work of following him wherever he went.  

The Feast of the Epiphany, Sunday, January 4, 2026

Matthew 2, 1–12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.”  Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his Mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

The word Epiphany comes from a Greek word for “appearance” or “manifestation”, and the Feast of the Epiphany celebrates three such manifestations of the Son of God to the world.  Primarily, it celebrates the visitation of the Magi to the Infant Jesus, but it also commemorates his baptism by John in the Jordan, traditionally said to have taken place that day, thirty years later, and also the Lord’s first miracle, at the wedding at Cana, said to have taken place on the same day a year after his baptism.  The Universal Calendar gives the ancient date for this feast as on January 6, but the U.S. bishops have moved it to the first Sunday after January 1. 

“Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews?’ ”  The magi (from the Greek magoi, meaning “learned men”, “astrologers”, or “magicians”) came from “the east”.  Some say that these men originated in Persia, but they may have come from a nearer location, perhaps Arabia.  “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”  Now, it does seem odd that these Magi would leave their homeland and follow this star (for it “preceded” them), but the ancient people commonly believed that portents in the heavens indicated some significant event on the earth.  The “star” that they saw must have had a low altitude if they were able to follow it and stand beneath it.  It must also have stood out in size or in some other way from the others, as well.  Certainly, it seemed to move, but it could not have moved too quickly or it would have vanished over the horizon.  If it moved too slowly, it would have been too difficult to follow.  The appearance of the star could not have been caused by a planet or a conjunction of planets.  The ancients knew their planets very well and would not have confused this with a star, particularly as they could have watched the planets near each other over the course of several nights.  The Magi associated this sign in the heavens as indicating the birth of a king, and this was logical since it was a new star that had not been seen before.  Seeing it move with some speed, they decided to move with it, as this was an unheard of phenomenon, meaning something of very great importance had occurred.  It seemed to stop over Jerusalem, and so they assumed that this meant the new king had been born there.  Perhaps they did not know that Herod the Great still reigned in Judea.  Their question would certainly have stirred up Herod’s fear of being overthrown.

“Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.”. It is notable that Herod seems at once to have identified this newborn Child as the Messiah.  The expectation of the Messiah was evidently quite high at the time.  Non-biblical Jewish  writings like the Book of Enoch fed a populace hungry for hope that a new age of freedom for God’s people was imminent, and various short-lived messianic movements erupted here and there in the countryside, but they did not last (cf. Acts 5, 36-37).  The high priests referred Herod to Micah 5, 2, which is a relatively obscure passage in the work of one of the minor prophets.  This tells us of how ardently the high priests and the scribes themselves had searched the Scriptures for information about the Messiah who was to come — not unlike, in our own day, how some folks search the pages of the Bible for information about the identity and signs of the Antichrist, and for the date of the end of the world.  

“Then Herod called the Magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.”  Herod wanted to know when the star first became visible, which would tell him the age of the Child.  At this point, Jesus would have been no more than two weeks old.  “He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.’ ”  Jesus would later refer to Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great and the ruler of Galilee at the time of the Lord’s ministry, as a “fox”, and here we see the father of the “fox” at work, as Herod the Great intends to let the Magi do the hard work of finding the Child, and then killing him when they reported back to him.  Herod speaks to them “secretly” out of fear that some of those at his court might see this as a chance to plot against him.  Note that Herod does not offer to go with the Magi: he wants to seem uninterested in the Child and unconnected with the massacre he is planning, lest that bring about a rebellion.  “And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.  They were overjoyed at seeing the star.”  Again, the mysterious star, which some of the Fathers believed to have been an angel guiding the Magi.

“On entering the house they saw the child with Mary his Mother.”  Luke does not say that Joseph was present or absent, but merely mentions that the Magi saw Mary and Jesus when they entered the house.  We see here that the Holy Family is now residing in a house, two weeks after the birth of Jesus.  They have prevailed on someone, perhaps a distant relative, to let them stay at this house.  The houses in Bethlehem were not very spacious or fancy.  Working people and their children dwelt in them.  They would have been built of stone and may have included small, walled courtyards.  The Magi must have been taken aback at the idea of a king being born here.  The star is described as “stopped over the place where the child was.”  Again, this indicates its relatively low altitude.  What did they see when they looked at Mary and Jesus?  There would have been no signs of royalty such as they were used to.  They saw a woman with her infant, an everyday sight.  And yet they saw more than that: “They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”  The prostration was an especial sign of obeisance in the East at that time.  But why did these educated, wealthy men fall on the floor before a mere woman and her child, foreigners to them?  Because they understood the significance of their star, a new star announcing the birth of a king, but also a miraculous star that filled them with joy when they looked upon it.  If the star was a wonder, then how much greater the One whom it signified and pointed out.

“Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”  The fact that three distinct gifts are listed has caused generations of believers to think that there were only three Magi, but we do not know their number.  Traditionally they are also thought of as kings, due to Psalm 72, 10: “The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts.”  The Fathers saw prophetic meaning in the types of the gifts they brought to the Lord Jesus: gold for a King; frankincense for a Priest; and myrrh for a Sacrificial Victim.  St. Thomas Aquinas also mentions that “some commenters assign a literal reason for these gifts.  These say that the Magi found a dirty house, a weak child, and a poor mother.  They offered the gold to sustain the mother, myrrh to strengthen the limbs of the child, and frankincense to take away the stench.”

“And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.”  St. John Chrysostom, fourth century Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote that the Magi lived into the time of the Apostles and that they assisted St. Thomas when he began his work in Persia.  Their relics are housed in the the magnificent cathedral of Cologne, Germany.

So few people followed the star to its destination, and yet it must have been very visible and highly unusual.  All of Jerusalem, including the high priests, awaited the Messiah, and yet none of them accompanied the Magi to see him.  These days, the Faith is spread throughout the world, and Bibles are easily available, but how many people actually believe, how many folks read the Holy Scriptures?  Let us follow the star — the words and deeds of the Lord Jesus.  And let us ourselves become stars to lead others to him.

The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, Saturday, January 3, 2026

John 1, 29–34

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

At the time the Lord Jesus walked the earth, John the Baptist alone fully understood that the Messiah promised by God through the Prophets would take away the sins of the world, dying a sacrificial death.  The Pharisees and the rabbis of the time did not understand this.  For them, the Messiah would free Jerusalem from the Romans and rule as the new King of Israel.  The Holy Spirit revealed this to John because John was fully open to the will of God.  The others had locked themselves in their fantasies.  When John declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”, he was using a term not found in the Scriptures.  The term might have been understood as a lamb destined for sacrifice in the Temple, but to call it “the Lamb of God” would have sounded ridiculous.  It singles out a particular lamb for special notice while large numbers of sheep were sacrificed every day.  It made far less sense to speak of a man in this way.  The use of the phrase would certainly have caused people to stop what they were doing and listen to John to see what he meant by this novel combination of words.

First, John was designating a particular individual within his sight.  Second, he explained that it was of this man that he had spoken earlier: “A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.”  Now, we should keep in mind that Jesus was at that moment standing in the crowd or just on its fringe.  John proclaims, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him.”  John here gives us his own description of the Baptism of the Lord.  It is from his words that we learn for certain that he, and not Jesus alone, saw the Holy Spirit descend upon him.  John would have proclaimed this to the crowd after watching in wonder as Jesus climbed out of the river onto the shore and disappeared into the crowd of people also seeking baptism.  Marveling at what had happened — the appearance of the Lord, his words, and the descent of the Holy Spirit — left John struggling for words.  “I did not know him.”  The Greek gives the sense of, I did not know that this was him.  Thus is fulfilled Isaiah 53, 2: “He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”  The Son of God makes himself so much like us that he has no distinguishing features.  He looks just like us.  This “lamb” looks like every other lamb.  Only the revelation by  “the one who sent me to baptize with water” identified him both as the One who was to come after him, and that he was the Lamb of God.  Further inspired by the Holy Spirit, John confesses, “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God through the gift of Faith given us by the Holy Spirit.  For so many people, he is no one, of no account.  In today’s society, he is hardly known at all.  He is just a meaningless face in the crowd, one lamb among thousands in a pasture.  Through the Holy Spirit, you and I are John the Baptist, pointing to him with our words and deeds.

The Second Monday after Christmas, January 2, 2025

John 1, 19-28

This is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” He said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

As in St. Matthew’s Gospel, St. John’s begins with opposition: Matthew’s, with Herod’s attempt to kill the newborn King of the Jews, and John’s, with the priests and Levites sent out from Jerusalem to interrogate John the Baptist.  Both Matthew and John wrote their Gospels for Jewish Christians while St. Mark and St. Luke wrote primarily for Greek Christians.  The authors of the Gospels for Jewish Christians wrote for an audience many of whom knew first hand of the opposition of the Jewish leaders to the Lord Jesus and were themselves suffering from their persecution.  These Gospels were written to encourage the faithful suffering from them, reminding them of how the Lord had charged them, “Remember my word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15, 20).

“Who are you?”  No one like John the Baptist had ever arisen in Israel.  He lived in the way of some of the old prophets, especially Elijah, but unlike Elijah he performed no miracles and remained in the same region.  His baptized, which none of the prophets had done, and he preached repentance.  The Jewish leaders felt apprehensive about him but did not know what to make of him.  He made no claims about himself, did not go into the cities, and seemed content to live as an outsider.  But when someone has usurped power and holds it illegitimately, everyone is a potential threat, especially if they draw crowds.  And the chief priests had gotten their positions through paying the Romans, and the Pharisees, out of pride, had set themselves up as teachers, though unauthorized to do so.  John answers their question denying that he was the Messiah or Elijah come back down from heaven, and saying very simply, “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert.”  In short, he did not seek to overthrow the established authorities, legitimate or not.  For this reason, the chief priests left him alone.  But the Pharisees acted with greater persistence.  They did this because they felt threatened by John as a teacher, but also because evil is curious.  Evil is baffled by charity that seeks no reward and selfless love.  It does not make any sense to those who are evil.  They ask, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”  It is a curious question because nothing in the Scriptures indicated that Elijah or the Messiah would baptize, and yet the Pharisees tie baptism to these figures.  Perhaps this was one of their interpretations of the Law, as false as that Jews needed to wash several times a day as the priests had to do in the Temple. 

“I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”  Here John ties his ministry of baptism to the Messiah, whom John neither names nor actually calls “messiah”.  The power of John’s statement depends on the knowledge he has of his reputation.  He knows that the crowds consider him to be a great man, and he himself is conscious of his call by Almighty God, and so can speak of one who is greater than he, knowing that this will make an impression on the Pharisees.  John emphasizes the greatness of this other by telling the Pharisees that he is not worthy to be this man’s lowest slave.  And yet, for all that, this man is not recognized: he is among them, but not known to them.  John knows him because God has revealed him to him, but the Pharisees do not because they have received no such revelation.  They do not receive it because they are not doing the work of God, as John is, and their faith is weak, appearances to the contrary.

“This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”  St. John, writing his Gospel years later, knows where these conversations took place because he was there.  As a very young man he followed John the Baptist before he followed Jesus.  John even tells us on what side of the Jordan John was baptizing, for “Bethany across the Jordan” was situated on its eastern bank.  This is the first of several occasions when John will precisely locate the events he describes, pointing over and over to the reality that the Son of God had indeed assumed a human nature and walked upon the earth where he could be seen, heard, and touched.

The Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, Thursday, January 1, 2026

Luke 2, 16–21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The Gospel writers wrote in a very taut style. They did not indulge in florid excesses or in rhetorical flourishes or pause to reflect on a scene in a such a way as to show off their own wisdom. They composed their Gospels not for money or out of the desire for praise but in order to convey a message. In doing so, they act as heralds in ancient times who proclaimed what had been given to them in the very words in which it had been given. St. Mark, for example, is so tight with his narrative, his breathless listing of the Lord’s miracles, that when he slips in a detail not necessary for his account — as when in 6, 36 he mentions that Jesus had the people whom he was feeding sit upon “the green grass” — it stands out in stark relief.

And so when St. Luke writes that “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart”, we sit up and take notice. We ponder this detail because somehow it is key to understanding what the visit of the shepherds means. For us, it helps to consider the context of this tiny revelation. Luke has shown Mary in contrast to her relative Elizabeth: Mary speaks with the angel who comes to her while Elizabeth does not even see the angel who appeared to her husband. Mary consents while Elizabeth is passive. After conceiving, Mary goes out to aid her relative at the time when Elizabeth has withdrawn from the world. Mary proclaims the greatness of the Lord while it is the newly conceived John the Baptist who alerts Elizabeth to Mary’s new identity as the Mother of the Savior. We can also know from the Gospel that Mary is fertile while Elizabeth was barren. All taken together, we can see the model believer of the New Covenant in Mary, and the believer in the now superseded Old Covenant. 

And so when we read that “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart”, she shows us how we ought to receive the news of her Son’s Birth and what it means for ourselves and the world. He is the Son of the Most High and yet he is born in a stable and must be laid in a trough. He is the King of the universe and yet the only people to recognize him and offer him obeisance are a pack of shepherds. This was not what she or her husband Joseph would have chosen, and yet this was what God did choose. Nor was this how the Jews expected their Messiah to come: “But the foolish things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the wise: and the weak things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the strong” (1 Corinthians 1, 27). And in this way God truly manifests his power and glory.

We celebrate today the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and ask her, as we also begin a new year, to aid us in pondering the mysteries of our God coming among us so that with our faith strengthened we may adore him in heaven with her in perfect peace and joy.

Wednesday in the Octave of Christmas, December 31, 2025

John 1, 1–18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.  But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.  And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” St. John deliberately begins his Gospel with these words, modeled after the opening words of the Book of Genesis, which are usually translated from the Hebrew as “In the beginning, God created heaven and earth.”   But the Hebrew is not easy to translate because of its form — it is not a simple prepositional phrase as it is found in Greek and Latin translations.  It can also mean “In the beginning — when God began to create the heavens and the earth”, or even as, “In the beginning as God was creating.” John’s choice to render it in Greek as, “In the beginning, etc.” shows the phrase not as a part of a narrative or as an explanation, but as a proclamation.  John, in fact, takes us back beyond the time of the creation into the eternity of God. He says, in effect, “Before God created the heavens and the earth, from all eternity, the Word was.” The Word is not part of creation. He is uncreated, and yet he is.

“And the Word was with God.” The Greek proposition reveals the orientation of the Word in regards to God: it is “with” and “towards” God. This means an intimacy with God as well as equality with him, and this from all eternity. “And the Word was God.” This tells us that the Divine stood before and faced the Divine. We learn from this that the Word is equal to God in power and majesty. But how can this be if we cling to the doctrine, revealed by God himself, that he is one and there is no other (Isaiah 45, 5)? The full truth comes only at the end of the Reading, when John identifies the Word as Jesus Christ.

John’s Gospel does not begin by naming Jesus. In stead, it begins by contemplating the eternal Word — his relation to God, to creation, and to humanity. only after the reader has been led through eternity, creation, revelation, and Incarnation does John finally speak the name “Jesus Christ”. This delay is not accidental. It is a literary and theological strategy. John ensures that when Jesus is named, he is already understood — not merely as a historical teacher but as the eternal Word made flesh. This Jesus — the only one who can answer the question regarding the oneness of God — declares, “The Father and I are one” (John 10, 30). That is, the one God is not solitary, he is a communion of divine Persons. The union of Father and Son is so perfect that they are one God (in the unity of the Holy Spirit, as he would later teach).

He makes his identity and the nature of God known through his Incarnation by which he could live among us: “The Word became flesh.” To look into his, then, was to look into the eyes of Almighty God through whom “all things came to be.” To hear him speak was to hear the voice of him without whom “nothing came to be.” And yet there were some — even his own people (whether this is understood of his relatives, his townsfolk, his fellow Jews, or the human race) who rejected him. This rejection reflects not ignorance, since he spoke with them face to face and showed the works of the Father, but through malice. But for those who accepted him, “he gave power to become children of God” and so heirs to eternal life.

This is the destiny open to us if we fully accept him in our lives and follow the commandments that make us resemble him in his Sonship.

Tuesday within the Octave of Christmas, December 30, 2025

Luke 2, 36-40

There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.  When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

After the conquest of the Promised Land by Joshua, the Tribe of Asher was allotted territory in the northwest part of the country. For a few hundred years it existed peacefully, separated from the rest of Israel by a mountain range and established near the prosperous kingdom of Phoenicia, with which it traded. In the year 722 B.C. the Kingdom of Assyria defeated the northern Kingdom of Israel in a series of battles. Some Asherites fled to the southern Kingdom of Judah, but most were resettled to other lands by the Assyrians, and there they disappear from history.  It is striking that St. Luke introduces Anna as “of the Tribe of Asher”. That Anna knew her heritage speaks volumes about tribal memory, even centuries after that tribe assimilated with their neighbors centuries before. It must have been so, for there is no reason for the Evangelist to invent such a detail which would have stuck out as a glaring anachronism to Jew and Gentiles alike, destroying Luke’s claim to be a careful recorder of history. Luke, in mentioning this, may also have had a theological intent as well: he had just spoken of the aged Simeon who proclaimed that the Infant Jesus would be “a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.” This message of revelation to both the Jews and the Gentiles is confirmed and reinforced by the elderly Anna, descendent of a people who lived adjacent to and and in peace with the Gentiles whose land bordered theirs.

“She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.” Her perseverance in fasting and prayer living in the Temple courtyard shows us the reason why she was able to recognize Jesus as the Savior. It is a sign to all believers ever since of the need to make God the center of their lives so that they will recognize his will for them and that they will see his grace in their lives. Her actions also reflect those of the blessed in heaven: she lived in the Temple of God while they dwell in the Temple in heaven of which served as a model for the one on earth; they feast now while she had fasted; and they pray in praise and thanksgiving while she had prayed in longing and expectation.

“When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.” We see how humbly the Mother of God and her helpmate St. Joseph performed their duties according to the Law, a Law Jesus would fulfill and perfect in the future. Luke does not tell about the flight into Egypt, as St. Matthew does. Luke has the Holy Family returning to Nazareth directly after the visit to the Temple, but they must have returned to the house in which they were in Bethlehem, and it was some short time afterwards that the Angel appeared to Joseph in a dream to warn him to flee. It is not until some years later that they return to Nazareth. The Fathers speculate that either Luke had not heard of the flight into Egypt from the sources whom he consulted, or omitted it just as he could not write everything that he had learned about the life of Jesus. To this we recall with St. John, that “there are also many other things which Jesus did which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written” (John 21, 25).