The Manifestation of the Lord
January 8, 2012
Reading I: Isaiah 60:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Reading II: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
Reading 1 Is 60:1-6
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you,
dromedaries from Midian and Ephah;
all from Sheba shall come
bearing gold and frankincense,
and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Reading 2 Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6
You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation.
It was not made known to people in other generations
as it has now been revealed
to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Gospel Mt 2:1-12
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.
[img]http://www.catholica.com.au/sunday/images/Y-not_an_640x166.gif[/img]
[align=center][b][size=large]The Manifestation of the Lord[/size][/b]
January 8, 2012
[link=http://usccb.org/bible/readings/010812.cfm]Reading I: Isaiah 60:1-6
Responsorial Psalm: 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
Reading II: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12[/link][/align]
Nearly in despair, after trying for many days to make some sense of the "manifestation" story in Matthew's gospel. It was interesting to compare the different approaches of Luke and Matthew. Luke's account is very human, a messenger appears to a young maiden and in the full light of day puts a proposition about some great work of the Holy Spirit, listens to her objections, and leaves only when he has her agreement. In Matthew, Joseph is given instructions in the dead of night, while he is asleep, through dreams, and on waking does what he has been ordered to do. The Magi story belongs in this setting where god (or the gods) influence or even manipulate human conduct through dreams, soothsayers and astrologers. It's hard to find valid content of 'revelation' in such mythology.
I was rescued this morning by two articles in the English Jesuit monthly, Thinking Faith. They are a little longer than I would write, but they cover the ground that needs to be examined.
The first from an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory looks at the myth of the Star of Bethlehem: http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20101231_1.htm
The second finding inspiration in the wise men coming from the East, a journey of hope: http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20111220_1.htm
The whole narrative of these introductory chapters of Matthew's gospel is cast quite blatantly in mythological terms and later christians even down to modern times have had no qualms about expanding the myth and elaborating its details. The liturgy co-opts a passage fropm Iasiah celebrating the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. The Psalm is [i]a coronation hymn for a king of David's line. The exaggerated language of the third stanza, with its picture of kings coming from afar—in fact, all kings and nations coming to do homage to the Davidic king of Judah—is simply a poetic expression of Judah’s hope that under the new king it will become the top nation as it was in the reign of David.[/i] (LINK) When the liturgy itself introduces new elements into the gospel story it is hard to say what is original and what is myth.
At the other extreme, the King James version only 400 years ago chose to avoid the "magi" label, with its connotation of magicians, substituting instead "wise men". A quiick read on magi in Wikipedia shows that these soothsayers and astrologers of the East, followers of Zooraster, were not held in high regard in the Greek world. One would expect that they were treated with even more suspicion in Israel. Yet Matthew doesn't say these were "wise" magicians - just "magi". So the myth grows, even thanks to the diligent and sober work of the translators of the King James version.
My excursion of the past three weeks in the mythological expanses of the christian story has taught me that the myth is a valid, and indeed a necessary, way of communicating and passing on the truths and values that we treasure, but the myth does not stand alone and should never go unquestioned. An adult who has never questioned and so still believes that Santa Claus is real (if such a one could be imagined) would be a sorry sight, but a child who does not learn something about the gratuitous nature of love from receiving Christmas gifts is really missing a vital lesson.
In Italy gift-giving is focussed on the Epiphany and the mythical figure La Befana. The Wiki article is well worth a read both for the story of the Befana and for the article's elaboration of the myth : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befana .