Liturgical Colour : White
Ephesians 3 : 2-3a, 5-6
You may have heard of the graces God bestowed on me for your sake. By a revelation He gave me the knowledge of His mysterious design. This mystery was not made known to past generations but only now, through revelations given to holy Apostles and prophets.
Now the non-Jewish people share the Inheritance; in Christ Jesus the non-Jews are incorporated and are to enjoy the Promise. This is the Good News.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 71 : 1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
O God, endow the King with Your justice, the Royal Son with Your righteousness. May He rule Your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.
Justice will flower in His days, and peace abound till the moon be no more. For He reigns from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.
The kings of Tarshish and the islands render Him tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts, all kings bow down to Him, and all nations serve Him.
He delivers the needy who call on Him, the afflicted with no one to help them. His mercy is upon the weak and the poor, He saves the life of the poor.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 60 : 1-6
Arise, shine, for your Light has come. The Glory of YHVH rises upon you. Night still covers the earth and gloomy clouds veil the peoples, but YHVH now rises and over you His glory appears. Nations will come to your Light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes round about and see : they are all gathered and come to you, your sons from afar, your daughters tenderly carried. This sight will make your face radiant, your heart throbbing and full; the riches of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.
A flood of camels will cover you, caravans from Midian and Ephah. Those from Sheba will come, bringing with them gold and incense, all singing in praise of YHVH.
Liturgical Colour : White
Offertory
Psalm 71 : 10-11
Reges Tharsis, et insulae munera offerent : reges Arabum et Saba dona adducent : et adorabunt Eum omnes reges terrae, omnes gentes servient Ei.
English translation
The kings of Tarshish and the islands shall offer presents, the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts and all kings of the earth shall adore Him, all nations shall serve Him.
Secret Prayer of the Priest
Ecclesiae Tuae, quaesumus, Domine, dona propitius intuere : quibus non jam aurum, thus et myrrha profertur; sed quod eisdem muneribus declaratur, immolatur et sumitur, Jesus Christus, Filius Tuus, Dominus noster : Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
Favourably regard the gifts of Your Church, o Lord, wherein no longer gold is offered, nor frankincense, nor myrrh, but He who by these gifts is signified and has become our Sacrifice and our Food, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
Preface of the Epiphany
Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine, Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Quia, cum Unigenitus Tuus in substantiae nostrae mortalitatis apparuit, nova nos immortalitatis suae luce reparavit. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus cumque omni militia caelestis exercitus hymnum gloriae Tuae canimus, sine fine dicentes :
English translation
It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to You, o Holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God. Because Your only begotten Son appearing in our mortal nature had restored it by the shedding upon us of that new and immortal light which is His very own. And therefore with the Angels and Archangels, with the Thrones and Dominations and with all the array of the heavenly host, we sing a hymn to Your glory and unceasingly repeat :
Communion
Matthew 2 : 2
Vidimus stellam Ejus in Oriente, et venimus cum muneribus adorare Dominum.
English translation
We have seen His star in the east, and have come with gifts to adore the Lord.
Post-Communion Prayer
Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus : ut, quae sollemni celebramus officio, purificatae mentis intellegentia consequamur. Per Dominum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
Grant, we beseech You, o Almighty God, by the understanding of hearts made pure we may comprehend that which by solemn rite we celebrate. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Matthaeum – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew
Matthew 2 : 1-12
Cum natus esset Jesus in Bethlehem Juda in diebus Herodis regis, ecce, Magi ab Oriente venerunt Jerosolymam, dicentes : Ubi est, qui natus est Rex Judaeorum? Vidimus enim stellam Ejus in Oriente, et venimus adorare eum.
Audiens autem Herodes rex, turbatus est, et omnis Jerosolyma cum illo. Et congregans omnes principes sacerdotum et scribas populi, sciscitabatur ab eis, ubi Christus nasceretur. At illi dixerunt ei : In Bethlehem Judae : sic enim scriptum est per Prophetam : Et tu, Bethlehem terra Juda, nequaquam minima es in principibus Juda; ex te enim exiet dux, qui regat populum meum Israel.
Tunc Herodes, clam vocatis Magis, diligenter didicit ab eis tempus stellae, quae apparuit eis : et mittens illos in Bethlehem, dixit : Ite, et interrogate diligenter de puero : et cum inveneritis, renuntiate mihi, ut et ego veniens adorem eum.
Qui cum audissent regem, abierunt. Et ecce, stella, quam viderant in Oriente, antecedebat eos, usque dum veniens staret supra, ubi erat Puer. Videntes autem stellam, gavisi sunt gaudio magno valde. Et intrantes domum, invenerunt Puerum cum Maria Matre ejus, (genuflect here) ei procidentes adoraverunt eum.
Et apertis thesauris suis, obtulerunt ei munera, aurum, thus et myrrham. Et responso accepto in somnis, ne redirent ad Herodem, per aliam viam reversi sunt in regionem suam.
English translation
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of king Herod, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who is born the King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and we have come to adore Him.”
And king Herod, hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born. But they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet, ‘And you Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of you shall come forth the ruler that shall rule My people Israel.'”
Then Herod privately calling the wise men, learnt diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them, and sending them to Bethlehem, he said, “Go and diligently inquire after the Child, and when you have found Him bring word to me again, so that I may also come and adore Him.”
Having heard the king, they went their way, and behold the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And entering into the house, they found the Child with Mary, His mother (kneel here) and falling down they adored Him.
And opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having received a vision in their sleep, that they should not return to Herod, they went back by another way into their own country.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 60 : 1 and Matthew 2 : 2
Omnes de Saba venient, aurum et thus deferentes et laudem Domino annuntiantes.
Response : Surge et illuminare, Jerusalem : quia gloria Domini super te orta est.
Alleluja, Alleluja.
Vidimus stellam ejus in Oriente, et venimus cum muneribus adorare Dominum. Alleluja.
English translation
All those from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord.
Response : Arise and be enlightened, o Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Response : We have seen His star to the east and have come with gifts to adore the Lord. Alleluia.
Liturgical Colour : White
Lectio Isaiae Prophetae – Lesson from Isaiah the Prophet
Isaiah 60 : 1-6
Surge, illuminare, Jerusalem : quia venit lumen Tuum, et gloria Domini super te orta est. Quia ecce, tenebrae operient terram et caligo populos : super te autem orietur Dominus, et gloria ejus in te videbitur. Et ambulant gentes in lumine tuo, et reges in splendore ortis tui.
Leva in circuitu oculos tuos, et vide : omnes isti congregati sunt, venerunt tibi : filii tui de longe venient, et filiae tuae de latere surgent. Tunc videbis et afflues, mirabitur et dilatabitur cor tuum, quando conversa fuerit ad te multitudo maris, fortitudo gentium venerit tibi.
Inundation camelorum operiet te, dromedarii Madian et Epha : omnes de Saba venient, aurum et thus deferentes, et laudem Domino annuntiantes.
English translation
Arise, be enlightened, o Jerusalem, for your Light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist shall cover the people, but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall walk in your light, and kings in the brightness of your rising.
Lift up your eyes round about and see, all these are gathered together, they have come to you, your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall rise up at your side. Then you shall see, and abound, and your heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to you, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to you.
The multitudes of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Median and Epha, all those from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord.
Liturgical Colour : White
Introit
Malachi 3 : 1 and Psalm 71 : 1
Ecce, advenit dominator Dominus : et regnum in manu ejus et potestas et imperium.
Deus, judicium Tuum Regida : et justitiam Tuam Filio Regis.
Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
Behold the Lord the Ruler has come, and a kingdom in His hand, and power and dominion.
Give to the King Your judgment, o God, and to the King’s Son Your justice.
Response : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Collect
Deus, qui hodierna die Unigenitum Tuum gentibus stella duce revelasti : concede propitius; ut, qui jam Te ex fide cognovimus, usque ad contemplandam speciem Tuae celsitudinis perducamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
English translation
O God, You who by the guidance of a star had revealed this day Your only begotten Son to the Gentiles, mercifully grant that we, who know You now by faith, may be so led as to behold with our eyes the beauty of Your majesty. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the testimonies of faith through the Scripture passages we heard, and we listened how St. John the Evangelist and Apostle spoke of the three testimonies of the water, Blood and the Spirit. These testimonies all agree that the Lord has come into the world, and He has done all that He had said He would do amongst us, and through the witnesses of the Apostles and the saints, His marvellous love for us had been made evident.
And the love of God was made real and evident in none other than the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who willingly assumed our human flesh and be born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, to dwell among us, that God’s love become a reality and a tangible experience for all of humanity, through the singular act of ultimate love which He has given to all of us.
In the Gospel passage today, we heard of the series of the ancestors of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to show that He was born into the race of man, which after many generations eventually came from God. Thus, everything in a sense come to a full circle, as God Himself became counted among those He had created, but yet, at the same time, He remained God as ever, never diminished in His majesty and authority, and neither was His divinity changed in any manner.
All of these was simply because of God’s great and incomparable love for all of us mankind, those whom He has willingly made to become His own adopted sons and daughters. It was God’s love for us that He gave us the ultimate gift above all else, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, born into our midst, and through Whom, He willingly revealed to us the full extent of His love, made evident none other than through the cross, upon which hung the Most Holy and Precious Body of Our Lord.
He Himself said to His disciples, that there is no greater love than for someone to lay down his or her life for a friend. And Jesus Our Lord has considered us all His friends, as those who are precious to Him. By His willing sacrifice, He endured all the entirety of the unimaginably heavy burdens of our sins, our combined faults and mistakes, all of our disobedience and shortcomings, by bearing the heavy cross, all the way to Calvary.
The testimonies mentioned earlier in today’s discourse prove this great love of God, as at the moment of the crucifixion and death of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, that through water, the holy water of baptism, all of us have been saved by accepting Him as Our Lord and Saviour, and becoming God’s own children. Through the water of baptism, we are united to the loving sacrifice of Our Lord which saves us and redeems us.
At the time when the Lord Jesus was baptised in the water of the River Jordan, the testimony of the water and the Spirit came ringing true, witnessed by many. The Holy Spirit descended from the heavens, and the voice of God the Father Himself declared that Jesus is the Son of God, the Most Beloved of all, through Whom He would made all of His designs on us mankind into a reality.
And last of all, the testimony of the Blood is the strongest of all, for the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Himself was spilled from the altar of the cross of Calvary. The Blood purifies us and saves us, just as the blood of the sacrificial lambs and animals became the offerings for the forgiveness of the sins of Israel in the ages past. The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord has washed us clean, through the works of the Holy Spirit and by the will of the Father, and by the obedience of the Son, working together to effect and bring about our salvation.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us need to reflect on our own lives, on whether we have understood all these beautiful and wondrous mysteries of Our Lord, Who loved us so much that He was willing to forgive us our many sins and overlook our trespasses, so long as we are willing to be forgiven, and willing to repent from our sinful ways. God has loved us so much, in so many ways, and yet, many of us have not realised this, and we still continue to live in sin and disobedience against Him.
As Christians, all of us believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and He is God’s ultimate expression of love for us mankind, His people, His beloved children. Therefore, as we are all also made God’s children through adoption, by the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ into this world, God sharing in our humanity and dwelling among us, let us all walk faithfully in His ways and show our exemplary faith and ways, that hopefully many others will come to see the truth as well and believe.
May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to strengthen our faith and empower us all to become ever more courageous in living our faith with devotion, day after day. May God bless us all, and sanctify us, that all of our works and endeavours will always be for the greater glory of His Name. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Mark 1 : 7-11
John preached to the people, saying, “After me comes One Who is more powerful than I am; I have baptised you with water, but He will baptise you in the Holy Spirit.”
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth, a town of Galilee, and was baptised by John in the Jordan. And the moment He came up out of the water, heaven opened up before Him, and He saw the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove. And these words were heard from heaven, “You are My Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen.”
Alternative reading
Luke 3 : 23-38
When Jesus made His appearance, He had reached the age of thirty years. He was known as the Son of Joseph, whose father and forefathers were : Heli, Matthat, Levi, Melchi, Jannai, Joseph, Matthathias, Amos, Nahum, Esli, Naggai, Maath, Mattathias, Semein, Josech, Joda, Joanan, Rhesa, Zerubbabel, Shealtiel, Neri, Melchi, Addi, Cosam, Elmadam, Er, Joshua, Eliezer, Jorim, Matthat, Levi, Simeon, Judah, Joseph, Jonam, Eliakim, Melea, Menna, Mattatha, Nathan, David, Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahson, Amminadab, Adnim, Arni, Hezron, Perez, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah, Nahor, Serug, Reu, Peleg, Eber, Shelah, Cainan, Arphaxad, Shem, Noah, Lamech, Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Malaleel, Cainan, Enos, Seth and Adam – who was from God.
Alternative reading (shorter version)
Luke 3 : 23, 31-34, 36, 38
When Jesus made His appearance, He had reached the age of thirty years. He was known as the Son of Joseph, whose father and forefathers were : Heli, Melea, Menna, Mattatha, Nathan, David, Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahson, Amminadab, Adnim, Arni, Hezron, Perez, Judah, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah, Nahor, Cainan, Arphaxad, Shem, Noah, Lamech, Enos, Seth and Adam – who was from God.
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