Sunday Reflections

First Reading:            Isaiah 60:1-6
Second Reading:       Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel:                      Matthew 2.1-12 – The Visit of the Wise Men

Being a Visible Witness

As we continue along in this wondrous season of Christmas, we are invited to reflect on the Epiphany of the Lord this Sunday. The word epiphany means “to make manifest” or “to make known.” So on this feast day we are celebrating how God made himself known to all the nations, which is symbolized through the visit of the foreign Magi. As stewards, we are called to help the Church in her efforts to continue to make Christ known to the ends of the earth.

The way of stewardship is essentially a call to evangelization. The greatest gift we can share with others is not money or food, but the knowledge and love of Christ. Pope Francis says that “we cannot keep ourselves shut up in parishes, in our communities, when so many people are waiting for the Gospel!” We must go out of our comfort zone to bring others to Jesus.

One way we can evangelize others is by simply living as visible Catholic disciples in our world. In today’s secular culture, any act of religiosity is seen as a radical witness of our faith. For example, whenever we are eating in public, we can begin with the sign of the cross and our grace before meals. Moreover, St. John Paul II said that we should not be “ashamed to recite the Rosary alone, while you walk along the streets to school, to the university or to work, or as you commute by public transport.” Let us strive to be a sign of our faith to the world.

Summary

The feast of the Epiphany of the Lord celebrates how God made himself known to all the nations, which is symbolized through the visit of the foreign Magi. As stewards, we are called to help the Church in her efforts to make Christ known to the ends of the earth and we can do this by simply being a visible witness of our faith. Let us strive to make small actions that display our love for Christ such as saying grace before meals in public, praying the rosary on the bus or saying “God bless you” when someone sneezes or we say goodbye.

https://www.archtoronto.org/stewardship