and they were not spectacular things. It is much the same with us in our life of prayer: the Spirit fills us as we grow, develop and make room.
We get notions sometimes that we ought to spring up quickly like seed on stony ground, we ought to show some startling sign of spiritual growth. But perhaps we are only asked to go on quietly, to be a child, a nice stocky seedling, not shooting up in a hurry, but making root, being docile to the great slow rhythm of life. When you don’t see any startling marks of your own religious condition or your usefulness to God, think of the baby in the stable and the little boy in the streets of Nazareth. The very life was there which was to change the whole history of the human race. There was not much to show for it. But there is entire continuity between the stable and the Easter garden and the thread that unites them is the will of God. The childlike simple prayer of Nazareth was the right preparation for the awful privilege of the cross. Just so the light of the Spirit is to unfold gently and steadily within us, till at last our final stature, all God designed for us, is attained.
The Second Sunday of Christmas
A Reading from a sermon of Augustine
Beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Creator of all things, today became our Saviour by being born of a mother. Of his own will he was born for us in time, so that he could lead us to his Father’s eternity. God became human like us so that we might become God. The Lord of the angels became one of us today so that we could eat the bread of angels.
Today, the prophecy is fulfilled that said: ‘Pour down, heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness: let the earth be opened and bring forth a Saviour.’ The Lord who had created all things is himself now created, so that he who was lost would be found. Thus humanity, in the words of the psalmist, confesses: ‘Before I was humbled, I sinned.’ We sinned and became guilty; God is born as one of us to free us from our guilt. We fell, but God descended; we fell miserably, but God descended mercifully; we fell through pride, God descended with his grace.
What miracles! What wonders! The laws of nature are changed in the case of humankind. God is born. A virgin becomes pregnant. The Word of God marries the woman who knows no man. She is now at the same time both mother and virgin. She becomes a mother, yet she remains a virgin. The virgin bears a son, yet she does not know a man; she remains untouched, yet she is not barren.
EPIPHANY
God never imparts himself as he is to those
who contemplate him while still in this mortal life,
but he shows forth his brightness scantily
to the blinking eyes of our mind.
Gregory the Great
Reconciling Peace, sent to the people,
Gladdening Flash, who came to the gloomy,
Powerful Leaven, conquering all in silence,
Patient One, who has captured the creation little by little.
Blessed is he who became small without limit
to make us great without limit.
Ephrem of Syria
The date of the Feast of the Epiphany relates to the custom of celebrating the Feast of the Nativity of Christ in the winter solstice. The north European pre-Christian tradition of celebrating the birth of the Sun on 25 December differed from the Mediterranean and Eastern tradition of observing 6 January as the solstice. As often happens, the two dates merged into a beginning and an end of the same celebration. The Western Church adopted ‘the twelve days of Christmas’ climaxing on the eve of Epiphany, or ‘Twelfth Night’. The implication by the fifth century was that this was the night on which the Magi arrived. The complications of dating became even more confused with the change from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar in the West, the Eastern Church refusing to participate in the change. So the Feast of the Epiphany remains the chief day of celebrating the incarnation in Orthodox Churches.
Proper readings focusing on the traditional themes of the feast, namely, the arrival of the Magi and the mystical significance of their gifts, the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan, and the miracle at Cana of Galilee – ‘the first of the signs that revealed his glory’ – are provided for The Epiphany and for the days that follow until the Sunday after the feast which is observed as The Baptism of Christ. If, for pastoral reasons, the celebration of the Epiphany is transferred to the Sunday between 2 and 8 January, then the provision of readings will need to be supplemented with unused material from the Christmastide section.
The subtitle of the Feast of the Epiphany in The Book of Common Prayer – ‘The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles’ – reminds us that, from the moment of the incarnation, the good news of Jesus Christ is for all: Jew and Gentile, the wise and the simple, male and female. The readings throughout the season resonate with this truth, celebrating the universality of God’s love, particularly as exemplified in the call of the disciples and in the public ministry of Jesus; and in the mission of the Church to embody it.
The season culminates on 2 February with The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, commonly known as Candlemas. According to St Luke, the occasion of Mary’s ritual purification was made memorable by Simeon the High Priest acclaiming the Christ-child as ‘the light of the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel’. Recent liturgical revision has restored the feast to its pivotal place in the calendar. It now forms the finale of the incarnational cycle and turns our attention towards the forthcoming passion.
The Epiphany
A Reading from a sermon of Peter Chrysologos, Bishop of Ravenna
In the mystery of our Lord’s incarnation there were clear indications of his eternal Godhead. Yet the great events we celebrate today disclose and reveal in different ways the fact that God himself took a human body. Mortals, enshrouded always in darkness, must not be left in ignorance, and so be deprived of what they can understand and retain only by grace.
In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us. He therefore reveals himself in this way, in order that this great sacrament of his love may not be an occasion for us of great misunderstanding.
Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars. Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, humankind in God, God in human flesh, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.
So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the firstfruits of the belief of the Gentiles.
Today Christ enters the Jordan to wash away the sin of the world. John himself testifies that this is why he has come: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.’ Today a servant lays his hand on the Lord, a man lays his hand on God. John lays his hand on Christ, not to forgive but to receive forgiveness.
Today, as the psalmist prophesied: ‘The voice of the Lord is heard – above the waters.’ What does the voice say? ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’
Today
