Sunday 4 January 2026
The Epiphany of the Lord
Isaiah 60:1-6. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you – Ps 71(72):1-2, 7-8, 10-13. Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6. Matthew 2:1-12.
Lift up your eyes
You see plenty of cartoons about the Magi, the wise folk who arrive in Bethlehem in an aura of mystery. We get our word magician from Magi. Perhaps they were astrologers. One joke I enjoy suggests that had these travellers been women, they might have arrived with more practical gifts. Perhaps a casserole, a pile of nappies and even a bottle of wine might have been welcome. But the gifts of the Magi are symbolic. Gold is a gift for a king. Frankincense and myrrh are both used for embalming a body and remind us, even in the story of Jesus’ infancy, that he is destined for a painful sacrifice.
The first reading urges us to ‘lift up your eyes and look around’. This is what the Magi did. They took an arduous journey in search of God, and we are all called to that. At the start of a new year, let us lift up our own eyes. Let us consider the needs of the world and respond with a heart of faith.
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