The readings we have today for the Feast of the Epiphany remind me of the word catholic (with a small “c”). The word catholic is not found in the Bible, by the way, but what it means is found everywhere in the Bible. Catholic means universal, inclusive, all-embracing. It was coined and applied to the Church around the year 110 by St. Ignatius of Antioch. If we are to keep calling ourselves the Catholic Church, then the challenge is to ...
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For the longest time I would get confused between the terms “astronomy” and “astrology.” I knew they both had to do with the stars, but after that the confusion set in. Astronomy is the scientific study of space, the universe, the cosmos. It’s based on math and science, and it’s goal is to help explain phenomena. Astrology, on the other hand, is not a science, but a pseudoscience that tries to explain human behavior based on the position of celestial ...
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Is It All About the Gifts?
On a social media post, I once read that if it had been three wise women instead of three wise men, the gifts offered at the birth of Jesus would have been far more practical. Every year when we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, I think of that, and chuckle. This year, however, I have been reflecting a lot on gifts in general: what they represent, how they are given, how they are received ...
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On this last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year, the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe, we have a couple of readings that are as bizarre as last Sunday’s readings. The first reading from the Book of Daniel and the second reading from the Book of Revelation fall under the category of “apocalyptic” readings. You may have heard the word “apocalypse”; it means revelations. Some truth, hidden until now, is about to be revealed. The word “epiphany”, one of ...
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While away in Ottawa last week, and staying with my youngest brother, Todd, he introduced me to a wonderful show called Fake or Fortune. It’s been airing in Britain for about 12 years and has to do with art. (Europeans, in general, have much more of an appreciation for art than we, North Americans, do). I’ve just seen a couple of episodes, but I’m already hooked. The show deals with ordinary people, like ourselves, who have a piece of art ...
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Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. We celebrate the revelation that Jesus was born as the Son of God. Today’s Gospel illustrates this revelation through the story of the three Magi ( Wise Men) who travelled to visit Jesus following His birth.
“There ahead of them went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ...
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