Thursday, January 8, 2026
Thursday after the Feast of Epiphany
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Children of Christ the King
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
On January 6, men and women in eastern Europe dive into freezing water to retrieve a crucifix, one traditional part of celebrating the annual Feast of Epiphany. In Italy and Spain children wake up to gifts and candy. And across the world, the Feast of Epiphany marks the twelfth and final day of Christmas … Of course on January 6 in 2021 remarkable events unfolded in Washington D.C., but they had to do with politics and disappointment, not the visit of the magi to Jesus in Bethlehem.
What happened this year – here and there and everywhere?
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Pope Leo continued his first year as the first American pope, the first pope born in Chicago. He closed the “Holy Door” to end the Jubilee year themed ‘Pilgrims of Hope,” and he asked us to seek peace.
Loving and seeking peace means protecting what is holy and, consequently, that which is newly born like a small, vulnerable, fragile baby. Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything. We see how the marketplace can turn human yearnings of seeking, traveling, and beginning again into a mere business.
The way of hope leads us through the minefield of our egos into love. On this path we will take physical and emotional risks, and we must trust God’s guidance even when we are blind.
The pope made what EWTN called a “pointed appeal” for peace in his prayer.
May strangers and enemies become brothers and sisters. In the place of inequality, may there be fairness, and may the industry of war be replaced by the craft of peace. As weavers of hope, let us journey together towards the future by another road.
On this Thursday after Epiphany, this road beckons me to make my own small step for mankind. Regardless of what might be happening in the back room, the power of God’s word is never defeated.
Jesus said to his listeners in the synagogue,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words
that came from his mouth.
Our lectionary passage ends with a fragile bubble of acceptance and praise lingering over the people in the synagogue at Nazareth, as they listened to the scripture preached by their native son. But all did not “speak highly of him” very long. After Jesus’ next words the people turned on him. They tried to stone him and throw him over a cliff. He passed through the mob and walked away.
Whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.
In Bethlehem when he was only two, Herod sought to kill Jesus. Now, nearly thirty years later he was almost killed after preaching in a synagogue. Then a few years after this he would be confronted, arrested, questioned, whipped and tortured, and finally crucified before his family and friends.
Jesus took risks. He resisted arrogance and power, and he refused to settle for the simple warm blanket of a peasant’s life. Jesus sought out children wherever he went, insisting that those children in their unquestioning innocence were closer to the Kingdom of heaven than their cautious, uncertain parents.
This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God will also love his brother.
The willingness of Jesus to identify with the “least of these,” as he called them, fills me with awe, and a desire to do likewise.
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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