SacredSpace102fm was a weekly programme produced by "Come & See Inspirations" in West Limerick. The programme included inspirational music, chat, interviews, what’s on locally and not so locally and a reflection on the Sunday gospel reading of the day. It was presented by John Keily, regular panelists, contributors and invited guests. Programmes are available to be listened to online on our podcast pages.
The Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany dates from a time when calendars were not too readily available. It was necessary to make known the date of Easter in advance, since many celebrations of the liturgical year depend on its date. The number of weeks that follow Epiphany, the date of Ash Wednesday and the number of Sundays that follow Pentecost are all computed in relation to Easter. Although calendars now give the date of Easter and the other feasts in the liturgical year for many years in advance, the Epiphany Proclamation still has value. it is a reminder of the centrality of the resurrection of the Lord in the liturgical year and the importance of the great mysteries of faith which are celebrated each year.
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
The glory of the Lord has shown upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return. Through the rhythms of times and seasons, let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.
Let us recall the year's culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord: His Last Supper, His Crucifixion, His Burial and His Rising, celebrated between teh evening of the 21st of April and the evening of the 24th of April.
Each Easter - as on each Sunday - the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has forever conquered sin and death.
From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy. Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the 9th of March. The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the 5th of June. Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the 12th of June. And this year, the First Sunday of Advent will be on the 27th of November.
Likewise, the pilgrim Church proclaims the passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and the Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.
To Jesus Christ, who was, who is and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever.
Amen.
This beautiful proclamation puts everything into perspective. Every liturgical celebration of the Church finds its authentic meaning in the Paschal Mystery, even Christmas. The Paschal Mystery was precisely why the Eternal Son of the Father, the Eternal Word, deigned to leap down from heaven and become incarnate in the womb of the Blessed Virign Mary. He was born in time so that He could give His flesh for the life of the world.
Arise, shine out, Jerusalem; for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.
Isaiah 60:1-6
Today we celebrate Epiphany which is feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. On this feast, Western Christians commemorate principally the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the Baby Jesus, i.e., his manifestation to the Gentiles; Eastern Christians commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. It is also called Theophany, especially by Eastern Christians.
St Matthew tells us (2:1-12) that Wise Men came from out of the east seeking the new born child as the Messiah of the whole world not just for the people of Israel. Their homage to him upon locating him in Bethleham is representative of the whole world who adore the Holy Child and recognise his Divine Kingship, he who is the Light of the World.
"The light that shone in the night at Christmas illuminating the Bethlehem Grotto, where Mary, Joseph and the shepherds remained in silent adoration, shines out today and is manifested to all. The Epiphany is a mystery of light, symbolically suggested by the star that guided the Magi on their journey. The true source of light, however, the “sun that rises from on high” (cf. Lk 1: 78), is Christ.
In the mystery of Christmas, Christ’s light shines on the earth, spreading, as it were, in concentric circles. First of all, it shines on the Holy Family of Nazareth: the Virgin Mary and Joseph are illuminated by the divine presence of the Infant Jesus. The light of the Redeemer is then manifested to the shepherds of Bethlehem, who, informed by an Angel, hasten immediately to the grotto and find there the “sign” that had been foretold to them: the Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger (cf. Lk 2: 12).
The shepherds, together with Mary and Joseph, represent that “remnant of Israel”, the poor, the anawim, to whom the Good News was proclaimed.
Finally, Christ’s brightness shines out, reaching the Magi who are the first-fruits of the pagan peoples."
Pope Benedict XVI, Epiphany 2008, continue reading here We join with the psalmist (Psalm 44) and the Magi and all the Heavenly Court in praising the Prince of Peace:
My heart overflows with noble words.
To the king I must speak the song I have made,
my tongue as nimble as the pen of a scribe.
You are the fairest of the people on earth
and graciousness is poured upon your lips,
because God has blest you for evermore.
Your throne, O God, shall endure for ever.
A scepter of justice is the scepter of your kingdom,
Your love is for justice, your hatred for eil.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness above other kings;
your robes are fragrant with aloes and myrrh.
From the ivory palace you are greeted with music.
The daughters of kings are among your loved ones.
On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
An interesting take courtesy of the English Dominicans of Epiphany from the point of view of Grumpy the Camel of Melchior.
Well now that the New Year has finally arrived and people are settling back into their usual routines, it is time to get back to our normal routine here at Sacred Space 102fm. Given that Ireland still celebrates Epiphany on January 6th we will have some posts later in the week around it, including the Epiphany Announcement and some thoughts and reflections for you to have a look at.
To start off the New Year we begin with a round up of some interesting links and reads we came across over the Christmas and thought you might like to have a look at:
First off we have the links to the various talks and messages of Pope Benedict XVI during the various celebrations:
One of the things that grabbed media attention was Pope Benedict XVI's participation with BBC 4 on their "Thought for the Day" programme. You can find the text here or listen to the recording here.
There is a lot to think and reflect on in these messages if you have the time.
For those of us in Ireland, we have had a stressful bit of time during the last few weeks with excessive snow and ice and now water supply problems; but Nonie over at Hope in a time of worry has some interesting thoughts about the whole issue of having hope. Take a run over and have a look, bounce her stats and say hi from us.
Eric Sammons has a big challenge for us - Read the Bible and Catechism this year. St Jerome said that ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ and in an age when people think they know what the Church teaches about various things but more often then not have it wrong, maybe we should dip in and out of the Catechism and see what is actually taught! Eric provides a link to a guide to take you through the year if you are interested.
In case you hadn't noticed, some of us here on Sacred Space 102fm are big fans of Elizabeth Scalia over at First Things who blogs as the Anchoress. We don't always agree with her by the way and some times her pieces have a very USA focus - but heck that is only natural, she is from the USA - but she had some interesting pieces during the Christmas including Surrender unto surrender
There was an interesting liturgical review from of all places the Washington Post during the Christmas focusing on the different styles of liturgy under the last two papal masters of ceremony with some reaction around the blogosphere with an interesting one from Tim Muldoon about the role of tradition. Given the whole issue of the new translation of the Mass into English and the role of liturgy, it is something which we will discuss again here in 2011.
Tim also blogs over at Patheos.com and notes that "Underneath the multiple layers of cultural memory associated with the Christmas season lies a striking theological claim. The author of the gospel of Matthew writes it this way: "They shall name him Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us'" (1:23). What does this claim mean today?" Continue reading here.
Again we have had another attack on our fellow Christians in a predominantly Muslim country by extremists. Fr Stephan Wang has various links to the story over the Christmas including to Aid to the Church in Need. At the same time, Rome Reports has a short piece about the 23 missionaries who died under violent circumstances in 2010. Please pray for all persecuted Christians who are in fear of their lives for their faith around the world and pray for missionaries who daily risk their lives to proclaim the gospel.
The issue of time and creating space to be with God was taken up by a few bloggers around New Years day:
