The Epiphany

After Jesus has been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, some wise men came to

Jerusalem from the east. "Where is he infant king of the Jews!" they asked. "We saw his star as it rose and have

come to do him homage." When  King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem.

He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ was

to be born. "At Bethlehem in Judaea," they told him, "for this is what the prophet wrote:

 

And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah,

for out of you will come a leader

who will shepherd my people Israel."

Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had

appeared, and he said "and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him

homage." Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star

they had seen rising; it went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled

them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their

knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and

myrrh. But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a

different way.

Matthew 2: 1 - 12  

 

The Holy Family / The Presentation of the Lord

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