Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord – the revelation that Jesus is a light to all nations. The magi are the first of many gentiles who will follow in their footsteps, including you and me. From the start of his life on earth, Jesus has come for all people but his kingdom will not be one that Herod – or anyone who covets power – will seek. The latter will only pretend to see the light, and their sight will be shadowed with fear. We have all experienced Epiphany….times when our night sky has been brightly lit, when our minds have been illumined, and when our hearts have been enlightened. When we live in the light, we are able to see that our lives, our families, our communities, no matter how humble, are glorious blessings. We respond to the light as the magi did – with gratitude, with honor, with gift. Unlike Herod who had worldly power, we are not weak with fear that we will lose our power. Because of his fear, he could only pretend to see the light that the magi were willing to share with him. We have seen the light!! Perhaps it was the day you bathed your first grandchild or the day you said “I love you” and knew that it was about more than romance and physical attraction. Perhaps it was the time you sat vigil with a dying loved one and knew that you were on holy ground. Perhaps a magnificent sunrise or sunset was an epiphany. Epiphany is also called “little Christmas” in many cultures. So we are called to pay forward this gift of light in our day-to-day experiences. Are we conscious of our responsibility to share the light? One way to share the light is to invite someone who may be experiencing darkness in their life to come to Alpha. Alpha starts January 22 & 24. Info and registration is at www.olmercy.com/ alpha.

As I mentioned, Epiphany in some cultures is known as “little Christmas” and gifts are exchanged. Fr. Mark and I would like thank everyone who celebrated Christmas Mass with us at OLM. You are gift to us! We also thank those who gifted us with so many goodies and personal gifts. We truly appreciate your kindness! We also want to thank our Art & Environment Committee and the many volunteers who worked hours to decorate our church and parish grounds. I hope you enjoyed the new location of our nativity scene this year. We thank all our musicians who make our Christmas season so joyful in song. Thanks to those who served in liturgical ministries at our Christmas season Masses. We are also grateful to our maintenance staff for their efforts to keep everything clean, in order and working properly. Thanks to our Hispanic community for the beautiful celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Posadas, and to our Filipino community for the wonderful celebration of Simbang Gabi. And our children in the Religious Education program did a delightful re-enactment of the Christmas story. Thanks to all our staff for their work to make our Christmas celebrations welcoming. Our outdoor nativity has a new figure this year – the “Drummer Boy”. This is a gift by Debbie Schremp to her mother Geraldine Schremp in memory of David Schremp who died in January 2018. David is the son of Geraldine and brother of Debbie. David played the drums. Thank you to the Schremp’s for this donation.

Blessed Christmas Season!

Fr Don