Discussion Questions

First Reading

Isaiah 60:1-6

F1. The First Reading says that, even though darkness covered the earth, still, light and glory came to Jerusalem. Are you aware of God’s light and glory? What about God’s actions in your life?
 
F2. Did Jerusalem have light of her own, apart from God? Were nations coming to her or just to the light? Was the star shining only for the people in Jerusalem or for all people everywhere? What do you think draws people to the Church today, power or tenderness? The light of proselytizing or of love? 

Second Reading

Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6

S1. Paul spoke of a mystery that brightened the whole world. What was it? Why was a star an integral part of the story?

S2. Paul says that a revelation was given him by the Spirit. He said that Christ’s life was too great to be limited to its starting place. His life was for all generations and not only the Jews but the Gentiles as well. All are “coheirs, members of the same body.” Did the star’s light shine on each and every person, precious and irreplaceable in God’s eyes? Does this mean that we all need each another?

Gospel

Matthew 2:1-12

G1. The Maji return home by another way” (Mt 2:12). Could that be a challenge for us to listen to the Holy Spirit who shows us new ways of thinking and opens new paths through synodality?

G2. The Maji give the gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. According to Pope Francis, what are the three gifts they received?

The first gift is the gift of the call. The Magi were not alerted because they had read the Scriptures or because they had seen a vision of angels, but they sensed it while they were studying the stars. … God calls us through our aspirations and our greatest desires. The Magi allowed themselves to be amazed and inconvenienced by the novelty of the star, and they set out on a journey towards the unknown. Educated and wise, they were fascinated more by what they did not know than by what they already knew. …We are called not to settle, to seek the Lord by stepping out of our comfort zone, journeying towards him with others. … For God calls … each one of us, every day. He calls us here and he calls us today, in our world.

But the Magi speak to us about a second gift: discernment. …

Finally, the Magi speak to us about a third gift: the surprise. After a long journey, what do these high-ranking men in society find? A baby with his mother (cf. v. 11): certainly, a tender scene, but not astonishing! They do not see the angels like the shepherds did, but they meet God in poverty. Perhaps they were expecting a powerful and prodigious Messiah, and they find a baby. And still, they do not think they made a mistake; they know how to recognize him. They welcome God’s surprise and experience their encounter with him with amazement, adoring him—in his littleness, they recognize God’s face. Humanly, we are all inclined to seek greatness, but it is a gift to know how to truly find it—to know how to find greatness in the littleness that God loves so much. For the Lord is encountered like this: in humility, in silence, in adoration, in the small and in the poor.

Pope Francis Angelus for the Epiphany
Jan 6, 2023

Anne Osdieck

**From Saint Louis University