Epiphany
Epiphany season begins on January 6 and ends on Shrove Tuesday,
the last day before Lent. (In the Roman Catholic calendar,
Epiphany is celebrated as a single day, and the weeks between
January 6 and Ash Wednesday are counted as the first part of
Ordinary Time, which continues after the close of Easter
season.)
An epiphany is a revelation – a sudden, often-intuitive
sighting of the essence that lies behind the world’s mask. For
Christians, Epiphany celebrates the visit of the Magi to the
infant Jesus, and the recognition that Christ came to Earth for
all people.
Matthew 2 : 1 - 2; 9b - 11a
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” …They set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother…
An
epiphany comes at a turning point on the road. A place where the
trip expands into something larger than it seemed at first. A
moment that changes not only the route and destination, but also
the pilgrim.
Every Epiphany comes with its own journey. And every journey
starts with the will and courage (or in some cases, the
harebrained craziness) to set out on the road, and to be
vulnerable to change.
By the grace of God, this will, courage, craziness, and
vulnerability seems to be built right into us.
Dear God, who made the rocks just the way they are,
rising from the earth;
Who made the stars just the way they are,
red stars dying and new stars being born;
Who made the wind just the way it is,
bending a tree or breaking it;
Who made the waters just the way they are,
cold soup running with live ingredients;
Who made the mule deer just the way it is,
stepping from forest shade into meadow light;
Who made the gray mole just the way it is,
digging deep;
Who made us, who made me, just the way I am,
blood-filled and trembling, trying to move:
How do I love myself with your love?
Speak to me now, I beseech you.
How do I love others with your love?
Speak to me now, I beseech you.
How do I love You with your love?
Speak to me now, I beseech you.
Amen
Prayer excerpted from Stumbling Toward God, A Prodigal’s Return, by Margaret D. McGee.
These Prayers of the People
were first used at Sunday services on 16 November 2008 (the 27th
Sunday after Pentecost) at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Port
Townsend, Washington. They were written by Thomas Robb.
Tom’s prayers have a “new year” feel to me—a sense of looking
forward with hope and resolve for new beginnings. They also
contain the Epiphany theme of
discovery—discovery that there may be more to the Incarnation,
to God-with-us, than first appears.
More about
responsive prayer.
Oh God, lover of peace and concord,
(Leader's words in plain text.)
Bless and prosper the ministries
(People's responses in bold italic.)
of all the shepherds you have sent to care for us.
Lead our “fractious Body of Christ”
to love one another as you love us.
Oh God, from whom all authority flows,
Guide and inspire all of those to whom we entrust power
and authority in this world. Grant wisdom and courage to our new
president for the many and difficult tasks ahead of him.
Oh God, lover of all creation,
Inspire us to worthy stewardship of the Earth and all its
creatures which you have given into our care, to hold in trust
for our children and our children’s children.
Oh God, whose creativity is wild beyond all we imagine or all we
can imagine,
Bless and keep under your wings our marvelously diverse
and creative community. Transform our differences into our
strengths. Inspire us to use that creativity to weather this
economic storm for the good of all.
Oh God, we lift up those of us who are suffering,
Carry them in your loving and merciful arms, Lord. Inspire
us to soothe their pain and help you mend their wounded bodies
and minds. Let us always see you in their faces.
Oh God, who created us to dance with you forever,
Welcome our dear departed into your joy and unimaginable
peace. Comfort those of us who mourn their loss, who so deeply
miss their friendship and their loving touch.
Oh God, be with us as we pray together today,
Help us to pray with our hands and our feet as well as
with our lips.
Inspire us to pray always and everywhere.
Grant us the grace to become the prayer and to rest in you, our
blessed beginning and perfect end.
Amen!
Note
Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal
Church, used the phrase “fractious Body of Christ” on November
2, 2008, in remarks in which she asserted that people on all
sides of the current tensions in the Episcopal Church are
saints. She wasn’t the first person to use the term “fractious”
to refer to the greater Church, and I doubt if she’ll be the
last.
-- Margaret
These Prayers of the People
were first used in the 2007 Epiphany Eve service at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church in Port Townsend, Washington.
In the silences throughout these prayers, you are invited to hold
up to God, either silently or aloud, the names of those you
remember especially today. More about
responsive prayer.
Bathed in starlight, we pray together (Leader's words in plain text.)
to the One who created all things, saying,
Show us your child, O God,
For we observed a new star at its rising (People's responses in bold italic.)
and have traveled far, bearing gifts.
Make your wisdom in its rich variety known through all faithful people, and give your holy church grace to bear the gifts of truth and love to all your children on earth.
[silence, for all faithful people and
ministers]
Show us your child, O God,
For we walk together in faith.
Give your justice to the nations and their leaders, and give
your mercy to all whose decisions affect the peace and
well-being of the world. Where we have power ourselves, open our
ears to the cries of the weak, the poor, and the needy, and open
our hearts to answer their call.
[silence, for leaders and decision-makers]
Show us your child, O God,
For we walk together in hope.
Bless this community, that in your light we may each become a
servant, one to the other. Bring us together in story, song,
joy, and sorrow; and let every daughter and son who comes among
us find kinship in this place.
[silence, for this community]
Show us your child, O God,
For we walk together in love.
Have mercy on those among us who journey in sickness, fear, or
any kind of trouble. Meet them on your road with rest, peace,
and good cheer.
[silence, for those with pain or sickness in
body or spirit]
Show us your child, O God,
For we walk together by your side.
We remember those who have died.
[silence, for the dead]
Your star goes before them. Show them your child, O God,
For they have traveled far to be with you.
Dear God, with longing and thanksgiving, knowing that you hold
this world and all its children dear in your heart, we pray this
night for the grace to receive your gifts, to lift up our eyes
and look around, and to offer back those same gifts to you and
your world, with love.
Show us your child, O God,
For we observed a new star at its rising and have traveled
far, bearing gifts.
To the One who is the road on which we travel, our companion
along the way, and our journey’s end, we pray in boldness and
confidence through faith in Christ Jesus,
Amen.
Bible
references
The
call, “Show us your child, O God” and the various refrains are
inspired by the story of the Magi as told in Matthew 2.
Language about the mission of the church and the phrase “in
boldness and confidence through faith…” are taken from
Ephesians 3.
Language and inspiration about bringing God’s justice to the
world comes from Psalm 72.
The phrase “to look up our eyes and look around” and inspiration
for the reference to daughters and sons comes from Isaiah 60.
These prayers were first used on January 18, 2009 at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church in Port Townsend, Washington—two days before
the inauguration of Barack Obama as the new President of the
United States.
When we pray for the President in our Sunday prayers, the text
is commonly structured so that the given name is pronounced by
the leader, not the people. In this case, I thought it right for
the names of both our out-going and in-coming Presidents to be
said by all the congregation.
These prayers take language and inspiration from the scripture
readings for the second Sunday after the Epiphany, which you can
find on
The Lectionary Page.
Living God, Friend of the Heart, Spirit of Life, (Leader's words in plain text.)
we stand together in your presence.
Your hand is laid upon each one of us. (People's responses in bold italic.)
Our ears tingle with words of truth and justice.
May we let none of your words fall to the ground.
We pray for this nation.
For George, our President, and for Barack, our
President-elect. For Congress, for judges and courts. For all
elected and appointed officials, both in our nation’s Capitol
and here at home.
[Pause for individual prayers.]
We pray for all those touched by war in the world: for soldiers
and civilians, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters,
daughters and sons.
In the darkest hour, we pray with hope. In a world torn by
war, we pray for peace.
[Pause for individual prayers.]
We pray for anyone who is sick, suffering, alone, or afraid.
For every hurting heart.
[Pause for individual prayers.]
We pray for those who have died.
And for all who mourn.
[Pause for individual prayers.]
We pray for the Church and her ministers.
For all faithful people, and for everyone who carries your
good news into the world.
[Pause for individual prayers.]
In our sitting down and rising up, in our journeys and our
resting places, we walk with you always by our side, and we find
you waiting for us when we arrive.
Holy, Holy, Holy, we stand together in your presence.
An audio reading from my book Sacred Attention,
Chapter 3, "To See with New Eyes."
In most browsers, clicking the link above will play
the audio MP3 file over your computer's speakers.
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and choose "Save Target As..." to directly save
the MP3 file to your computer.
Photo by Rose McGee.