Epiphany: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
>> Wednesday, January 6, 2010
So, I am on silent retreat, but I scheduled this post for Today:
Yo... Today is the day when officially the Universal Church celebrates the Epiphany. Yes, most countries, like the United States, celebrate it on the Sunday between January 2nd and January 8... but traditionally January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany. And so no, I am not late.
This should bring a bit of mental peace for you who always wondered about the Christmas Carol the 12 days of Christmas. Yup, that's right, it's 12 days from December 25th to January 6th. And on the 12th day of Christmas, which is the Feast of the 3 Kings, or the Epiphany, we are supposed to share gifts. Hence the whole Maids-a-Milking and truckloads of fowl we always here during Christmas time. *Jaw drop* Give gifts on the day that the Kings brought gifts to Jesus... What a beautiful parallel.
Wow. Our Church is beautiful.
Anyway... Hit the jump for my 3 gifts to you.
Gold:
Gold represents the kingship of Christ. In other words it is symbolic of the power and the glory Christ demands. So with that, your first gift is the lyrics to the song a bunch of us wrote, All Glory to You:
[Yea, I know. I am regifting something I already gave away. But technically no, because I have not given anyone the lyrics yet. =P So there.]
CHORUS
Sacrifice pride
Live your truth
Spread your word
All glory to you
x2
Girls:
I will give you all my glory
You deserve all of my praise
I will live my life for you
Because you are the way [Guys Echo: The one and only way]
You are the life and the truth
And every single day I'll give my heart to you
Everything that I am I give to you
In everything I do
All glory to you
CHORUS
V2 [Guys]:
Angels of the lord, bless the Lord
All you hosts of the lord, bless the Lord
Sun and moon, stars in the sky
Lightning clouds, snow and ice
Fire, heat, dew and rain
Light and darkness night and day
Everything that the eye can see
Praise and exalt Him for eternity
Mountains and hills, rivers and seas
Dolphins and birds and all of the beasts
Servants of the lord, priests of the Lord
Men of humble heart and just soul
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good
Forever and ever his mercy endures
Let everything on earth cry out
All Glory to you
CHORUS
V3 [Guys and Girls]
Girls sing Verse 1, Guys Sing Verse 2
CHORUS
Descant (Over Chorus)
All glory to my king
the lord of everything
For you alone i sing
All glory to my king
CHORUS
All Glory to You... Repeat for however long
NB: This is ideally how the lyrics would be broken up, but given the fact I do not have too many females to work with out here in the seminary, and there was not a lot of time to work on it in Vallejo, I am not sure how well the mesh works. Enjoy. Eddy and I are working on a teaching vid, so chyea...
Frankincense:
Frankincense is a symbol of Christs priestly ministry. The source and summit of ministry is the Eucharist. The Eucharist which incorporates Christ's passion, death and resurrection, is often seen by non-Catholics as neo-pagan idolatry, or an antique fairy tale. Catholics, however, see it as the pinnacle of God's love, from which all Grace flows. After all, the Eucharist is Christ himself.
Now, my gift to you here is a defense of that great love. As Catholics we often get attacked for our faith in ways other Christians do not. I wrote this paper in my Survey of the Catholic faith class, and I share it with you here in order to provide a way to respond to those who say that the Eucharist is not biblical, or that Christ was merely speaking symbolically. Here you go:
Myrrh:
Myrrh is often considered a "sad" gift because it represents death. In the mystery of the incarnation it represents the sacrifice that Christ will undertake, a foreshadowing of the Cross. However, it is also a symbol of the mission which Christ has accepted. With that being said, myrrh represents a "joyful" acceptance of the Cross and one's vocation.
So my last gift has to do with those who joyfully accept their mission. See, I adore cloistered nuns. And what's better than cloistered nuns in habits? Cloistered nuns in habits doing fun, silly, joyful things. Here is your final gift, nuns in habits having fun.
And there's a video.
Well that's it on the gifts.
I hope those pictures have got you interested in VOCATIONS AWARENESS WEEK 2010, which starts on Sunday.
If you are looking for a gift to give me in return... Well I don't ask for much... how about a Nexus One? Hahaha. No, seriously. I am starting a fund.
Enjoy your week.
Oh... and keep playing the Christmas music, the Vatican celebrates until Sunday, so can you. =)
0 comments:
Post a Comment