The Feast of Ephiphany

Lord, like the three kings, I bring to You my gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. My gift of gold is the gift of my self. I am your precious child, a pearl of great price, ransomed from the death of sin by your death on the cross.  I give you my gift of frankincense, that is,  my worshiping You in prayer, in truth, in the Word, in faith and love, in service and in community living. I worship you, O my God and  my King, in all that I do and leave undone or said or left unsaid in order to do what is right. I give you my gift of myrrh, that is,  that in me that is in need of resuscitation by grace, in need  of being made new in the Eucharist and in the sacrament of Reconciliation, in forgiveness and repentance of sin; the pain connected with  my dying  to  sin and selfishness, unkindness and deceitfulness;  the losses in my life, real  or imaginary,  dreams left unrealized or blocked intentionally or unintentionally;  the losses of those who are dear to me--my grandparents, parents, identical twin Doris, my brother Joe, my nephew Punchy, my aunts and uncles and cousins,  community members and friends. 

You say to me, through Isaiah 43: 18-21: “No need to recall the past, no need to think about was done before. See, I am doing a new deed, even now it comes to light; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness [of your life],  paths in the wild...I am putting water in the wilderness (rivers in the wild) to give my chosen people [to give you to] drink. The people I have formed for myself will sing my praises….”  Your praises, O God, I sing with the angels and archangels, powers and dominions, who, with the Magi, surrounded your stable in Bethlehem and who, each day, surround our altars during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Thank you God, for all of these graces!