“Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory” (Is 60, 1-2).

God’s choices are unpredictable. In our wildest imaginations we could never imagine the sequence of salvation history that we celebrate on this Feast of Epiphany.

God chose an insignificant people, the Jews and Jerusalem, and from among them God chose an equally insignificant Jewish virgin, Mary. Through them, God chose to reveal mystery of God’s plan for the salvation of the entire world.

Today we celebrate the revealing of God’s plan beyond the Jews to the world: “The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All  kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him”( Ps 72, 10-11).

In his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul exalts that the mystery of salvation treasured by the Jewish people as their exclusive possession is also intended by God for the salvation of the Gentiles, the world beyond the Jews, ”It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed . . . that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph3: 5-6).

We Gentiles are coheirs of the promises of God!

God chose us!

And so we ask ourselves: How central to our lives is our personal relationship with Jesus Christ?  Do we take this gift for granted or do we grow each year, each day, in treasuring the gift of faith in Jesus Christ?

The prayer from “Godspell” -- originally from St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, 1245-1253 -- seems especially fitting for the Epiphany:

“Lord, May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day! “