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Let the Scriptures Speak
Epiphany of the Lord C
January 3, 2016
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Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance. (Is 60:3)
Lumen Gentium
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The prophet that we call “Third Isaiah,”
writing after the return of the Judeans to their homeland
from Babylon, looks ahead to a time of even further
restoration, when Zion would so reflect the light of God
that the nations would flock to it. It is a renewal of the
vision expressed long before by First Isaiah, picturing a
time when all nations would stream toward Jerusalem to
learn Torah and beat swords into plowshares (Is 2:2-5).
Further, today's reading echoes the songs of Second
Isaiah, who envisioned Servant Israel missioned as a
“light to the nations.” Matthew's account of the Magi
worshiping the child Jesus reflects the early Church's
conviction that the Christ's coming began to fulfill that
vision of Isaiah. When the authors of Vatican II chose the
phrase Lumen Gentium to name the Dogmatic
Constitution of the Church, they meant to remind us that
the vision of the People of God as a “light for the
nations” still beckons.
Dennis Hamm, SJ
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Fr. Hamm is emeritus professor of the New Testament
at Creighton University in Omaha. He has published
articles in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, The
Journal Of Biblical Literature, Biblica, The Journal
for the Study of the New Testament, America, Church;
and a number of encyclopedia entries, as well as the
book, The Beatitudes in Context (Glazier, 1989), and
three other books.
Copyright © 2001, Dennis Hamm, SJ
All rights reserved.
Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal
or parish use.
Art by Martin Erspamer, O.S.B.
from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A,
B, and C).
Used by permission of Liturgy Training Publications. This
art may be reproduced only by parishes who purchase the
collection in book or CD-ROM form. For more information go
to:
http://www.ltp.org/
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