Tuesday, January 4, 2022
The Feast of the Three Kings is celebrated on January 6 in many cultures around the world. Today we re-post a reflection first written in 2015.
Joy and the Magi
The New Testament Letters bring us the good news that the risen Christ still walks with us each day. Paul, Peter, James and John remind the faithful that although much has been asked of Christ’s followers, much is also given. With them, we remember that there is always hope when we are overcome by doubt, always light that will pierce the darkness, and always joy, even in days of deep and unrelenting grief. Today Jude – like the Magi whose visit to the stable we celebrate today – calls us to discover the true identity of the Christ Child. Jesus as the true joy of the world.
“This letter is by its address attributed to “Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Since he is not identified as an apostle, this designation can hardly be meant to refer to the Jude or Judas who is listed as one of the Twelve. The person is almost certainly the other Jude, named in the gospels among the relatives of Jesus, and the James who is listed as his brother is the one to whom the letter of James is attributed. Nothing else is known of this Jude”. (Senior 396)
Jude 1:24-25: Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand joyful and faultless in his glorious presence, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and for all eternity! Amen.
Jude’s letter contains just twenty-five verses. Visit with his words today. Compare the International Standard Version (ISV) with others found at the scripture link above, and allow God’s joy to settle into your day.
Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.396. Print.
To watch a King James version of the Nativity story, click on the image of the Magi above.
Image from: https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/?lang=eng
If this week’s Noontimes call you to search for more ways to encounter Joy or urges you to investigate the New Testament, click on the word Joy in the categories cloud in the blog’s right hand sidebar and choose a reflection, or enter those words in the blog search bar.
The Noontimes 