Daily Devotion

This Daily Devotion is to help our members and others reflect on the understanding of Christian service to our Lord.

Devotion for Saturday, January 6, 2024

The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite, Msgr. George Appleyard

The Twelfth Day of Christmas, Epiphany

An Invitation to Prayer

Christ is revealed to us-
let us worship him
-and bring him our gifts!

Psalm 66/67

O God, be compassionate toward us and bless us,
and show your face to us,
that we may know your way upon earth,
and your salvation among all the nations.
Let the peoples acknowledge you, O God,
let all the peoples acknowledge you.
Let the nations rejoice and be glad
for you shall judge the peoples fairly

and guide the nations on earth.
Let the peoples acknowledge you, O God,
let all the peoples acknowledge you.
The earth has yielded its crop.
May God, our God, bless us,
May God bless us, and may the ends of the earth fear him.

A reading adapted from Basil’s, Homily on Proverbs 1;1-5

And there is also a human wisdom, the expertise needed in the concrete realities of life and which moves us to call those skilled in each of the beneficial professions “wise.” Solomon devotes most of the book to this sort of wisdom. Seeing how human beings love honor-and realizing that all of us would naturally welcome the respect that wisdom bestows-he praises wisdom to rouse souls to strive for it, but not in a perfunctory or lazy manner. He says that wisdom’s message is found almost everywhere: at the city gates, the market, the towers. He speaks of gates, marketplaces and towers for a reason; the gates and marketplaces are the arenas for the respect wisdom brings, and the bastions indicate the strength it confers. He wants us to become familiar with wisdom. “Call wisdom your sister.”^{Prov. 7;4}

A Prayer

Even as the star called the Magi, the wisest of the gentiles,
may the Power that sent that star touch our hearts as well
so that the Day Star will arise in our minds^{Cf. 2 Peter 2:19}
and lead us on to the feet of the Christ with our gifts.
Amen!

Note

While the West remembers the visit of the Magi today, the East emphasizes the baptism of the Lord. The West will remember the baptism of the Lord during the coming week.