Husband. Father. Anglican Priest.
January 6 is the Epiphany — one of the seven Principal Feasts of the Anglican year. Where Christmas celebrates the Word becoming flesh, the Epiphany celebrates his manifestation to the nations. The Magi were not the destination of the Gospel. They were its first sign.
Second Sunday of Christmas: The infant whom the angels proclaimed, whom the shepherds sought, whom Simeon and Anna recognized in the temple, has grown into a boy on the threshold of manhood. Jesus, now twelve years old, journeys with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.
The world begins its new year with resolutions. The Church begins it with a name. January 1 is the Feast of the Circumcision and Holy Name of Our Lord — the eighth day of Christmas, when the infant Jesus was circumcised and given the name that means salvation. Not a resolution. A person.
First Sunday of Christmas: In the words of Isaiah 61:10–62:5, we encounter a song of exultation so intense that it cannot be contained, a joy that overflows every boundary because God has acted decisively to redeem, restore, and delight in his people.
December 28: Feast of the Holy Innocents. Four days after the angels sang, children are dead in Bethlehem. The Church does not move this grief to a more convenient time. It places it here, in the middle of Christmas, because that is where it actually belongs.
December 27: Feast of John, Apostle and Evangelist. He was at the table, the cross, the tomb, the breakfast fire. He outlived every other apostle. And at the end of a long life, he was still writing: that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you.