The Second Sunday after Christmass, 5 January 2014
The Second Sunday after Christmass, 5 January 2014 Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm 84, or 84:1-8 Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a St. Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 Or St. Luke 2:41-52 Or St. Matthew 2:1-12 Background: Sundays after Christmass The Sundays after Christmass seem to be unsure as to what they might need to be. Last Sunday’s Gospel is a repeat (or rather an expansion) of the Gospel for the Third Christmass Liturgy . I was somewhat envious while watching a Roman Catholic Mass for that Sunday which honors the Holy Family. Rather than floundering about with “low” Sundays following Christmass, it takes up the theme of the context of Jesus’ birth and the Church’s life. One series of readings that is more and more ignored is The Holy Name (1 January) and its powerful readings. The “Christmas” fatigue of our culture at this point seems not to al