One of the most sublime moments in the history of the Olympics took place in Barcelona in 1992. The British sprinter Derek Redmond won the first round of the 400-meter race with the fastest time and was on course to win his quarter-final. Unfortunately, 250 meters before the finish, his hamstring tore. He tried to run on, but the pain was so intense that it was almost impossible. Seeing this, his father ran to him, despite the efforts of security guards and officials to stop him. Derek later recalled that his father told him: “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to put yourself through this.” But Derek insisted. He had to finish. “Well, then,” his father said, “we’re going to finish this together.” He put his son's arm around his neck and walked him to the finish line, holding him tightly.

Saint Paul uses an interesting metaphor in today's Epistle, speaking of virtues as different garments worn one on top of the other. These garments are: a heart of compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, and charity.

At the beginning of the third chapter of the Book of Malachi, there is a promise: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Today we celebrate the day when this promise was fulfilled: Jesus, who was forty days old, was brought to the temple – in order to offer two sacrifices according to the Law of Moses: one for the ritual purification of His mother and the other for the redeeming of Jesus as the firstborn of Mary.

The Gospel of Jesus’ first public miracle – the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana – was originally, in the Ancient Church, one of three events celebrated on Epiphany. With this miracle, Jesus manifested His divine authority, but not only that: by turning water into wine, He showed that He had come to make everything new. Everything, meaning above all us, human beings, who without His saving touch would be doomed to die in our sins and perish.

“Let love be without dissimulation,” writes St. Paul in today’s Epistle. True, perfect love cannot be anything other than without dissimulation, but since we are only able to experience love when it is expressed either in words or actions, it is not uncommon for what appears to be love to be selfishness or even malicious cunning.