The Second Sunday after Christmas Day AD 2025

The Gospel for the Second Sunday after Christmas Day is related to the Gospel of the Epiphany, which tells of the visit of the Wise Men from the Orient to Jesus and the subsequent story of the slaughter of the Holy Innocent of Bethlehem. The heartless King Herod, having heard from the Wise Men about the birth of the Messiah, decided to eliminate his supposed rival. Those who paid with their lives for his ambitions were innocent children, as almost always happens when a tyrant, fearing the loss of his power, goes on a rampage. Collateral damage, as it is called…

God warned Joseph in a dream, and he took Mary, his wife, and Jesus to Egypt, just as his namesake Joseph had helped his father and brothers move to Egypt to escape a famine 1,600 years earlier. When Herod died, Joseph had another dream and brought his family back from Egypt. Isn’t this remarkable: once again from Egypt comes the one who will save not only his people, but all humanity from hunger – the One who is the true Bread of Life who saves us not only from physical, but even more from spiritual famine.

The fact that Jesus lived in Nazareth is also significant. First, the name refers to the Nazarites, who were completely dedicated to serving God. The verb nazar, from which this name is derived, means in Hebrew “to dedicate, consecrate, separate.” In the case of Jesus, this is more than true, because He Himself is the Holy One, the true God who has taken on human nature.

Secondly, the name Nazareth etymologically also refers to “being hidden and guarded.” There followed three hidden decades in Jesus’ life, of which we know only one event – when He remained in the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve, saying that He must be “about His Father’s business.”

Those thirty years in Nazareth must have been wonderful for those who lived with Jesus. But we don’t need to envy them, because we are promised eternal life with Him – if we receive Him, believe in Him, and follow Him in love and truth.