Building Peace with Justice

Building Peace with Justice is a brief, weekly bulletin reflection written
by members of a Public Policy sub-committee in the Diocese of Rochester that links the Sunday readings to Catholic social teaching. Many parishes publish them as space allows.

For Sunday Bulletins on January 6

The Magi in today's Gospel reading for Epiphany "come from the east"- presumably from lands where Islam was to arise six centuries later. Did the Magi bring the memory of their encounter with Christ back with them and share it with others? Did this memory over the course of time play a role in the great respect the Qur'an shows for Jesus as son of the Virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit - not as the Son of God but as one of the greatest of prophets, able to cure the sick and raise the dead?

Reflection: Can we allow the Epiphany of Jesus to the world to have a different meaning for Muslims than it does for us? Jesus, in both of our religions, calls us to worship God and God alone and to love the neighbor. Can such common understanding support a common effort to build world peace?