WRONG were the newspapers that announced on Monday that the Christmas season had ended after the Epiphany of the Lord on Sunday. The Church’s liturgical Season of Christmas ends after the Baptism of The Lord this Sunday Jan. 13.

Because the major newspapers (including The Times) gave this wrong information, many of the priests who gave homilies last Sunday told their parishioners of the error.

The Baptism of the Lord is Jesus the Second Person of the Holy Trinity’s third manifestation to mankind. The first is His birth on Christmas Night, when the shepherds guided by an angel saw Him and Mother Mary and St. Joseph in the stable. The second is on the Epiphany, when the Three Wise Men or the Three Kings saw Him and paid Him homage. The third is on his baptism in the Jordan River by his cousin, John the Baptist.

John (in Matthew’s account 3:13-17), “tried to dissuade” Jesus. “ ‘It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands.’ At this, John gave in.

“As soon as Jesus was baptized He came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on him.’ “

Note that all three manifestations—epiphanies—of the Lord were to people of great faith. To the shepherds who believed that they were going to see the King of Kings and did not doubt that it was the child in swaddling clothes in the manger. To the Three Magi, who also did not doubt that this vulnerable infant was the new King of the Jews, the Messiah that men of religion were waiting for. And to the holy man John the Baptist and those who had gone to him to be baptized in the Jordan.

Christians, specially Catholics, should meditate on this idea specially now in 2013 which the Holy Father has asked us, his flock, to make a Year of Faith.

The Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord is always counted as the first Sunday of Ordinary Time, so that the succeeding days are all Ordinary Time until the first Sunday of Lent on February 17. Ash Wednesday this year is on February 13.

That, by the way, is three days after Chinese New Year which falls on February 10.

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Egypt’s new constitution abuses human rights
Zenit.org reports that Bishop Kyrillos William, administrator of the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria, and two other bishops have condemned the new constitution of Egypt, which became law on Dec. 26,.

Zenit reported the bishop’s words to members of Aid to the Church in Need, a worldwide organization recognized and nurtured by the Vatican, whose work since World War II has been to assist Catholics and other Christians in countries where they are being persecuted.

Bishop William said, according to Zenit, “We were waiting for a constitution that represents the whole of Egypt but instead we have one that only represents one group of people…We can see that the religious orientation of this constitution prepares the way for an Islamic caliphate.”

Two other Catholic Egyptian bishops, Bishops Joannes Zakaria of Luxor and Antonios Aziz Mina of Giza, also said the constitution is a threat to civil liberties.

Bishop William said: “Everywhere in the constitution there are clauses saying everything should be in accordance with Islamic law….The president [Mohammed Morsi] promised to build a civic, modern and democratic state but we do not think that this constitution is in any way in accordance with that.”

Marriage of under-age girls
The bishops were concerned that under the constitution non-Muslim women would be forced to wear Islamic headscarves and the marriage of under-age girls sanctioned by Shari’a law would be legitimized

According to Zenit, Bishop Zakaria said: “The Islamists want to apply Shari’a law especially with regard to women. It is very bad for women and very bad for non-Muslims in society.”

Another concern, expressed by Bishop Aziz is that the constitution implicitly sanctions child labor by warning that youngsters must not be forced to do work too demanding for them.

Heavy insistence on Shari’a law
Bishop William, Zenit reported, said: “The constitution not only outlines the principles of Shari’a but describes in detail all of the values and opinions contained in the Shari’a. It will be terrible—everything will be interpreted according to Shari’a.”

This “heavy insistence on Shari’a”—Christians complain—undermines the assertion made by Article 3 in the constitution that Christians and Jews as well as Muslims are to enjoy their rights.

Bishop Zakaria described the constitution as the work of fundamentalist Muslims. Zenit quoted him as saying to the ANC members, “It was already hard to get permission to repair a church in [former] President Mubarak’s time, now it will be ever harder…But it will be much worse for Shiite Muslims, Baha’is, Buddhists and others who are not even recognized in the constitution.”

The Zenit report said, “The Coptic Orthodox Church withdrew in April 2012 from the talks on the constitution in protest at the reportedly Islamist content proposed. Coptic Catholic and Protestant representatives quickly followed suit. Secular parties also later pulled out.”

There will be parliamentary election later this year. Observers see it as a test of public support to the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies who drafted this constitution backed by President Morsi and signed by him into law.

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