“Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” So proclaims the opening of our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 60. Earlier in Isaiah, the prophet spoke to the people returning to Jerusalem from more than 40 years in exile in Babylon. Then his words were to give praise and glory to God for they had been redeemed and delivered from the sins that led to their exile. But now, the prophet tells them it is the time to rise up because the glory of the Lord is radiating from them to the whole world. They are like a city gleaming in the light of the newly risen sun, shining with a beauty that is not their own. And the world is responding: “Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.”  The reading paints a vivid picture of people coming from the four corners of the world, drawn by the light and glory of God, bringing their riches – not to the people of Jerusalem – but as gifts to the Temple where they can proclaim “the praises of the Lord.”