Of Stars and Kings and Wonderful Things!

Whenever I am outside at night, my eyes tend to look up to the sky and I am forever looking at the moon and stars. Is there anyone who does not enjoy gazing upon the stars? Even if only for a brief moment, the stars tend to stir one’s heart, and fill us with a sense of wonder and hope. Surely part of the reason for this strange phenomenon is that the stars naturally and powerfully lead us out of our self to something well beyond us. Hidden in this mysterious experience is a truth of the human person; our ultimate fulfillment is only to be found “beyond self”. In other words, we need others. We need God.

Today is the last day to celebrate the Christmas Season.  It is the Feast of the Epiphany.  This is the feast of the arrival of the Wise Men to find the Christ Child.  The journey the Wise Men made to Bethlehem was not the only journey they made. They also made a journey in their hearts from paganism to worshipping Jesus. They were not Jews; scholars tell us they were priests of an Eastern religion who consulted the stars (Zoroastrian priests).

The wise men were not members of the Chosen People, the Jews. Yet God revealed to them that Jesus was born. This is to show us that Jesus came not just for the Chosen
people, but for all people, everywhere in the world.

Can you imagine the excitement they experienced when they saw that brilliant star guiding them to Bethlehem?  They made this journey, and in the end, they received the Christ Child into their hearts.

We too, like the wise men are on a journey.  Sometimes our journeys in life lead us to making changes; changes in the direction our lives are going.  If we are not on the right track that leads us to the Lord, then we need to do something about that.  Perhaps on our journey, we have to lead others to experience the Christ Child.  We are all on this journey together, because we all have corners in our lives and hearts that need changing.  So today, I think it would be a good day to begin our journey and allow God to lead us to His Son.  Like the Wise Men, we can follow the Light, and see our lives transformed to oneness with the Lord.