These three actions of the Magi contain three wonderful lessons for us. First, they see the star. Not everyone saw the star. St. Matthew tells us that Herod and the people in Jerusalem were troubled at the news of this star. They had missed it. There concern was not for heavenly things, but for earthly things.
“We often make do” the Holy Father notes, “with looking at the ground”…we tell ourselves, “it’s enough to have our health, a little money and a bit of entertainment.” Many of our contemporaries have settled for the earthly while ignoring the heavenly, and their lives are sadder for it. Francis asks, “ I wonder if we still know how to look up at the sky. Do we know how to dream, to long for God, to expect the newness he brings, or do we let ourselves be swept along by life, like dry branches before the wind? The Magi were not content with just getting by, with keeping afloat. They understood that to truly live, we need a lofty goal and we need to keep looking up.”
That’s our first invitation for this new year: to have our eyes raised to heaven, to look for signs that God is working in our lives. To look for God in the Sacraments, to look for God in the Scriptures, in our private prayer, to look for Him in the opportunities he gives us to serve.
The second thing the Magi do, once they see the star, St. matthew tells us they “set out.” Regardless of how difficult the journey may be, they set out to find Jesus. The Holy Father notes, “His star demands a decision to take up the journey and to advance tirelessly on our way. It demands that we free ourselves from useless burdens and unnecessary extras that only prove a hindrance, and accept unforeseen obstacles along the map of life. Jesus allows himself to be found by those who seek him, but to find him we need to get up and go, not sit around but take risks, not stand still, but set out.”
“Jesus makes demands: he tells those who seek him to leave behind the armchair of worldly comforts and the reassuring warmth of hearth and home. Following Jesus is not a polite etiquette to be observed, but a journey to be undertaken.” Here the Holy Father is talking about Christian discipleship. Being a disciple is not just about observing, as he says, “polite etiquette”. It’s about setting out on a risky journey. Finding Jesus involves taking risks: the risk of going out of the comfort zone to allow yourself to be changed by Christ.
Not everyone did set out to meet him, as we heard in Matthew’s story. Herod stayed at home. He stayed in the comfort of his palace, and sent other people to do the hard work of setting out and searching for Jesus. The people of Jerusalem too, were afraid, that God could be doing something new in their lives. They wanted everything to remain just as it was, but that is rarely the way things are with God.
So there is our second invitation for this new year: not to be afraid to set out on a new adventure, to engage in acts of charity you may never have engaged in before, to reflect on Christian truths you may have shied away from, to practice devotions that have been set aside by the worldly minded.
The third thing the Magi do is they bring Gifts, they offer to the Christ Child their costly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Holy Father says, “The Gospel becomes real when the journey of life ends in giving. To give freely, for the Lord’s sake, without expecting anything in return: this is the sure sign that we have found Jesus. For he says: “The gift you have received, give freely as a gift” (Mt 10:8). To do good without counting the cost, even when unasked, even when you gain nothing thereby, even if it is unpleasant. That is what God wants.”
Jesus comes to give the greatest gift of life for our salvation, and we are called to give of ourselves freely, which opens us open ever more deeply to receive the gift of His divine life.
So there is our third invitation for this new year, to give with the generosity of Jesus himself. To give of our time, talent, and treasure, as I hear you are used to hearing around these parts. To be attentive to the ways the Holy Spirit is urging us to give of ourselves for the spread of the Gospel, to set our gaze upon the things of God, to set out to obtain them no matter the difficulty, and to give of ourselves generously, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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