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SOLEMNITY
OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
January 7, 2007
Carlo Carreto was a Youth Minister in Italy for 20 years. His life was a whirlwind of activity: attending meetings, organizing programs, and speaking at youth conferences. Then one day he surprised his friends by joining a relatively new religious order called the Little Brothers of Jesus.
Within months, Carlo was on his way to the order's novitiate in a remote oasis in the Sahara desert in North Africa. There he began a life of contemplation, praying for the conversion of Arab peoples.
One of the first things that struck Carlo in this remote setting was the night sky in the Sahara. In the pitch-black darkness of the desert, the stars stood out in the sky like huge sparkling diamonds.
During the first few months, Carlo spent all of his free time learning everything he could about the stars. He wrote in his journal: "Kneeling on the sand I sank my eyes for hours and hours in those wonders. How dear they were to me, those stars…I came to know them by their names, their color, their size, their position, and their beauty…Many times when searching for an Arab camp I lost my way because the sun was too high in the sky. But I waited for the night and found the road again guided by the stars."
Reading Carlo's account gives us a deeper appreciation of the story of the Magi in today's Gospel. Like Carlo, the Magi were desert dwellers. Like Carlo, they studied the stars, knew them by name, and chartered their courses. Like Carlo, they often traveled at night, using the stars to guide them on their journeys.
This brings us to our own time and the important message the story of the Magi holds for us.
The star that guided the Magi to Bethlehem no longer shines in the night sky. Nor does Jesus dwell any longer on earth in human form, as he once did in Bethlehem. His presence on earth in human form ended with his ascension to heaven in his glorified human body.
Nevertheless, in a mystery of love, He continues to dwell among us and in us in His Mystical Body, the Church. This means that the followers of Jesus must become the new stars, shining in the darkness of our world, pointing the way to Jesus.
Thus we find St. Paul, writing to the Philippians: "You must shine…like stars lighting up the sky." And before ascending to his Father, Jesus said to his followers in the Sermon on the Mount: "You are the light of the world…Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."
That brings up a question: How do our good deeds glorify our heavenly Father? Or, using the imagery of the Magi story, how can we, the modern followers of Jesus, serve as stars pointing to Jesus?
Think of it this way. Each time we forgive someone who has wronged us or hurt us, a star lights up the darkness of our world and points the way to Jesus. For this is what Jesus taught us to do, and graces us to do, if we open our hearts to him.
Each time we take a stand for what we believe is true and good, even if it makes us unpopular, a star lights up the darkness of our world and points the way to Jesus.
Each time we reach out a hand to someone who needs a hand to help them or to hold them, a star lights up the darkness and points the way to Jesus.
Each time we choose the vision and values of Jesus over the vision and values of our secular world, a star lights up the darkness and points the way to Jesus.
The Feast of the Epiphany invites each one of us to ask ourselves to what extent are we stars lighting up the darkness of our world and pointing the way to Jesus. This is what the Feast of the Epiphany is all about.
It's not just the Magi story about a star that lit up the darkness of the ancient world and led them to Jesus. It's also a story about you and me becoming stars in the darkness of our modern world and pointing others to Jesus.
This is what we celebrate today in the Feast of the Epiphany!