[Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 71; Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6; Matthew 2:1-12]

In the month’s leading up to my ordination I went on the Camino with some of my classmates from Seminary. We walked the last 100km towards Santiago De Compostela in Northern Spain. There were five of us on the walk and we thought we all knew each other pretty well prior to going on our journey as we had studied together for 4 years. But the reality was that we all learned more about each other during those few days, than we had picked up in the times studying together. We also met many people on the road and shared stories with each other about our life and why we found ourselves journeying towards Santiago. One of the memorable encounters for me was when we moved from our hotel, one morning, to the place where we had stopped at the end of the previous day; and stood together saying our Morning Prayer. A fellow Brit heard us praying and asked to join us. He then accompanied us for the rest of that day, before he moved on to his accommodation and we went to our hostel.  He seemed to spend most of the day finding out about the Diaconate and what it would mean to us to be ordained. I have never thought about how that conversation may have impacted on his life and I suppose I may never find out; but one thing that I’m sure of is, if the Holy Spirit wished for a ‘seed to be planted’ he made sure that we were in the right place at the right time.

One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is wisdom. Today we hear the story of the wise men who followed a star from the east and arrived in Judea looking for the infant king of the Jews. These wise men followed a star, when they set out, do we think they knew why they were so interested in the star? Do we know if they all set out from the same place, or were these wise men who met on the road prompted by the same vision and eagerness to find out what the appearance of the star meant? We will probably never know the answers to these questions or how many other ‘kings’ they encountered on their journey; as we only know what happened when they reached Judea and had their encounter with Herod.

The late Benedictine priest, Placid Murray pointed out that “Our journey starts where theirs ended. Each of us in life is on a journey. Our star is our faith: We believe that God exists, we trust in his word, we do our best to listen and obey and follow where faith leads us.”[1] We do not follow blindly though, our faith is led by the Holy Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit which prompts us, sparks an interest for us, helps us to discern what is right or wrong, the Holy Spirit is our advocate, gifted to us by Jesus until He comes again. This same Holy Spirit led the wise men. The wisdom gifted to the wise men allowed them to recognise that they must drop to their knees and pay homage to the infant king. It is the same Holy Spirit which warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod as they had agreed, as Herod did not wish to pay homage; his motives, as we all know, were far more sinister.

The story of the wise men has great contrast built in; we have the light of the star shining out in the darkness. We have the Prince of Peace thwarting a king who was intent on evil; we have love conquering hate. We also have many of these features foretold in the first reading used today from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah speaks of light shining in the darkness, the Lord rising above the people with his glory shining, other nations coming towards the light as all around assembling. Isaiah even mentions the gifts the wise men brought and how they would praise the Lord.

In this new year we are being encouraged to celebrate the Jubilee Year of Hope. We are being encouraged to journey towards one of the Holy Doors and pay homage to Christ. Like the wise men, we may meet other people on our journeys, we may hear how they were prompted to seek Jesus in a different way. Equally, we may share our story and help those we meet to encounter Jesus. On our journey of Faith we do not meet people by accident; God puts others on our path and He puts us on the paths of others. Each of these encounters is an opportunity to explore our faith and share what our faith means to us; as well as an opportunity to listen to what God has prompted them to tell us.

These are how we follow our star 2000 years after the wise men followed the star to Bethlehem, I offer my prayers for the journey you have planned.

Further Reading

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)

Solemnity of the Epiphany

CCC 528, 724: the Epiphany
CCC 280, 529, 748, 1165, 2466, 2715: Christ the light of the nations
CCC 60, 442, 674, 755, 767, 774-776, 781, 831: the Church, sacrament of human unity

Please keep in your prayers this week

  • The sick and housebound, those who are dying and those who are grieving.
  • Father Jean-Patrice that he makes a full recovery.
  • The continued fight to protect all life from conception until natural death.
  • The Basingstoke Winter Night Shelter as it continues to support the homeless in our town.
  • Those struggling financially; that they get the help they need. May they not be too proud to ask for the help which is available for them.
  • Those who support the vulnerable in our communities.
  • For all school staff and students as they return this week; that they have managed to be refreshed and find some peace and joy in the break that they have had.
  • For those who experienced Las Posadas during Advent. That they experienced real joy and hope as they hosted their friends and families whilst they lived out their faith.

Deacon Tony

3rd January 2025

[1] Placid Murray OSB, 100 Liturgical Homilies, [The Columba Press, Dublin, 1988]26