28-Dec-2014 Dear Friend, A great part of life is spent in searching, searching for small as well as big things. We search for answers to the many questions we have. We search for things that we believe will make us happy. We search for soul mates and life partners. We search for the right job. We search for friends. Do we search for God? What is guiding our search? Even if we have not found what we are looking for, the search itself is worthwhile, for God will reveal Himself along the way! ‘Have a great time searching for God!’ –Fr. Jude Sunday Refl. Epiphany: “Rejoice for God is revealed to all who search for Him! Seek Him!” 4-Jan-2015Isaiah: 60: 1-6 Ephesians 3: 2-3, 5-6 Mt. 2: 1-12
In today’s first reading the prophet Isaiah reminds the Jews that salvation is for all peoples. It is true that the Messiah would be born of David’s stock. It is true that the light had shone on them and their eyes were opened to see the Lord, but this light would shine in the darkness, for all the people who lived in the darkness. At the sight of the light, all peoples, even those living in the farthest regions of the world, would flock to Jerusalem. Jerusalem represents the Church. We know that the regions of darkness represent all those who live in the darkness of ignorance. We often create our own darkness, when we believe that we can see even when we cannot do so. We cannot come to Christ unless God moves us. It is always God who takes the initiative and faith is an invitation, not an acquisition by our own efforts. The QuestOnce upon a time, in a far off land deep in shadow, there lived two orphans who were very unhappy living in shadowland. One day they decided to leave their homeland and journey beyond the grey mountains until they would come face to face with the light that makes colours. So while the rest of the country was fast asleep in their grey beds, they packed their few belongings in a knapsack and set off on their quest to discover the light and bring it back to shadowland. – Most of the stories we remember from our own childhood are stories of quests where the hero leaves the world of the familiar and sets out for an unknown country in search of something special or someone special. Many of our great religious stories follow the same pattern. Does our faith journey lead us on such a quest?Denis McBride in ‘Seasons of the Word’ In the Gospel we realize that the prophecy of Isaiah started being fulfilled when the star led the wise men to the new born king. The gospel does not tell us which country the wise men came from, how many they were, nor their names. God in his goodness caused a star to appear in the sky, a sign which the wise men understood, as a sign to let them know that the Saviour of the world was born. Though the star guided them, the wise men had to still search for the new born king. They thought that Jerusalem was the obvious place for the king of the Jews to be born, but on reaching there, the star disappeared as though signaling that they were looking in the wrong place. The wise men are like so many of us looking for God led by our own expectations, often leading us to wrong places and disappointments. We have to ask for help as the wise men did, as we cannot manage the faith journey on our own. Only when Herod sent them on the way to Bethlehem the star reappeared and led them to the birthplace of Jesus, ‘and the sight filled them with great joy.’ They had put in their human efforts to seek the Lord and now their eyes are opened with enlightenment. Though they saw just a helpless babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, they recognized him as the Saviour of the world. It is easy to get bogged down with things not being the way we expect them to be. It is only the light of faith that helps us to see what God wants to reveal to us. When the wise men recognized the child, worshipped him and offered him the gifts they had brought for the king. We cannot approach God empty-handed, even the simplest of offerings, is acceptable to God and in return we ourselves are doubly blessed. Like the Magi, when we have this vision of God, we ourselves are changed, we are blessed and we can no more return to the same way of life. The gospel narrative tells us that the wise men, being warned in a dream returned by another way back home. Christmas PresenceI have always been a less than adequate speller. Practice and learning phonics with my children has aided in my improvement, but sometimes I still get it wrong. And, it can be in the most embarrassing ways. Several years ago, I had planned the family Christmas to be celebrated in my home. I had even mailed formal invitations to each family member. They read as follows: “The honor of your present, is requested on December 25th, to a family celebration of Christmas, at five o'clock in the evening.” I didn't catch my mistake, but my entire family did. Being the good-humored bunch that they are and loving a practical joke, they all became conspirators. Christmas evening, at exactly five o'clock, my doorbell rang. Putting on my best holiday smile and producing my warmest "Merry Christmas" I opened the door. My salutation was caught in midair when, instead of family faces, I was greeted to an enlarged copy of my invitation with the word "presents" highlighted, and all the gifts everyone had planned to bring stacked neatly on my doorstep. No one was in sight. Realizing I had been "had", I collected the presents, brought them inside and closed the door. I rushed to my bedroom, found a sheet of poster paper and wrote in large letters, "Thank you for your presents, I do hope you come again next year!", highlighting the word "presents". Then I taped it to my front door and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally I relented and opened the door and collected relatives from behind, bushes, trees, shrubs and cars. We laughed and cajoled. After dinner, as is tradition in our home, the oldest grandchild there reads the Christmas story from Luke's account. We pray, thanking God for the prior year's blessings and then begin opening the gifts. When the wrapping paper was put away and children bustled around in the den with new toys, the adults nibbled on dessert. This is the time when conversation generally gives way to introspection. Watching our children play, my brother-in-law sighed, "How often do we want God's presents more than His presence?" Everyone smiled.Lissa LeeJoseph Donders in ‘With Hearts on Fire’ AdventurersWhen pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made their historic flight in 1986 with their spindly Voyager aircraft, the whole world followed it with excitement. For nine days a sky-watch was kept tracking their first non-stop global flight without refuelling. Achievers and risk-takers like Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager have always fascinated us. Marco Polo journeying to India and China, Christopher Columbus coming to America, Admiral Byrd going to the South Pole, our Astronauts flying to the moon: such adventurers have always aroused our admiration and our scepticism. – It was no different at the time of the Magi in today’s gospel story. To the cynical observer the Magi must have seemed foolish to go following a star. These astrologers had to be a little crazy leaving the security of their homeland to venture forth into a strange country presided by a madman like Herod. Nevertheless, to the person with the eyes of faith, the Magi had discovered an immense secret. They found not only the secret of the star, but the secret of the whole universe –the secret of God’s incredible love for his people. For the child they found was no ordinary child but the very Son of God become man.Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ Star of BethlehemGordon Wilson’s daughter was killed by a bomb in Enniskillen on Remembrance Day 1987. Instead of calling for revenge, he forgave her killers and began a campaign for reconciliation. He said: “I am a very ordinary sort of man. I have few personal ambitions and no political aspirations. I just want to live and let live. Life has been kind to me in the main, and I have tried to live by the Good Book. I do not profess to be a good man, but I aim to be. I would like to leave the world a better place than I found it, but I have no exaggerated ideas of my ability to do so. I have hitched my wagon to a star, the star of Bethlehem.”Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’ Angel at work?The British express train raced through the night, its powerful headlight piercing the darkness. Queen Victoria was a passenger on the train. Suddenly the engineer saw a startling sight. Revealed in the beam of the engine’s light was a strange figure in a black cloak standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The engineer grabbed for the brake and brought the train to a grinding halt. He and his fellow trainmen clambered down to see what had stopped them. But they could find no trace of the strange figure. On a hunch the engineer walked a few yards further up the tracks. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog in horror. A bridge had been washed out in the middle and ahead of them it had toppled into a swollen stream. If the engineer had not heeded the ghostly figure, his train would have plummeted down into the stream. While the bridge and tracks were being repaired, the crew made a more intensive search for the strange flagman. But not until they got to London did they solve the mystery. At the base of the engine’s head lamp the engineer discovered a huge dead moth. He looked at it a moment, then on impulse wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp. Climbing back in to his cab, he switched on the light and saw the “flagman” in the beam, seconds before the train was due to reach the washed-out bridge. In the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure, waving its arms. When Queen Victoria was told of the strange happening she said, “I’m sure it was no accident. It was God’s way of protecting us.” No, the figure the engineer saw in the headlight’s beam was not an angel…and yet God, quite possibly through the ministry of His unseen angels, had placed the moth on the headlight lens exactly when and where it was needed.Billy Graham from ‘Unto the Hills’ May we find God in all things and see all things in God! Fr. Jude Botelho [email protected] PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my Web site www.NetForLife.net Thank you.
