04-Jan-2018 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 God the search itself is worthwhile, for God will reveal Himself along the way! ‘Have a great time searching for God!’ –Fr. Jude Sun. Refl. Epiphany: “Rejoice for God is revealed to all who search for Him!” 07-Jan-2018Isaiah: 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, but this light would shine in the darkness, for all the peoples. 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 God who takes the initiative and faith is an invitation, not an acquisition by our efforts. The QuestOnce upon a time, in a far off land deep in shadow, there lived two orphans who were very unhappy living in shadow-land. 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 shadow-land. 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 newborn king. God in his goodness caused a star to appear in the sky, a sign the wise men understood, as a sign that the Saviour was born. Though the star guided them, the wise men had to still search for the newborn king. They thought that Jerusalem was the obvious place for the king 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 disappointment. 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. They had put in their 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, they worshipped him and offered him the gifts they had brought. 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. They opened their treasuresOnce, the people of a very poor parish set their hearts on acquiring an expensive set of figures for their Christmas crib. They worked hard to scrape the money to buy the figures that were made of rare porcelain. Eventually they had their crib. And they were proud of it! The church was left open all Christmas day so people could visit the crib. In the evening the parish priest went out to lock up. Before doing so he looked in at the crib. To his consternation he discovered the baby Jesus was missing. He wondered how anyone could stoop so low as to steal baby Jesus. As he stood there he spotted a little girl with a small pram entering the church. She made straight for the crib. Then she took the baby Jesus out of the pram and lovingly put him back where he belonged – right in front of Mary and Joseph and the adoring donkey and oxen. Before leaving she knelt and said a prayer in front of the crib. As she was on her way out the parish priest stopped and asked her what she was doing with baby Jesus. She told him that before Christmas she had prayed to baby Jesus for a pram. She promised him that if she got a pram, he would have the first ride in it. As she had got her pram, she was keeping her side of the bargain. This little story shows the power of Christmas. Christmas evokes generosity in people, especially children. To look at the poverty of the infant king of the universe causes us to open our hearts. By coming in weakness, God’s son evokes in us a feeling of compassion, thereby bringing our hearts to life.Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’ 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.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’ We don’t have time for that!It was almost Christmas Day, and the mother of a 3-year old boy was furiously running from store to store trying to get her last minute shopping done. Suddenly she realized that her son’s little hand was no longer in hers. Frantically she began to look around and then not finding him nearby, began to quickly retrace her steps. She found him standing with his little nose pressed flat against a frosty window gazing at the manger scene. She shouted his name and upon hearing his mother’s voice, he turned and shouted with innocent glee, “Look Mommy! It’s baby Jesus, baby Jesus in the hay.” Frustrated because she was pressed for time and because of how scared she had been when he slipped away from her she hastily grabbed his hand and pulled him away saying, “Come on! We don’t have time for that!” I really don’t think she meant to say that. I doubt she intended to tell her child that they were too busy for Jesus, but that’s pretty much how it sounded. And too often that’s actually what happens in people’s lives. It’s unfortunate, but most people have something else to do. Even religious people overlook him and shun him.John Pichappilly in ‘Ignite Your Spirit’ 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.
