27-Dec-2009 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 that will fulfil us. We search for friends. Do we search for God? Who or 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 Reflections: Feast of Epiphany “God’s Revelation to all the nations. Search for Him!” 3-Jan-2010 Readings: Isaiah 60: 1-6; Ephesians 3: 2-6; Matthew 2: 1-12; The first reading from the prophet Isaiah is part of a hymn which speaks of consolation and joy for the people because Jerusalem will be restored and become the centre of the new Israel. The symbols used are ‘light’, ‘radiance’, ‘glory’ which probably suggest a new revelation which God will make to his people. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. In sum it suggests that a new light of deliverance is at hand for the people of Israel and other nations will also benefit from it. The exiled Jews are pictured as returning back to their homeland and as they come they bring back the wealth of the nations. Together with them the Eastern nations come bringing their own appropriate gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, suggesting the gifts of the Magi. Though addressed to Israel or Jerusalem, the prophecy will be fulfilled in Christ and in the New Jerusalem, the Church. The point that is being made is that salvation coming from God is for all people and not restricted to the Jews. God is for all who look for him and receive him. All people will be saved. 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’ Today’s gospel is centred on the well known story of the wise men from the East coming in search of the new-born king. Today is the feast of the Epiphany, the revelation of God that takes place in many ways. God revealed himself to the Jews through the Scriptures, and to the Gentiles through nature. The story highlights the paradox of how the Jews who have the scriptures reject Jesus, while the Gentiles come searching for Jesus at first seeing a sign in the heavens, but ultimately, with the help of the Scriptures, find and adore him. We do not know where the Magi came from, or what exactly the star was. The star was only a means by which a great mystery was revealed. The gospel says ‘they saw the star as it rose’ but nothing about it guiding them. What it suggests is that the star was no more than a sign that something unusual had happened, or more precisely, that someone special had been born. It is possible that the star appeared when they began their journey and was there once again as they reached Bethlehem. In between they travelled in darkness and in faith. Their journey was neither simple nor easy. Yet they persevered and in the end they found Jesus. Their journey symbolizes our journey of faith, which starts with reading the signs of God’s presence and launching out in faith in spite of doubts, crises and disappointments. We must believe that the darkness will pass and that ultimately God will reveal himself in His time. Having worshipped Christ and offered him their gifts, the Magi returned to their own country by another route. This different route is not merely a new geographical one but a new mentality. One we have met the Lord we will have different attitudes, different values, different goals, our life will no longer be the same! The Night The Stars Fell One summer night in a seaside cottage, a small boy felt himself lifted from bed. Dazed with sleep, he heard his mother murmur about the lateness of the hour, heard his father laugh. Then he was borne in his father’s arms, with the swiftness of a dream, down the porch steps, out onto the beach. Overhead the sky blazed with stars. “Watch!” his father said. And incredibly, as he spoke, one of the stars moved. In a streak of golden fire, it flashed across the astonished heavens. And before the wonder of this could fade, another star leaped from its place, and then another, plunging toward the restless sea. “What is it?” the child whispered. “Shooting stars,” his father said. “They come every year on certain nights in August. I thought you’d like to see the show.” That was all: just an unexpected glimpse of something haunting and mysterious and beautiful. But, back in bed, the child stared for a long time into the dark, rapt with the knowledge that all around the quiet house the night was full of the silent music of the falling stars. Decades have passed, but I remember that night still, because I was the fortunate seven-year-old whose father believed that a new experience was more important for a small boy than an unbroken night’s sleep. No doubt in my childhood I had the usual quota of playthings, but these are forgotten now. What I remember is the night the stars fell … Arthur Gordon from ‘A touch of Wonder’ “The Epiphany brings an almost magic atmosphere to the Christmas feast, like a dark cloud fringed with light. Yet this light is not from that golden legend from which Mathew has, perhaps, partially borrowed. This light shines out from a frail child – the Son of the Eternal Father, the Messiah of the Jews, God for the pagans and (as Herod was not) King of all peoples. How wonderfully God adapts his Christmas message to the capacity of his hearts! For the shepherds he uses a manger; for the Magi, a star; for the learned scribes, scripture: for Herod, the wise men from the East. The wise men symbolise for us the countless multitudes long exiled from paradise yet retaining some lingering, undefined nostalgia for it. How many had a presentiment about this King of the Jews, born under a lucky star? Only the Magi undertook the journey and followed it through to the end. The heavens proclaim the glory of God’ (Ps 18:2). Relying on their human wisdom, the Magi go first to Jerusalem, the centre of this Jewish mystery. In God’s plan their learning must give way to the revealed scriptures, so that they might learn where the child was. Their dawning and already proven faith could then enter a final stage which will lead them to recognise the king of an invisible kingdom in the new-born child of Bethlehem… Then they had to return home by a different path, the path of a new life, carrying deep in their hearts for all time the guiding star. The Jewish scribes were untroubled. Like sleeping watchmen they let the deposit of the living Truth become a withered fruit in their hands. Herod, however, feeling that his throne is threatened, hatches a murderous plot. But God watches keenly over all who follow the star.” -Glenstal Bible Missal The Star In Arthur C. Clarke’s short story “The Star”, we read about a Jesuit astrophysicist who makes a space trip with other scientists to a distant galaxy called the Phoenix Nebula. There they chance upon a solitary planet still orbiting the remnant of a central sun, which had exploded thousands of years ago. The explorers land their spacecraft on this planet and examine the scorched surface caused by that cosmic detonation. They discover a melted-down monolithic marker at the entrance of a great vault in which they find the carefully stored treasures and records of an advanced civilization. On their return trip to earth in our own galaxy, the Jesuit astrophysicist calculates the exact time when the light from this cosmic explosion in the Phoenix Nebula reached earth. It was the date of Christ’s birth when the light from that fire was seen as a bright new star appearing in the East. But now that he had solved an ancient mystery, he had a greater mystery to grapple with. How could a loving God allow a whole planet of intelligent beings to be given a galactic conflagration, so that the symbol of their passing might shine above Bethlehem at his Son’s birth? This science-fiction story about the star of Bethlehem has its source in today’s gospel. Mathew’s narration of the Magi uses the star as its central symbol. From its rising in the East to its coming to a standstill over Bethlehem, the star leads and guides the astrologers. Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ Artaban’s Gift There’s a story called “The Other Wise Man” by Henry van Dyke. It’s about a fourth person who is supposed to accompany the other three wise men on their journey to search for the newborn King. The name of the person is Artaban. As Artaban prepares for the journey, he takes with him a bag of precious stones to give to the baby King. On this way to join the other three wise men, Artaban stops to help a poor person. The delay is just enough to make him miss his rendezvous with the others. Artaban never does catch up with them. He constantly runs into people who need help. And he always stops to help them. Eventually, Artaban gives away all his precious stones. As the story ends, Artaban is old and poor. He never realized his dream to meet the King of Kings. But the story doesn’t end here. One day Artaban is in Jerusalem. Authorities are about to execute a criminal. When Artaban sees the criminal, his heart skips a beat. Something tells him this is the King of Kings for whom he has been searching all his life. Artaban is heartbroken when he sees he can do nothing to help the King. Then something remarkable happens. Artaban hears the King’s voice say to him: “Don’t be broken hearted, Artaban. You’ve been helping me all your life. When I was hungry, you gave me food. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was a stranger, you took me in.” Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ My Star Consider a true story of a young man named Tony. He travelled all over the world, appearing widely on stage and on television as a drummer in a world-famous music group. Then one day Tony felt called to the priesthood. When he resigned from the music group to enter a seminary, some people thought him to be a fool. The story could end here. And if it did, some would consider it to be a sad story. It would be the story of a young man who let a dream slip through his fingers. But the story doesn’t end here. Tony’s now a priest in the diocese of Dallas. And he’s tremendously happy. Jesus will someday say to him what he said to Artaban: “You’ve been helping me all your life, Tony. What you did for your Parishioners, you did for me.” Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ May we keep searching for God and find him on our faith journey! 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 remodelled web site www.netforlife.net Thank you. The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/
