Book of Isaiah 60,1-6. Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; But upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: Your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, For the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
Psalms 72(71)
O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king's son; He shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, And the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; The lives of the poor he shall save.
Letter to the Ephesians 3,2-3a.5-6.
Brothers and sisters: You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for your benefit, (namely, that) the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly earlier. which was not made known to human beings in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 2,1-12. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage." After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
The Gospel account of the Magi describes their journey from the East as a journey of the spirit, as a journey toward the encounter with Christ. They are attentive to signs that indicate his presence; they are tireless in facing the trials of the search; they are courageous in deducing the implications for life that derive from encounter with the Lord. This is life: Christian life is a journey, but being attentive, tireless and courageous. A Christian journeys like this. (Angelus 6 January 2015)
FAUSTI - In this story is presented the "Christmas of the soul" (M. Ecklart) : the birth of the believer in God and of God in the believer. It is a gradual generation, in five moments: the con-sidering (being with the stars) of the intelligence that opens to desire and to follow one's own star, the Scripture that reveals the One that we desire, the joy of the heart that shows where He is, the adoration and finally the gift of self to the One who has already given Himself. Even if we know the material place where He was born, it is not enough. We must make the itinerary of the Magi in the first person with a night journey full of fascination and fears, of desires and doubts, of hopes and uncertainties, under the guidance of a star that appears and disappears. Reason makes us look for the Saviour, revelation tells us where to find Him: the first says that He is there, the second Who He is, giving the first new criteria of evaluation, the same of God. Jesus is the King of the Jews, the Christ, Light of the nations, born for all in Bethlehem of Judea. The light of reason and revelation brings to Him humanity, which finds its life in Him. The Church is made up not only of Jews, but also of pagans who, like the Magi, make the journey of search until they find Him, kiss Him and open their treasure to Him. "They rejoiced greatly with great joy" God is Love , is Joy, His perfume, His sign of presence. It is communicated to those who love, to those who discover the treasure (13:44), to those who encounter the Living One (28:8). Here at last you "enter into the house", and you find the King. The child is to be seen. Where is the Child, if not in the heart of one who loves Him, listens to Him and rejoices in Him? The outer path stops; with worship begins the inner one. Three times it is said "to adore". You will find the Child if you enter the "house", and He is always with His Mother. You will find the Son in Israel, in Mary, in the Church, in your brothers and sisters, in yourself, if you love Him and listen to Him! The treasure in Matthew is the heart of man. Where your treasure is, there is your heart. The Magi open their hearts and offer what is in them. Gold, visible wealth, represents what one has; incense, invisible as God, represents what one desires; myrrh, ointment that heals wounds and preserves from corruption, represents what one is. Kingship, divinity, the creature's own mortality, all that man has, but above all what he desires and what he lacks, is his treasure. He opens to God his possessions, his desires and his penury. And God enters into His treasure. Here is "where" the Son is begotten from the Father. By giving what they are, the wise men receive Him who is, and they themselves become like Him. God is born in man, and man in God. Here the path is made. Also the Magi, like Joseph, receive the message of God in a dream. The dream of God influences history more than the power of every powerful person, and mocks him. They go back to where they started. But "by another way." No longer that of one who seeks one who does not know, but that of one who has found the One who seeks. In fact, they are no longer those of before, they have found "where" the king was born. The "where" of God is the heart of man, and the "where" of man is the heart of God. They withdrew as anchorites... says the Greek text, in their own land. They now have with them a new heaven and a new earth, seeds that they will carry wherever they go.
BENEDICT XVI ANGELUS 6 January 2013 Dear Brothers and Sisters,
...Today we are celebrating above all the Epiphany of the Lord, his manifestation to the nations, while many Eastern Churches, according to the Julian Calendar, celebrate the Birth. This slight difference that makes these two events overlap highlights that that Child, born in the humility of a grotto in Bethlehem, is the light of the world, who orients the path of all peoples.
It is a juxtaposition which also makes us reflect also from the viewpoint of faith: moreover, at Christmas in front of Jesus, we see the faith of Mary, of Joseph and of the shepherds; and today on the Epiphany the faith of the three Magi, come from the East to worship the King of the Jews.
The Virgin Mary, together with her husband, represents the “stump” of Israel, the “remnant” foretold by the prophets, from which the Messiah was to spring. Instead the Magi represent the peoples, and we can say even civilizations, cultures, religions that are — so to speak — on their way to God, searching for his kingdom of peace, justice, truth and freedom. There was first a nucleus, embodied above all by Mary, the “daughter of Zion”: a nucleus of Israel, the people that know and have faith in that God who revealed himself to the Patriarchs and on the path of history. This faith is fulfilled in Mary, in the fullness of time; in her, “blessed because she believed”, the Word was made flesh, God “appeared” in the world. Mary’s faith becomes the first fruits and the model of the faith of the Church, the People of the New Covenant. But from the beginning this people is universal and we can see this today in the figures of the Magi who arrive in Bethlehem, following the light of a star and the instructions of Sacred Scripture.
St Leo the Great says: “A promise had been made to the holy Patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the seed of faith” (Sermo 3 in Epiphania Domini, 1: PL 54, 240). Mary’s faith can be compared to Abraham’s. It is a new beginning of the same promise, of the same immutable plan of God which now finds fulfilment in Jesus Christ. And the light of Christ is so clear and strong that it makes both the language of the cosmos and of the Scriptures intelligible, so that all those who, like the Magi, are open to the truth can recognize it and come to contemplate the Saviour of the world. St Leo continues: “Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family of the patriarchs... let all people adore the Creator of the universe; let God be known, not only in Judaea, but in the whole world” (ibid.). In this perspective we can also look at the episcopal ordinations which I had the joy of conferring this morning in St Peter’s Basilica: two new bishops will remain at the service of the Holy See, and the other two will be leaving to serve as Pontifical Representatives to two nations. Let us pray for each one of the them, for their ministry, and that the light of Christ may shine throughout the world.
HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS 6 January 2022 The Magi travel towards Bethlehem. Their pilgrimage speaks also to us, who are called to journey towards Jesus, for he is the North Star that lights up the sky of life and guides our steps towards true joy. Yet where did the Magi’s pilgrimage to encounter Jesus begin? What made these men of the East set out on their journey?
They had excellent reasons not to depart. They were wise men and astrologers, famous and wealthy. Having attained sufficient cultural, social and economic security, they could have remained content with what they already knew and possessed. Instead, they let themselves be unsettled by a question and by a sign: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star…” (Mt 2:2). They did not allow their hearts to retreat into the caves of gloom and apathy; they longed to see the light. They were not content to plod through life, but yearned for new and greater horizons. Their eyes were not fixed here below; they were windows open to the heavens. As Benedict XVI said, the Magi were “men with a restless heart… They were filled with expectation, not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in society… They were seekers after God” (Homily, 6 January 2013).
Where did it originate, this spirit of healthy restlessness that led them to set out on their journey? It was born of desire. That was their secret: the capacity to desire. Let us think about this. To desire means to fuel the fire that burns within us; it drives us to look beyond what is immediate and visible. To desire means embracing life as a mystery that surpasses us, as an ever-present cranny in the wall that beckons us to look into the distance, since life is not just our here and now, but something much greater. It is like a blank canvas that cries out for colour. A great painter, Vincent Van Gogh, once said that his need for God drove him to go outside at night to paint the stars. For that is the way God made us: brimming with desire, directed, like the Magi, towards the stars. With no exaggeration, we can say that we are what we desire. For it is our desires that enlarge our gaze and drive our lives forward, beyond the barriers of habit, beyond banal consumerism, beyond a drab and dreary faith, beyond the fear of becoming involved and serving others and the common good. In the words of Saint Augustine, “our entire life is an exercise of holy desire” (Homily on the First Letter of John, IV, 6).
Brothers and sisters, as it was for the Magi, so it is for us. The journey of life and faith demands a deep desire and inner zeal. Sometimes we live in a spirit of a “parking lot”; we stay parked, without the impulse of desire that carries us forward. We do well to ask: where are we on our journey of faith? Have we been stuck all too long, nestled inside a conventional, external and formal religiosity that no longer warms our hearts and changes our lives? Do our words and our liturgies ignite in people’s hearts a desire to move towards God, or are they a “dead language” that speaks only of itself and to itself? It is sad when a community of believers loses its desire and is content with “maintenance” rather than allowing itself to be startled by Jesus and by the explosive and unsettling joy of the Gospel. It is sad when a priest has closed the door of desire, sad to fall into clerical functionalism, very sad.
The crisis of faith in our lives and in our societies also has to do with the eclipse of desire for God. It is related to a kind of slumbering of the spirit, to the habit of being content to live from day to day, without ever asking what God really wants from us. We peer over earthly maps, but forget to look up to heaven. We are sated with plenty of things, but fail to hunger for our absent desire for God. We are fixated on our own needs, on what we will eat and wear (cf. Mt 6:25), even as we let the longing for greater things evaporate.
-->And we find ourselves living in communities that crave everything, have everything, yet all too often feel nothing but emptiness in their hearts: closed communities of individuals, bishops, priests or consecrated men and women. Indeed the lack of desire leads only to sadness and indifference, to sad communities, sad priests or bishops.
Let us look first to ourselves and ask: How is the journey of my faith going? This is a question that we can ask ourselves today, each one of us. How is the journey of my faith going? Is it parked or is it on the move? Faith, if it is to grow, has to begin ever anew. It needs to be sparked by desire, to take up the challenge of entering into a living and lively relationship with God. Does my heart still burn with desire for God? Or have I allowed force of habit and my own disappointments to extinguish that flame? Today, brothers and sisters, is the day we should ask these questions. Today is the day we should return to nurturing our desire. How do we do this? Let us go to the Magi and learn from their “school of desire”. They will teach us in their school of desire. Let us look at the steps they took, and draw some lessons from them.
In the first place, they set out at the rising of the star. The Magi teach us that we need to set out anew each day, in life as in faith, for faith is not a suit of armour that encases us; instead, it is a fascinating journey, a constant and restless movement, ever in search of God, always discerning our way forward.
Then, in Jerusalem the Magi ask questions: they inquire where the Child is to be found. They teach us that we need to question. We need to listen carefully to the questions of our heart and our conscience, for it is there that God often speaks to us. He addresses us more with questions than with answers. We must learn this well: God addresses us more with questions than with answers. Yet let us also be unsettled by the questions of our children, and by the doubts, hopes and desires of the men and women of our time. We need to entertain questions. The Magi then defy Herod. They teach us that we need a courageous faith, one that is unafraid to challenge the sinister logic of power, and become seeds of justice and fraternity in societies where in our day modern Herods continue to sow death and slaughter the poor and innocent, amid general indifference. Finally, the Magi return “by another way” (Mt 2:12). They challenge us to take new paths. Here we see the creativity of the Spirit who always brings out new things. That is also one of the tasks of the Synod we are currently undertaking: to journey together and to listen to one another, so that the Spirit can suggest to us new ways and paths to bring the Gospel to the hearts of those who are distant, indifferent or without hope, yet continue to seek what the Magi found: “a great joy” (Mt 2:10). We must always move forwards.
-->At the end of the Magi’s journey came the climactic moment: once they arrived at their destination, “they fell down and worshiped the Child” (cf. v. 11). They worshiped. Let us never forget this: the journey of faith finds renewed strength and fulfilment only when it is made in the presence of God. Only if we recover our “taste” for adoration will our desire be rekindled. Desire leads us to adoration and adoration renews our desire. For our desire for God can only grow when we place ourselves in his presence. For Jesus alone heals our desires. From what? From the tyranny of needs. Indeed, our hearts grow sickly whenever our desires coincide merely with our needs. God, on the other hand, elevates our desires; he purifies them and heals them of selfishness, opening them to love for him and for our brothers and sisters. This is why we should not neglect adoration, that prayer of silent adoration which is not so common among us. Please let us not forget adoration.
In this way, like the Magi, we will have the daily certainty that even in the darkest nights a star continues to shine. It is the star of the Lord, who comes to care for our frail humanity. Let us set out on the path towards him. Let us not give apathy and resignation the power to drive us into a cheerless and banal existence. Let our restless hearts embrace the restlessness of the Spirit. The world expects from believers a new burst of enthusiasm for the things of heaven. Like the Magi, let us lift up our eyes, listen to the desire lodged in our hearts, and follow the star that God makes shine above us. As restless seekers, let us remain open to God’s surprises. Brothers and sisters, let us dream, let us seek and let us adore.
Book of Isaiah 60,1-6.
RispondiEliminaRise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; But upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: Your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.
Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, For the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.
Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
Psalms 72(71)
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
And the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
The lives of the poor he shall save.
Letter to the Ephesians 3,2-3a.5-6.
Brothers and sisters: You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for your benefit,
(namely, that) the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly earlier.
which was not made known to human beings in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit,
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Matthew
2,1-12.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."
When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:
'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage."
After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
Words of the Holy Father
RispondiEliminaThe Gospel account of the Magi describes their journey from the East as a journey of the spirit, as a journey toward the encounter with Christ. They are attentive to signs that indicate his presence; they are tireless in facing the trials of the search; they are courageous in deducing the implications for life that derive from encounter with the Lord. This is life: Christian life is a journey, but being attentive, tireless and courageous. A Christian journeys like this. (Angelus 6 January 2015)
FAUSTI - In this story is presented the "Christmas of the soul" (M. Ecklart) : the birth of the believer in God and of God in the believer. It is a gradual generation, in five moments: the con-sidering (being with the stars) of the intelligence that opens to desire and to follow one's own star, the Scripture that reveals the One that we desire, the joy of the heart that shows where He is, the adoration and finally the gift of self to the One who has already given Himself.
Even if we know the material place where He was born, it is not enough. We must make the itinerary of the Magi in the first person with a night journey full of fascination and fears, of desires and doubts, of hopes and uncertainties, under the guidance of a star that appears and disappears.
Reason makes us look for the Saviour, revelation tells us where to find Him: the first says that He is there, the second Who He is, giving the first new criteria of evaluation, the same of God.
Jesus is the King of the Jews, the Christ, Light of the nations, born for all in Bethlehem of Judea. The light of reason and revelation brings to Him humanity, which finds its life in Him.
The Church is made up not only of Jews, but also of pagans who, like the Magi, make the journey of search until they find Him, kiss Him and open their treasure to Him.
"They rejoiced greatly with great joy" God is Love , is Joy, His perfume, His sign of presence.
It is communicated to those who love, to those who discover the treasure (13:44), to those who encounter the Living One (28:8). Here at last you "enter into the house", and you find the King.
The child is to be seen.
Where is the Child, if not in the heart of one who loves Him, listens to Him and rejoices in Him? The outer path stops; with worship begins the inner one. Three times it is said "to adore".
You will find the Child if you enter the "house", and He is always with His Mother.
You will find the Son in Israel, in Mary, in the Church, in your brothers and sisters, in yourself, if you love Him and listen to Him!
The treasure in Matthew is the heart of man. Where your treasure is, there is your heart.
The Magi open their hearts and offer what is in them.
Gold, visible wealth, represents what one has; incense, invisible as God, represents what one desires; myrrh, ointment that heals wounds and preserves from corruption, represents what one is.
Kingship, divinity, the creature's own mortality, all that man has, but above all what he desires and what he lacks, is his treasure. He opens to God his possessions, his desires and his penury. And God enters into His treasure.
Here is "where" the Son is begotten from the Father.
By giving what they are, the wise men receive Him who is, and they themselves become like Him.
God is born in man, and man in God. Here the path is made.
Also the Magi, like Joseph, receive the message of God in a dream. The dream of God influences history more than the power of every powerful person, and mocks him.
They go back to where they started. But "by another way."
No longer that of one who seeks one who does not know, but that of one who has found the One who seeks.
In fact, they are no longer those of before, they have found "where" the king was born.
The "where" of God is the heart of man, and the "where" of man is the heart of God.
They withdrew as anchorites... says the Greek text, in their own land.
They now have with them a new heaven and a new earth, seeds that they will carry wherever they go.
BENEDICT XVI
RispondiEliminaANGELUS
6 January 2013
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
...Today we are celebrating above all the Epiphany of the Lord, his manifestation to the nations, while many Eastern Churches, according to the Julian Calendar, celebrate the Birth. This slight difference that makes these two events overlap highlights that that Child, born in the humility of a grotto in Bethlehem, is the light of the world, who orients the path of all peoples.
It is a juxtaposition which also makes us reflect also from the viewpoint of faith: moreover, at Christmas in front of Jesus, we see the faith of Mary, of Joseph and of the shepherds; and today on the Epiphany the faith of the three Magi, come from the East to worship the King of the Jews.
The Virgin Mary, together with her husband, represents the “stump” of Israel, the “remnant” foretold by the prophets, from which the Messiah was to spring. Instead the Magi represent the peoples, and we can say even civilizations, cultures, religions that are — so to speak — on their way to God, searching for his kingdom of peace, justice, truth and freedom. There was first a nucleus, embodied above all by Mary, the “daughter of Zion”: a nucleus of Israel, the people that know and have faith in that God who revealed himself to the Patriarchs and on the path of history. This faith is fulfilled in Mary, in the fullness of time; in her, “blessed because she believed”, the Word was made flesh, God “appeared” in the world. Mary’s faith becomes the first fruits and the model of the faith of the Church, the People of the New Covenant. But from the beginning this people is universal and we can see this today in the figures of the Magi who arrive in Bethlehem, following the light of a star and the instructions of Sacred Scripture.
St Leo the Great says: “A promise had been made to the holy Patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the seed of faith” (Sermo 3 in Epiphania Domini, 1: PL 54, 240). Mary’s faith can be compared to Abraham’s. It is a new beginning of the same promise, of the same immutable plan of God which now finds fulfilment in Jesus Christ. And the light of Christ is so clear and strong that it makes both the language of the cosmos and of the Scriptures intelligible, so that all those who, like the Magi, are open to the truth can recognize it and come to contemplate the Saviour of the world. St Leo continues: “Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family of the patriarchs... let all people adore the Creator of the universe; let God be known, not only in Judaea, but in the whole world” (ibid.). In this perspective we can also look at the episcopal ordinations which I had the joy of conferring this morning in St Peter’s Basilica: two new bishops will remain at the service of the Holy See, and the other two will be leaving to serve as Pontifical Representatives to two nations. Let us pray for each one of the them, for their ministry, and that the light of Christ may shine throughout the world.
HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS
RispondiElimina6 January 2022
The Magi travel towards Bethlehem. Their pilgrimage speaks also to us, who are called to journey towards Jesus, for he is the North Star that lights up the sky of life and guides our steps towards true joy. Yet where did the Magi’s pilgrimage to encounter Jesus begin? What made these men of the East set out on their journey?
They had excellent reasons not to depart. They were wise men and astrologers, famous and wealthy. Having attained sufficient cultural, social and economic security, they could have remained content with what they already knew and possessed. Instead, they let themselves be unsettled by a question and by a sign: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star…” (Mt 2:2). They did not allow their hearts to retreat into the caves of gloom and apathy; they longed to see the light. They were not content to plod through life, but yearned for new and greater horizons. Their eyes were not fixed here below; they were windows open to the heavens. As Benedict XVI said, the Magi were “men with a restless heart… They were filled with expectation, not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in society… They were seekers after God” (Homily, 6 January 2013).
Where did it originate, this spirit of healthy restlessness that led them to set out on their journey? It was born of desire. That was their secret: the capacity to desire. Let us think about this. To desire means to fuel the fire that burns within us; it drives us to look beyond what is immediate and visible. To desire means embracing life as a mystery that surpasses us, as an ever-present cranny in the wall that beckons us to look into the distance, since life is not just our here and now, but something much greater. It is like a blank canvas that cries out for colour. A great painter, Vincent Van Gogh, once said that his need for God drove him to go outside at night to paint the stars. For that is the way God made us: brimming with desire, directed, like the Magi, towards the stars. With no exaggeration, we can say that we are what we desire. For it is our desires that enlarge our gaze and drive our lives forward, beyond the barriers of habit, beyond banal consumerism, beyond a drab and dreary faith, beyond the fear of becoming involved and serving others and the common good. In the words of Saint Augustine, “our entire life is an exercise of holy desire” (Homily on the First Letter of John, IV, 6).
Brothers and sisters, as it was for the Magi, so it is for us. The journey of life and faith demands a deep desire and inner zeal. Sometimes we live in a spirit of a “parking lot”; we stay parked, without the impulse of desire that carries us forward. We do well to ask: where are we on our journey of faith? Have we been stuck all too long, nestled inside a conventional, external and formal religiosity that no longer warms our hearts and changes our lives? Do our words and our liturgies ignite in people’s hearts a desire to move towards God, or are they a “dead language” that speaks only of itself and to itself? It is sad when a community of believers loses its desire and is content with “maintenance” rather than allowing itself to be startled by Jesus and by the explosive and unsettling joy of the Gospel. It is sad when a priest has closed the door of desire, sad to fall into clerical functionalism, very sad.
The crisis of faith in our lives and in our societies also has to do with the eclipse of desire for God. It is related to a kind of slumbering of the spirit, to the habit of being content to live from day to day, without ever asking what God really wants from us. We peer over earthly maps, but forget to look up to heaven. We are sated with plenty of things, but fail to hunger for our absent desire for God. We are fixated on our own needs, on what we will eat and wear (cf. Mt 6:25), even as we let the longing for greater things evaporate.
-->And we find ourselves living in communities that crave everything, have everything, yet all too often feel nothing but emptiness in their hearts: closed communities of individuals, bishops, priests or consecrated men and women. Indeed the lack of desire leads only to sadness and indifference, to sad communities, sad priests or bishops.
RispondiEliminaLet us look first to ourselves and ask: How is the journey of my faith going? This is a question that we can ask ourselves today, each one of us. How is the journey of my faith going? Is it parked or is it on the move? Faith, if it is to grow, has to begin ever anew. It needs to be sparked by desire, to take up the challenge of entering into a living and lively relationship with God. Does my heart still burn with desire for God? Or have I allowed force of habit and my own disappointments to extinguish that flame? Today, brothers and sisters, is the day we should ask these questions. Today is the day we should return to nurturing our desire. How do we do this? Let us go to the Magi and learn from their “school of desire”. They will teach us in their school of desire. Let us look at the steps they took, and draw some lessons from them.
In the first place, they set out at the rising of the star. The Magi teach us that we need to set out anew each day, in life as in faith, for faith is not a suit of armour that encases us; instead, it is a fascinating journey, a constant and restless movement, ever in search of God, always discerning our way forward.
Then, in Jerusalem the Magi ask questions: they inquire where the Child is to be found. They teach us that we need to question. We need to listen carefully to the questions of our heart and our conscience, for it is there that God often speaks to us. He addresses us more with questions than with answers. We must learn this well: God addresses us more with questions than with answers. Yet let us also be unsettled by the questions of our children, and by the doubts, hopes and desires of the men and women of our time. We need to entertain questions.
The Magi then defy Herod. They teach us that we need a courageous faith, one that is unafraid to challenge the sinister logic of power, and become seeds of justice and fraternity in societies where in our day modern Herods continue to sow death and slaughter the poor and innocent, amid general indifference.
Finally, the Magi return “by another way” (Mt 2:12). They challenge us to take new paths. Here we see the creativity of the Spirit who always brings out new things. That is also one of the tasks of the Synod we are currently undertaking: to journey together and to listen to one another, so that the Spirit can suggest to us new ways and paths to bring the Gospel to the hearts of those who are distant, indifferent or without hope, yet continue to seek what the Magi found: “a great joy” (Mt 2:10). We must always move forwards.
-->At the end of the Magi’s journey came the climactic moment: once they arrived at their destination, “they fell down and worshiped the Child” (cf. v. 11). They worshiped. Let us never forget this: the journey of faith finds renewed strength and fulfilment only when it is made in the presence of God. Only if we recover our “taste” for adoration will our desire be rekindled. Desire leads us to adoration and adoration renews our desire. For our desire for God can only grow when we place ourselves in his presence. For Jesus alone heals our desires. From what? From the tyranny of needs. Indeed, our hearts grow sickly whenever our desires coincide merely with our needs. God, on the other hand, elevates our desires; he purifies them and heals them of selfishness, opening them to love for him and for our brothers and sisters. This is why we should not neglect adoration, that prayer of silent adoration which is not so common among us. Please let us not forget adoration.
RispondiEliminaIn this way, like the Magi, we will have the daily certainty that even in the darkest nights a star continues to shine. It is the star of the Lord, who comes to care for our frail humanity. Let us set out on the path towards him. Let us not give apathy and resignation the power to drive us into a cheerless and banal existence. Let our restless hearts embrace the restlessness of the Spirit. The world expects from believers a new burst of enthusiasm for the things of heaven. Like the Magi, let us lift up our eyes, listen to the desire lodged in our hearts, and follow the star that God makes shine above us. As restless seekers, let us remain open to God’s surprises. Brothers and sisters, let us dream, let us seek and let us adore.