When was the last time you went out to look up the sky and find a star? When was the last time your eyes were filled with wonder and awe, gazing at the stars? (Moving to the baptismal font) I am now standing under the stars that shine upon us. These stars radiating over the baptismal font look like the guiding star that the Magi searched and followed it with such passion. And the star led them to the humble manger where the savior of the world was born. What strikes me most is that the Magi didn’t have any doubt at all to encounter the Messiah in this lowly place and gave him homage with their best gifts.
The School of Athens painted by Raphael is one of the most famous paintings of Italian and European renaissance. In the center of the painting, there is Plato who is pointing vertically into the beautiful vault above while Aristotle initiating horizontally a powerful flow of space toward viewers. The two figures signify their emphasis on idealism towards heaven and realism of earth. Since the triumph of enlightenment, modern humanism has mainly enjoyed science and literature based on realistic human experiences. So it has led us to cling to earthly experiences and to forget human desire of heaven.
But, I still believe that we all have a star in our heart, longing for something beyond human understanding because, as it is written in the Little Prince, “It is only with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eyes.”
The Magi might be astronomers who observed the stars in their study. However, more surely, they were the wise who were not obsessed with the visible but sought for the truth. They not only searched the stars but also followed it through which God constantly sends His message to humans. But in reality many are blinded by earthly, secular affairs not like the Magi! Look at King Herod who was greatly troubled to be afraid of losing his power and control along with all Jerusalem. And his uneasiness finally ended up killing the innocent in Bethlehem. Does it say something about our situation?
As we constantly make all the efforts to build up human structures, we are getting farther and farther away from our eternal home. And we seem to ignore or avoid looking up the sky and eventually be lost in our journey. But, honestly most of us don’t start the journey at the beginning, or even at any other sensible prescribed point. We begin, quite simply, from where we are, and for most of us that will be long after we have already missed a landmark and perhaps a good few other apparently vital landmarks. I am reminded of the traveler who lost his way and asked for directions. After a long explanation of how to reach his destination, his informant gave up, with the comment, “But if I were you, I wouldn’t start from here.”
God knows better. With God we always start exactly where we are, and he is both the path and the compass and sometimes the stars. So it becomes possible to stop for a moment on the journey and look back at the maze of paths behind us. Like most of you, perhaps, I can now see several landmarks where I took the wrong turn… So what can I do about it now? Stand and regret? Or go back to the bottom of the hill and try again? Or remember that God is Now and God is Here, wherever we are, in whatever unchosen places or situations, and that it is God whom we seek, not a particular path…
Look at the stars that shine upon us, showing us the mystery revealed by God’s love. It is the word made flesh that makes man divine and this star of hope constantly radiates upon us whether we are aware of or not. What we need to do is to look up the sky and find the stars. And it will guide us to find the savior as our personal helper in our struggles. This is the meaning of Epiphany: the Lord has been made known to those who continue to seek the truth. No one holds all the truth; we all are the Magi, searching the light in the darkness and meaning in our life journey.
All we need to know is that wherever we are is where we are with God, in the here and now, and that this journey, which is our real vocation, is unfolding itself out of all our life’s choices—wise and unwise. It is the joy of Christian life to share God’s blessing now, free of regret for the landmarks we have missed, being alert and alive with trust for all that lies ahead. “The people who walked in darkness have seen the star!”