A short reflection on how the journey of the Magi is ours too. We too are led, face obstacles, may lose sight of the Star, and find our way again.
We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him. (Mt.2:2)
Myth or historical fact – that Star has something to tell us.
It shone so brightly that those wise men from the East felt impelled to leave home and everything to follow it … not knowing where it was going to lead them and for how long they would be away. They staked everything to find the babe the star was going to bring them to.
Does that not sound familiar to us, especially priests and religious, who felt equally impelled to follow that mystic star that led us away from our familiar shores, into the unknown? What a passion, what a fascination that ‘star’ had for us. People wondered. Our families hoped we were not making a mistake. Some may have called us ‘mad,’ or just impractical. Some tried to dissuade us and keep us back. But then, they finally let us go. We went … and there was no turning back!
We three kings of orient are, bearing gifts we traverse afar … Yes, there was a song in our hearts as we left all to follow Him.
That may have been decades ago. Have we reached? Or is the search still on? Have our camels been so over-laden in the meanwhile, with the useless ‘wants’ we have heaped upon their poor backs, so that the going is slow, slow… so slow?
That first glow, that first enthusiasm is meant to last forever, until it brightens even more as the years roll by. The Star brings us to the Saviour who waits for us – in the crib at Bethlehem, or in the Temple at Jerusalem, the sea of Galilee or the streets of Nazareth, the Garden of Olives or Mount Calvary, or the tomb of the Resurrection. He accompanies us on the journey through life that He Himself has travelled. Have we recognized Him, or must He first disappear before we wake up and exclaim: Was not our heart burning within us?
The journey of the Magi can be likened to our growth in prayer. We all began with the pious mouthing of vocal prayers we learnt on our mother’s lap. Gradually this mysterious God took shape and we began to relate to Him more personally. We became familiar with the Bible, the Missal and other spiritual books. We were taught to ‘meditate,’ to reflect on the Word and to let it take flesh within us. My foundress, St Magdalene of Canossa, asked her daughters to dedicate one hour a day on what she called ‘mental prayer of the heart.’ Not just ‘meditation’ or ‘mental prayer,’ but ‘prayer of the heart’ – affective prayer, in which the feelings too are stirred.
The camels move on, closer and closer to the Lord. Prayer becomes more personal. God becomes more tangible. There is hardly need for words any more. The stirrings of the heart reach out to this mystic God, as iron filings are drawn towards a magnet. Prayer is no longer an ‘exercise’ any more, or a pious moment in our daily timetable, to be observed with a sense of duty. Prayer becomes a natural disposition of the heart, dispossessing us of everything and aligning us to that gleaming ray that leads us on unfalteringly.
There may be moments of darkness, disorientation. The star disappeared for a while, even for the magi. They tried not to shift their moorings and walked on the path shown them by the star. They fell back on their human resources, made enquiries as to where that ‘King’ might be. They went to Herod, who consulted his councillors, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. He was upset and all Jerusalem with him.
We may have such moments too. Doubts, failure, infidelity, lack of fervour, other attractions, a sense of meaninglessness, frustration, disillusionment …
It is a walk in faith, in trust and fidelity. The magi did not doubt, did not turn back. They walked on, painfully perhaps, shaken, uncertain … leaving Herod and his troubled Jerusalem behind.
Then the star appeared again. God does not leave us groping in the dark. He walks along with us, holding our hand, even when we are hardly aware of His presence. The magi felt fortified, rewarded!
And on the way they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the Child was. (Mt.2:9-10)
What bliss we experience when God becomes so tangible for us! From vocal prayer to the reading of the scriptures, to meditation, to affective prayer, to contemplation, to union…
In the midst of the noise of this world, through the pressures of everyday, despite the allurements and temptations we may face, that God of our childhood dreams leads us on to that oneness with Him He called us for. Lord, where do you live? we asked. Come and see! He replied.
During this Christmas Season, let us make the journey of the magi our own. The Star is shining brightly in the East for us. Let us not swerve from the path it shows us – for it is the instrument that God uses to lead us to Him.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star!
Sr Esme da Cunha FDCC
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