Lift up your eyes and look round

Listening to the Spirit

Spirit of God
give us the same desire of the Three Kings
to look for the truth,
to move with courage
to search Who gives meaning to our lives
your Son, Jesus Christ.

Listening to the Word

Matthew 2:1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Reflection

On January 1, we thanked God for the gift of TIME. We look at the past months with gratitude, because we learned many things. We look at the future as another opportunity to continue our journey. We do not look at the present time… we live it. At this moment, now, we bring inside our hearts some wishes, desires, dreams. All of them are the “gasoline” of our life. If we have dreams, we are similar to the Three Kings that we listened to in the Gospel. Dreams push us, they allow us to move on, to look forward, to hope for a better future.

“Lift up your eyes and look round”. We have listened to these words in the first reading of this Sunday, the Epiphany of the Lord. This is the attitude of the Three Kings. Their hearts were filled with dreams, desires. They were looking for somebody who could give meaning to their lives. You too, look around because the One who can fulfill your dreams is here. It is Jesus. Do not give up your dreams…

“Walk” … do not stop… like the Three Kings, we are called to move, to go, to take initiative… to search… to look well what is happening around us, to meet people that have the same dreams. I cannot be satisfied with what is happening in my life. I want to understand better, to see better.

Along the journey “do not be afraid of your mistakes”. Many were the mistakes of the Three Kings: they went to the wrong city, in Jerusalem instead of going to Bethlehem. They went to the worst enemy of the newborn child Jesus, to Herod who was scared by the news of a “New King”. Let us not be afraid of our failures… they are part of the journey, and they also help us to grow.

Finally, this Sunday reminds us of another aspect of the Epiphany of the Lord, well described by the refrain of the responsorial psalm: “Lord every nation on earth will adore you”. Why such a refrain? This Sunday, Jesus manifests himself to all the people of the earth. All are invited to go to Him… to adore Him… to gain life from Him. Nobody is left behind… rich or poor, gentile or Jew, servant or free, woman or man, black or white. Jesus desires that each person could be with Him, could join the celebration prepared by Him so that the whole of humanity can be One Family in Him.