Fr. Bob - Epiphany
The star that the Magi had seen at its rising proceeded them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was with his mother. Mt. 2. A star shines in the dark of night not in the light of the day.
If we were to think of the star as the light of faith, then the light of our faith can be seen more clearly in times of darkness than in times when the sun shines bright and all seems well. So, if you were to think of a time when the light of your faith seemed to shine bright in a time that was very dark for you when was that for?
I think of when we were building the new church. We discovered there were graves in the parish cemetery that needed to be moved for the church to be built. By the time we did our due diligence to satisfy legal requirements it set us back a year and half and cost us a lot of money. Besdies that we wanted to honor parishioners who had loved ones whose graves we had to reintern. It was frustrating but we kept going. How about you? When did your faith shine for you in a dark time?
The star that the Magi followed was like a GPS system in the sky. It guided them to the place they were looking for, an animal shelter in the hills outside of Bethlehem. When the Magi went in and found a newborn child with his mother, they knew they were at the right place at the right time.
When I left the parish that I was last at, I looked at two different parishes. One seemed promising but something told me that the second parish was the right place at the right time. And I’ve been at St. Victoria ever since. How about, for you? Did you ever have something, tell you that you were at the right place at the right time?
When the magi met with Herod, something didn’t feel right. So instead of reporting back to Herod to tell him where the child was, they followed the promptings of their heart and went back to their country by another route.
By ignoring Herod’s underhanded request to know where the child was, they likely saved the child’s life and gave time for the child’s parents to make their escape by night. Meanwhile, had the Magi taken the route they’d come by Herod’s troops would have ambushed and slaughtered them for defying the king. All this is part of the hidden drama and intrigue that surrounds the story of the Magi from the east.
We might say that we all have a bit of hidden drama and intrigue woven into our stories. There may have been things that we weren’t aware of at the time but came to understand with the passage of time.
I think of how my parents met. It was during the Second World War and my dad needed to arrange a funeral for one of the men in his army outfit. After the funeral the priest introduced my dad to the funeral director’s eighteen -year-old daughter. The rest is history. Something told my dad he was at the right place at the right time.
How about you? Like the magi is there any hidden drama or intrigue woven in your story? Take a look and you might find the hidden grace that is woven into the mystery that is the story of your life.