A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 2:1-12)
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.
Except for the star at its rising, it is not clear how the Magi became aware of the birth of the newborn king of Israel. “We saw his star at is rising,” they tell King Herod. Trusting in their insight, yet disturbed by what they say, Herod consults with the Jewish religious leaders to gather more information. They determine through the prophecies of Micah and Samuel that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, and Herod sends the Magi there. Herod lies to the Magi, telling them that he wishes for them to find the infant so that he too may go and do him homage. Although darkness covers the earth, the source of light at its rising is the same light that Isaiah refers to in the first reading: “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. . . . But upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory.” To see this happening, Isaiah says, “Raise your eyes and look about.” As the Magi came to recognize as they fall on their knees before the infant Christ, that’s where their journey of faith began.
Loving Father, help me set out today and every day to find you in the midst of darkness. Give me the grace, as Saint Paul says, to become a copartner in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. The solemn blessing from today’s Mass makes clear that the aim of this earthly journey is “to behold the beauty of your sublime glory.” From the blessing, let me recall these words: “And so when your pilgrimage is ended, may you come to him whom the Magi sought as they followed the star and whom they found with great joy, the Light from Light, who is Christ the Lord.”
From the Gospel acclamation: “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.