Who Is This Jesus?
Benedict XVI Reflects on News of the Birth of Christ
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Before the
arrival of the Wise Men to the Bethlehem cave, the birth of the Son of God was
known to only a few family members and some poor shepherds. With the visit of
the Magi, however, the question of Jesus' identity began to spread.
This was the reflection made today by Benedict XVI when he
addressed crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray with him the midday
Angelus on this feast of the Epiphany.
"In fact, before the arrival of the Magi, knowledge of this
event was little known beyond the family circle: In addition to Mary and
Joseph, and probably other relatives, it was known by the shepherds of
Bethlehem, who, hearing the joyful announcement, went to see the baby while he
was still lying in the manger," the Pope noted.
Hence, the Holy Father said, "the coming of the Messiah,
awaited by the people as foretold by the prophets, remained thus initially in
concealment."
When the Wise Men visited Herod with their question about the
birthplace of the newborn King of the Jews, it was then that news of this birth
began to spread.
"The coming and the adoration of the Magi is the first sign
of the singular identity of the son of God, who is also son of the Virgin
Mary," the Pontiff
noted. "From now on the question began to be propagated that would accompany
the whole life of Christ, and which in different ways goes across the
centuries: Who is this Jesus?"
Proposing this question to the hearts of men is the mission of the
Church, Benedict XVI suggested.
"This," he said, "is the spiritual longing that
drives the mission of the Church: to make Jesus known, his Gospel, so that
every man can discover in his human face the face of God, and be illumined by
his mystery of love."
Like the star
The Pope further reflected that Epiphany also indicates how the
Church is to carry out its mission: "reflecting the light of Christ and
proclaiming his Word."
"Christians,"
he said, "are called to imitate the service that the star gave the Magi.
We must shine as children of the light, to attract all to the beauty of the
Kingdom of God. And to all those who seek truth, we must offer the Word of God,
which leads to recognizing in Jesus 'the true God and eternal life.'"
In this context, the Pontiff spoke of a "profound gratitude
to Mary."
"She is the perfect image of the Church which gives the world
the light of Christ," he said. "She is the Star of evangelization.
'Respice Stellam,' St. Bernard says to us: Look at the Star, you who go in
search of truth and peace; turn your gaze to Mary, and she will show you Jesus,
light for every man and for all peoples."
Missionary children
Benedict XVI also mentioned the Missionary Day of Children,
celebrated on the feast of the Epiphany.
"So many children and youngsters, organized in parishes and
schools, form a spiritual and solidaristic network to help their contemporaries
in greatest difficulty," he said. "It is very beautiful and important
that children grow with a mentality open to the world, with sentiments of love
and fraternity, overcoming egoism and consumerism.
"Dear children and youngsters, with your prayer and your
commitment you collaborate with the mission of the Church. I thank you for this
and I bless you!"
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On ZENIT's Web page:
Full text: www.zenit.org/article-31375?l=english
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On ZENIT's Web page:Full text: www.zenit.org/article-31368?l=english
The Magi Show Us the Way to God, Says Pope
Highlights Word of God as the True Guiding Star
Benedict XVI's Homily for Feast of Three Kings
"They Were Men 'in Search' of Something More"
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is the
homily Benedict XVI delivered today, the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord,
during the Mass he presided over in St. Peter's Basilica.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
During the solemnity of the Epiphany the Church continues to contemplate
and to celebrate the mystery of the birth of Jesus the Savior. In particular,
today's feast underlines the destiny and universal meaning of this birth.
Becoming man in the womb of Mary, the Son of God came not only for the people
of Israel, represented by the shepherds of Bethlehem, but also for the whole of
humanity, represented by the Magi. And it is precisely on the Magi and on their
journey in search of the Messiah (cf. Matthew
2:1-12) that the Church invites us today to meditate and to pray. In the Gospel we heard that they, arriving in
Jerusalem from the East, asked: "Where
is he who is born, the king of the Jews? We saw his star arise and we have come
to adore him" (v. 2). What kind of persons were they and what kind of
star was that? They were probably wise men who scrutinized the sky but not to
try to "read" the future in the stars, eventually to extract some
gain; rather, they were men "in search" of something more, in search
of the true light, which would be able to indicate the way to follow in life.
They were persons who were certain that in creation there is what we could
define as the "signature" of God, a signature that man can and must
try to discover and decipher. Perhaps the way to know these Magi better and to
take up their desire to let themselves be guided by God's signs is to pause to
consider what they found, on their way, in the great city of Jerusalem.
HEROD (in us)
First of all they found king Herod. He certainly was interested in the
child of whom the Magi spoke; not, however, for the purpose of adoring him, as
he, lying, wished to make understood, but to do away with him. Herod was a man
of power, who in the other sees only a rival to combat. At bottom, if we
reflect well, even God seems a rival to him, in fact a particularly dangerous
rival, who wished to deprive men of the vital space, of their autonomy, of
their power; a rival who indicates the way to follow in life and thus impedes
one's doing whatever one wishes. Herod hears from his experts in the Sacred
Scriptures the words of the prophet Micah (5:1), but his only thought is the
throne. Hence God himself must be obfuscated and persons must be reduced to
being simple pawns to be moved in the great chess-board of power. Herod is not
a likable personality, someone whom we instinctively judge in a negative way
because of his brutality. But we must ask ourselves: is there perhaps something
of Herod also in us? Perhaps we too at times see God as a sort of rival?
Perhaps we too are blind before his signs, deaf to his words, because we think
he puts limits on our life and does not allows us to dispose of our existence
as we please? Dear brothers and sisters, when we see God in this way we end up
by feeling dissatisfied and unhappy, because we do not let ourselves be guided
by Him who is the foundation of everything. We must remove from our mind and
heart the idea of rivalry, the idea that to give space to God is to limit
ourselves; we must open ourselves to the certainty that God is the omnipotent
love that does not take anything away, does not threaten, rather, He is the
only One capable of giving us the possibility of living in fullness, of
experiencing true joy.
MAGI
The Magi then meet with the scholars, the theologians, the experts that
know everything about the Sacred Scriptures, who know the possible
interpretations, who are able to recite by heart every passage and hence are a
precious help to those who wish to follow the way of God. But, Saint Augustine
affirms, they love to be guides for others, showing the way, but they do not
walk, they remain immobile. For them the Scriptures become a sort of atlas to
read with curiosity, an ensemble of words and concepts to examine and to
discuss learnedly. But again we can ask ourselves: is there not also in us the
temptation to hold the Sacred Scriptures, this very rich and vital treasure for
the faith of the Church, more as an object for study and the discussions of
specialists, than as the Book that
indicates to us the way to reach life? I think that, as I indicated in the
apostolic exhortation "Verbum Domini," the profound disposition must
always be reborn in us to see the word of the Bible, read in the living
Tradition of the Church (No. 18), as the truth that tells us what man is and
how he can realize himself fully, the truth that is the way to follow daily,
together with others, if we wish to build our existence on a rock and not on
sand.
STAR (ultimate meaning)
And thus we come to the star. What type of star was that which the Magi
saw and followed? Throughout the centuries this question has been the object of
discussions among astronomers. Kepler, for example, held that it was a
"nova" or a "supernova," that is, one of those stars that
normally emanate a weak light, but which can have unexpectedly a violent
internal explosion that produces an exceptional light. Certainly, interesting
things, but which do not lead us to what is essential in order to understand
that star. We must return to the fact that those men were seeking the traces of God; they were seeking to read his
"signature" in creation; they knew that "the heavens tell the
glory of God" (Psalm 19:2); they were certain, namely, that God can be
perceived in creation. But, from wise men they also knew that it is not with
any telescope but with the profound eyes of reason in search of the ultimate meaning of reality and with
the desire of God moved by faith, that it is possible to find him, more than
that, rendered possible is that God comes close to us. The universe is not the
result of chance, as some would have us believe. Contemplating it, we are
invited to read in it something profound: the wisdom of the Creator, the
inexhaustible imagination of God, his infinite love for us. We must not let our
minds be limited by theories which come only to a certain point and that -- if
we look well -- are not in fact in concurrence with the faith, but do not
succeed in explaining the ultimate
meaning of reality. In the beauty of the world, in its mystery, in its grandeur
and its rationality we cannot but read the eternal rationality, and we cannot
but let ourselves be guided by it to the one God, creator of heaven and earth. If we have this look, we will see that He
who has created the world is he who is born in a cave in Bethlehem and
continues to dwell in our midst in the Eucharist, it is the same living God who
interpellates us, loves us, and wishes to lead us to eternal life.
GOD's STAR
Herod, the experts of Scripture, the
star, but we follow the way of the Magi who arrive in
Jerusalem. The star disappears over the great city, it is no longer seen. What
does it mean? Also in this case we must read the sign in depth. For those men
it was logical to seek the new king in the royal palace, where the wise
counselors of the court were found. But, probably to their astonishment, they
would have seen that the newborn was not found in the places of power and
culture, even if in those places they were given precious information about
him. They realized, instead, that, at times, power, including that of learning,
bars the way to the encounter with that Child. Hence, the star guided them to
Bethlehem, a small city, it guided them among the poor, the humble, to find the
King of the world. God's criteria are different from those of men; God does not manifest himself in the power
of this world, but in the humility of his love, that love which asks our
liberty to be heard to transform us and make us capable of coming to Him who is
Love. However even for us things are not as diverse as they were for the Magi.
If we were asked our opinion as to how God should have saved the world, perhaps
we would have answered that he should have manifested all his power to give the
world a more just economic system, in which everyone could have what he wanted.
In reality, this would be a sort of violence to man, because it would deprive
him of fundamental elements that characterize him. In fact, neither our liberty
nor our love would have been called into question. God's power is manifested in an altogether different way: in Bethlehem,
where we find the apparent impotence of his love. And it is there that we must
go, and it is there that we again find God's star.
The Word of God is the true star
Thus a last important element of
the event of the Magi appears very clear to us: the language of creation
enables us to follow a good portion of the way to God, but it does not give us
the definitive light. In the end, for the Magi it was indispensable to hear the
voice of the Sacred Scriptures: they alone could indicate the way to them. It
is the Word of God that is the true star, that, in the uncertainty of human
discourses, offers us the immense splendor of the divine truth.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us allow ourselves to be guided by the star, which is the Word of God, let us follow it in our life, walking with the Church, where the Word has pitched its tent. Our way will always be illumined by a light that no other sign can give us. And we too will be able to become stars for others, reflection of that light that Christ made to shine over us. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us allow ourselves to be guided by the star, which is the Word of God, let us follow it in our life, walking with the Church, where the Word has pitched its tent. Our way will always be illumined by a light that no other sign can give us. And we too will be able to become stars for others, reflection of that light that Christ made to shine over us. Amen.
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