FOLLOW THE STAR
We are too accustomed to the story of the Magi. But on the other hand, today we hardly have time to stop to slowly contemplate the stars. It’s probably not just a question of time. We belong to an age in which it’s easier to see the darkness of the night than to see the brilliant points that shine in the middle of any shadow.
However, it doesn’t stop us from being moved as we think about that Christian writer who, when elaborating the story of the Magi, imagined them in the middle of the night, following the small light of a star. The narration breaths forth the profound conviction of the first believers after the resurrection. In Jesus the words of the prophet Isaiah have been fuilfilled: «The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. On those who live in a land of shadow, a light has shown on their eyes» (Is 9,1).
It would be naïve to think that we are living an especially dark, tragic and distressing hour. Isn’t it precisely in these moments of darkness, frustration and powerlessness that we grasp one of the signs that almost always accompany the path of human beings throughout the centuries?
It’s enough to open the pages of history. Without doubt we find moments of light in which are announced grand liberations, new worlds are found, more human horizons are opening. And then, what happens? Revolutions that create new slaveries, accomplishments that provoke new problems, ideals that end up in «half-baked solutions», noble struggles that end up in «mediocre agreements». Once again the darkness.
It’s not strange that we’re told that «to be human is often an experience of frustration». But that’s not the whole truth. In spite of all the failures and frustrations, people return to get themselves together, return to hope, return to move onto something else. There’s something in the human being that calls us over and over again to life and hope. There’s always a star that returns to shine.
For believers, that star always leads to Jesus. The Christian doesn’t believe in just any messianism. And that’s why we don’t ever fall into just any discouragement. The world isn’t «a lost cause». It’s not completely in shadows. The world is directed toward its salvation. God will one day be the end of exile and darkness. Full light. Today we only see it in a humble star that guides us to Bethlehem.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
