Epiphany of the Lord (year A)  [6 January 2026]

May God bless us and may the Virgin protect us! Happy Epiphany!

*First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (60:1-6)

In these dark days, here is an announcement of light! This text from Isaiah is filled with insistent images of light: "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you... The Lord shines upon you... His glory appears upon you... Then you will see and be radiant." It is precisely this abundance of light that makes us understand that the real climate is anything but bright. The prophets do not cultivate paradox, but the art of hope: they speak of light because the people are immersed in the darkest night. The historical context is that of the post-exile period (525-520 BC). The return from Babylon did not bring the expected prosperity. Tensions are high: between those who remained in the country and those returning from exile; between different generations; between Jews and foreign populations settled in Jerusalem during the occupation. The most painful issue concerns the reconstruction of the Temple: the returnees refuse the help of groups considered religiously unfaithful; this gives rise to a conflict that blocks the work and dampens enthusiasm. As the years passed, discouragement set in. It was here that Isaiah, together with the prophet Haggai (cf. 1:2-8, 12-15; 2:3-9), provoked a spiritual awakening. Sadness is not worthy of the people of the promises. The prophet's one great argument is this: Jerusalem is the city chosen by God, the place where He has placed His Name. For this reason, Isaiah can dare to say: 'Arise, Jerusalem! Shine forth'. Even when everything seems dark, God's faithfulness remains the foundation of hope. The almost triumphal language does not describe a situation that has already been resolved, but anticipates the day that is coming. In the night, we look for the dawn: the prophet's task is to restore courage, to remember the promise. The message is clear: do not be discouraged; get to work, rebuild the Temple, because the light of the Lord will come. Three final points: Faith combines lucidity and hope: seeing reality does not extinguish trust. The promise is not a political triumph, but God's victory, his glory that illuminates humanity. Jerusalem already points to the people and, beyond the people, to all humanity called to communion: God's plan transcends every city and every border.

*Important elements: +Post-exilic context (525-520 BC) and climate of discouragement. +Internal conflicts and blockage of the reconstruction of the Temple. +Language of light as an announcement of hope in the night. +Vocation of Jerusalem: chosen city, place of Presence. +Prophetic call to action: rise up and rebuild. +Hope based on God's faithfulness, not on political successes. +Universal openness: the promise concerns all humanity

*Responsorial Psalm (71/72)

Men dream and God carries out his plan. Psalm 71 ideally brings us into the celebration of a king's coronation. The accompanying prayers express the deepest desires of the people: justice, peace, prosperity for all, to the ends of the earth. It is the great dream of humanity throughout the ages. Israel, however, has a unique certainty: this dream coincides with God's own plan. The last verse of the psalm, which blesses only the Lord and not the king, offers us the key to understanding. The psalm was composed after the exile, at a time when there was no longer a king in Israel. This means that the prayer is not addressed to an earthly sovereign, but to the king promised by God, the Messiah. And since it is a divine promise, it is certain. The whole Bible is permeated with this unshakeable hope: history has meaning and direction. The prophets call it 'the Day of the Lord', Matthew 'the Kingdom of Heaven', Paul 'the merciful plan'. It is always the same plan of love that God tirelessly proposes to humanity. The Messiah will be its fulfilment, and it is He whom Israel invokes in praying the psalms. This Psalm describes the ideal king, awaited for centuries, in continuity with the promise made to David through the prophet Nathan: a kingdom stable forever, a king called the son of God. Over the centuries, this promise has been deepened: if the king is the son of God, then his kingdom will be founded on justice and peace. Each new coronation rekindled this expectation. Yet the ideal kingdom has not yet been fully realised. It may seem like a utopia. But for the believer it is not: it is a promise from God, and therefore a certainty. Faith is the anchor of the soul: in the face of the failures of history, the believer does not give up hope, but waits patiently, certain of God's faithfulness. The psalm announces a decisive reversal: power and justice will finally coincide. In God, power is only love. For this reason, the messianic king will free the poor, defend the weak and bring endless peace. His kingdom will have no boundaries: it will extend to the whole earth and last forever. For Israel, this psalm remains a prayer of expectation for the Messiah. For Christians, it is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and the episode of the Wise Men is already a sign of the universality of his kingdom: the nations come to him, bringing gifts and adoration.

*Important elements: +Psalm 71 as a prayer for the universal desires for justice and peace. +Coincidence between man's dream and God's plan. +Post-exilic composition: waiting for the king-Messiah. +Promise made to David (2 Sam 7) as the foundation of expectation. +History has meaning and direction in God's plan. +The ideal king: justice, peace, defence of the poor. +God's power as love and service. +Universal and endless kingdom. +Messianic Jewish reading and Christian fulfilment in Jesus Christ. + The Wise Men as the first sign of the fulfilment of the universal promise

*Second Reading from St Paul's Letter to the Ephesians (3:2...6)

This passage is taken from the Letter to the Ephesians (chapter 3) and takes up a central theme already announced in chapter 1: the 'merciful plan/mystery of God'. Paul recalls that God has made known the mystery of his will: to bring history to its fulfilment, recapitulating in Christ all that is in heaven and on earth (Eph 1:9-10). For St Paul, the mystery is not a closely guarded secret, but God's intimacy offered to man. It is a plan that God reveals progressively, with patient pedagogy, just as a parent accompanies a child in the discovery of life. Thus God has guided his people throughout history, step by step, until the decisive revelation in Jesus Christ. With Christ, a new era begins: before and after him. The heart of the mystery is this: Christ is the centre of the world and of history. The whole universe is called to be reunited in Him, like a body around its head. Paul emphasises that this unity concerns all nations: all are associated in sharing the same inheritance, in forming the same body, in participating in the same promise through the Gospel. In other words: the inheritance is Christ, the promise is Christ, the body is Christ. When we say "Thy will be done" in the Lord's Prayer, we are asking for the fulfilment of this plan. God's plan is therefore universal: it concerns not only Israel, but all humanity. This openness was already present in the promise made to Abraham: "All the families of the earth shall be blessed in you" (Gen 12:3), and proclaimed by prophets such as Isaiah. However, this truth was slowly understood and often forgotten. At the time of Paul, it was not at all obvious to accept that pagans were fully participants in salvation. The early Christians of Jewish origin struggled to recognise them as full members. Paul intervenes decisively: pagans too are called to be witnesses and apostles of the Gospel. It is the same message that Matthew expresses in the story of the Wise Men: the nations come to the light of Christ. The text ends with an appeal: God's plan requires the cooperation of man. If there was a star for the Wise Men, for many today the star will be the witnesses of the Gospel. God continues to fulfil his benevolent plan through the proclamation and life of believers.

*Important elements: +The 'mystery' as a revelation of God's benevolent plan and progressive revelation culminating in Christ. +Christ as the centre of history and the universe and all humanity united in Christ: heritage, body and promise. Universality of salvation: Jews and pagans together in continuity with the promise to Abraham and the prophets. +Historical difficulties in accepting pagans. +Epiphany and Wise Men as a sign of universalism and Call to witness: collaborating in the proclamation of the Gospel

*From the Gospel according to Matthew (2:1-12)

At the time of Jesus, the expectation of the Messiah was very intense. People spoke of him everywhere and prayed to God to hasten his coming. Most Jews imagined the Messiah as a king descended from David: he would reign from Jerusalem, drive out the Romans and finally establish peace, justice and brotherhood in Israel; some even hoped that this renewal would extend to the whole world. This expectation was based on various prophecies in the Old Testament. First of all, that of Balaam in the Book of Numbers: called to curse Israel, he instead announced a promise of glory, speaking of a star rising from Jacob and a sceptre rising from Israel (Num 24:17). Over the centuries, this prophecy was interpreted in a messianic sense, to the point of suggesting that the coming of the Messiah would be marked by a star. This is why Herod takes the news brought by the Wise Men very seriously. Another decisive prophecy is that of Micah, who announces the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, the small village from which the ruler of Israel will come (Micah 5:1), in continuity with the promise made to David of a dynasty destined to last. The Wise Men, probably pagan astrologers, do not have a deep knowledge of the Scriptures: they set out simply because they have seen a new star. When they arrive in Jerusalem, they inquire with the authorities. Here a first great contrast emerges: on the one hand, the Wise Men, who seek without prejudice and ultimately find the Messiah; on the other, those who know the Scriptures perfectly but do not move, do not even make the short journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and therefore do not encounter the Child. Herod's reaction is yet different. Jealous of his power and known for his violence, he sees the Messiah as a dangerous rival. Behind an apparent calm, he seeks precise information: the place of birth and the age of the child. His anguish and fear lead him to the cruel decision to kill all children under the age of two. In the story of the Wise Men, Matthew already offers us a summary of the entire life of Jesus: from the beginning, He encounters hostility and rejection from political and religious authorities. He will not be recognised as the Messiah, He will be accused and finally eliminated. Yet He is truly the promised Messiah: anyone who seeks Him with a sincere heart, like the Wise Men, can enter into God's salvation.

*St John Chrysostom on the episode of the Wise Men: "The Wise Men, though foreigners, rose, departed and came to the Child; so too must those who wish to encounter Christ move with a fervent heart, without waiting for comfort or security." (Homily VII on Matthew 2)

*Most important elements: +Strong messianic expectation at the time of Jesus and expectation of a Messiah-king, descendant of David. +Prophecy of the star (Balaam) and birth in Bethlehem (Micah). +The Wise Men: sincere seekers guided by the star. +Contrast between those who seek and those who know but do not move. +Herod's hostility, jealousy of power and violence. +Jesus rejected from the beginning of his life. + Universality of salvation: those who seek, find. + The Wise Men as a model of faith on the journey.

+ Giovanni D'Ercole

Second Sunday after Christmas (year A)  [4 January 2026]

May God bless us and may the Virgin protect us. In the Christmas season, the liturgy constantly leads us  to meditate on the mystery of the Incarnation.

*First Reading from the Book of Sirach (24:1-4, 12-16)

The Wisdom of God raises her voice in the assembly and recounts her origin and mission. She comes from the Most High, proceeds from his mouth as the creative Word, precedes time and traverses the entire cosmos: nothing is foreign to her, nothing exists without her order. Yet this universal Wisdom does not remain homeless. God entrusts her with a concrete destination:

"She sets up her tent in Jacob". Wisdom pitches its tent among the chosen people, takes up its inheritance in Israel and puts down roots in Jerusalem, the city of God's presence. Its dwelling place is the Torah: not a cold law, but a living Word, in which God speaks and man responds. Here Wisdom becomes nourishment, light, fruitfulness, like a tree that grows, blossoms and bears fruit for those who welcome it. In this hymn, we already glimpse the mystery that the Gospel of John will proclaim openly: Wisdom, who pitches her tent, anticipates the Word who becomes flesh and comes to dwell among us. What was dwelling in the Law and in the people of Israel finds its full fulfilment in Christ, the incarnate Wisdom of the Father. To welcome Wisdom, then, means to dwell in the Word, to let God dwell in us and to make our lives a tent open to his saving presence. 

*Most important elements: +Wisdom comes from God and proceeds from his mouth. +It has a cosmic dimension: it permeates and orders all creation. +God assigns it a concrete destination. Wisdom pitches her tent in Jacob. +Her homeland is Israel and her dwelling place is Jerusalem. She is identified with the Torah, the living Word of God. +The Torah is a place of encounter: God speaks, man responds. +Wisdom becomes fruitfulness and life for the people. +The text anticipates the Prologue of John. Biblical foundation of the mystery of the Incarnation

*Responsorial Psalm (147 vv. 12-15; 19-20)

Jerusalem is invited to praise the Lord, because God rebuilds the city, gathers the scattered and protects his people. His action is not only spiritual: he strengthens the gates, blesses the children, guarantees peace at the borders and nourishes with the best wheat. God's salvation touches concrete life, security, daily bread. His word is effective and sovereign: God sends it to earth and it runs swiftly, governing nature and history. The one who has power over the cosmos chooses to manifest himself as the defender of a fragile people who live under his protection. But the heart of the psalm is this: God revealed his Word to Jacob, his decrees and judgements to Israel. No other nation has received such a gift. The true greatness of Israel is not its strength, but its intimacy with God, who speaks, guides and instructs. This psalm thus becomes an invitation to grateful praise: a God who rules the universe has chosen to enter into covenant, to speak and to dwell in the history of his people. It is this received Word that builds peace and makes life stable.

*Most important elements: +Invitation to praise addressed to Jerusalem. +God rebuilds, protects and gathers his people. +Concrete blessing: peace, security, nourishment. +The Word of God is powerful and effective, and God rules the cosmos and history. +Unique revelation made to Israel: the Torah as a privilege and responsibility. +The true strength of the people is to listen to the Word of God.

*Second Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians (1:3-6, 15-18)

Paul opens the letter with a great blessing: all Christian life springs from a single movement that rises towards God, because grace first descended upon us. God is blessed because he has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing: not fragmentary gifts, but full and definitive salvation. The foundation of everything is God's free choice: even before creation, we were chosen in Christ to be holy and immaculate in love. Election is not an exclusive privilege, but a vocation to communion and new life. This election is expressed as filial adoption: God predestined us to be children in the Son, according to his plan of love. Salvation does not come from our merit, but from the benevolence of his will, and everything converges in the praise of the glory of his grace. In the second part, Paul moves from praise to intercessory prayer. Having heard of the faith and charity of the believers, he thanks God and asks for a decisive gift: the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that Christians may truly know God, not only with their minds but with their hearts. Paul prays that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened, so that they may understand: the hope of their calling, the riches of the glory of their inheritance, the greatness of the gift they have received in Christ. The Christian faith is therefore the memory of a grace received and a path of enlightened knowledge, which leads to living as children in freedom and praise.

*Most important elements. +Blessing to God for salvation in Christ. +Eternal election before creation. +Vocation to holiness in love and filial adoption in the Son. +Salvation as free grace. +Everything oriented towards the praise of God's glory and thanksgiving for faith and charity. +Prayer for the Spirit of wisdom. +Illumination of the heart. +Hope, inheritance and fullness of Christian life.

*From the Gospel according to John (1:1-18) Prologue

The Gospel of John opens by taking us back 'in the beginning', to where everything originated. Before all time was the Word (Logos): not just any word, but the eternal Word of God, in living relationship with the Father and of the same divine nature. In him everything was created; nothing exists without him. The Word is life, and this life is the light of men, a light that shines in the darkness and which the darkness cannot extinguish. A witness enters the story: John the Baptist. He is not the light, but he is sent to bear witness to the light, so that men may believe. The true light comes into the world that was made through it, but the world does not recognise it. Even his own people struggle to accept it. However, to those who accept it, the Word gives an unprecedented opportunity: to become children of God, not by human descent, but by free gift. The heart of the Prologue is the decisive announcement: 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' God does not remain distant: he enters into human frailty, into concrete history, and makes his glory visible, a glory that has the face of faithful love, grace and truth. In Jesus, the Invisible One allows himself to be seen. John attests that the one who comes after him was before him. From this fullness we all receive grace upon grace: the Law, a holy gift, finds its fulfilment in the person of Christ, who not only speaks of God, but reveals him fully. No one has ever seen God, but the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known. The Prologue thus invites us to make a choice: to recognise in the flesh of Jesus the eternal Word, to welcome the light, to live as children and to allow ourselves to be transformed by the grace that dwells among us.

* St Augustine – Commentary on the Prologue of John 'The Word became flesh so that man might understand the Word.' (In Ioannis Evangelium Tractatus, 2,2). In a single sentence, Augustine summarises the meaning of John 1:14: God does not lower his truth, but makes himself accessible, entering into our condition so that man may know and welcome the divine light.

*Important elements: +In the beginning: continuity with creation. The eternal Word, with God and God. Everything created through the Word. +Word as life and light. Light and darkness: conflict and rejection. +Testimony of John the Baptist. +Acceptance of the Word = becoming children of God. +Incarnation: the Word becomes flesh. God dwells among men. +Glory, grace and truth in Christ. +Christ as the definitive revelation of the Father.

+Giovanni D’Ercole

Mary, Holy Mother of God (year A)  [1 January 2026]

May God bless us and the Virgin protect us! Best wishes for the new year, invoking God's blessing throughout 2026

*First Reading from the Book of Numbers (6:22-27)

The blessing "May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you" comes from the Book of Numbers and has been pronounced by the priests of Israel since the time of Aaron. It has also become a permanent part of Christian liturgy, as the solemn blessing at the end of Mass. The expression "invoking the Name of God" must be understood in the biblical context: the Name represents the person himself, his presence, his protection. For this reason, pronouncing the Name of God over the people means placing them under his protection. When God reveals his Name, he makes himself accessible to the prayers of his people. Consequently, any offence against the people of God is an offence against his own Name. This also sheds light on Jesus' words about becoming a neighbour to the least among us: God has placed his Name on every person, who must therefore be regarded with respect and with new eyes. The blessing is formulated in the singular (may he bless you), but it refers to the entire people: it is a collective singular, which Israel understood as extending to all humanity. The use of the subjunctive does not indicate any doubt about God's will to bless, since God blesses unceasingly; rather, it expresses man's freedom to accept or reject this blessing. To bless means, in the biblical sense, that God 'speaks well' of man. His Word is effective and transforming: when God speaks well, he brings it about. To ask for a blessing is to open oneself to his transforming and life-giving action. To be blessed does not mean to be preserved from trials, but to live them in communion with God, within the Covenant, certain of his faithful presence. This finds its fulfilment in Mary, mother of God, the 'full of grace', upon whom the Name of God is placed in a unique and definitive way. The original Hebrew text further enriches the meaning: the Name YHWH is a promise of continuous presence, and the verbal form indicates a blessing that spans the past, present and future. God has blessed, blesses and will bless his people forever.

Important elements: +The blessing of Numbers 6 as Jewish and Christian heritage. +The Name of God as presence, protection and belonging. +The collective singular: blessing for all the people and for humanity. +The subjunctive as an expression of human freedom to accept grace. +Blessing as an effective Word that transforms. +Blessing not as the absence of trials, but as communion with God. +Mary as fully blessed and bearer of the Name. +The richness of the Hebrew text: eternal blessing of YHWH.

*Responsorial Psalm (66/67)

Psalm 66 responds harmoniously to the priestly blessing in the Book of Numbers: "May the Lord bless you and keep you." The same spiritual atmosphere pervades the psalm: the certainty that God accompanies his people. To say that God blesses is to affirm that God is with us. This is the most authentic definition of blessing, as the prophet Zechariah suggests: God's presence is so evident that it attracts the nations. The very Name revealed on Sinai, YHWH, expresses precisely this promise of faithful and permanent presence. In the psalm, it is the people themselves who ask for the blessing: "May God bless us." God blesses without interruption; however, man remains free to accept or reject this blessing. Prayer then becomes an opening of the heart to God's transforming action. For this reason, in the faith of Israel, prayer is always marked by the certainty of being heard even before asking. Israel does not ask for blessings only for itself. The blessing received is destined to radiate to all nations, according to the promise made to Abraham. Two inseparable dimensions are intertwined in the psalm: the election of Israel and the universality of God's plan. The expression "God, our God" recalls the Covenant, while the invitation to all peoples to praise God shows that salvation is offered to the whole of humanity. Israel gradually understands that it has been chosen not for exclusion, but to bear witness: the light that illuminates it must reflect the light of God for the whole world. This awareness matures especially after the exile, when Israel recognises that the God of the Covenant is the God of the universe. Zechariah's prophecy (8:23) clearly expresses this vision: the nations will draw near to the chosen people because they recognise that God is with them. Today's believers are also called to be a witnessing people: every blessing received is a mandate to become a reflection of God's light in the world. At the beginning of a new year, this becomes a mutual wish: to bring God's light where it is not yet welcomed. Finally, the psalm states that 'the earth has yielded its fruit'. Because the Word of God is effective, it bears fruit in history. God has kept his promise of a fruitful earth, and for Christians, this verse finds its full fulfilment in the birth of the Saviour: in the fullness of time, the earth has borne its fruit.

Important elements: +Psalm 66 as an echo of the blessing in Numbers 6. +Blessing as God's presence and accompaniment. +The Name YHWH as a promise of faithful presence. +God always blesses; man is free to accept. +Prayer as openness to God's transforming action. +The election of Israel and the universality of salvation. Israel (and the Church) as a witnessing people. +The blessing intended for all nations. +The Word of God bearing fruit in history. +Christian fulfilment in the mystery of the Incarnation.

Second Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Galatians (4:4-7)

"When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman": with this expression Paul announces the fulfilment of God's plan. History, according to biblical faith, is not an eternal return, but a progressive journey towards the realisation of God's merciful plan. This perspective of fulfilment is a fundamental key not only to understanding Paul's letters, but the entire Bible, beginning with the Old Testament. The authors of the New Testament insist on showing that the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus fulfil the Scriptures. This does not mean that everything was rigidly planned and predetermined: fulfilment should not be understood as fatality, but as a reinterpretation in faith of real events through which God, respecting human freedom, carries out his plan. God accepts the risk of human freedom, even when it conflicts with his plan; nevertheless, he never tires of renewing his promise, as Isaiah and Jeremiah attest. In Jesus, believers contemplate the definitive fulfilment of these promises. Paul then states that the Son of God was "born of a woman and born under the Law". In a few words, he expresses the whole mystery of Christ: true Son of God, true man, fully integrated into the people of Israel. The expression "born of a woman" simply indicates his full humanity, as attested by biblical language; being "under the Law" means that Jesus shared the condition of his people to the full. The purpose of this coming is clear: to redeem, that is, to free those who were under the Law, so that they might become adopted children. It is no longer a question of living as slaves who obey orders, but as children who obey out of love and trust. Thus, we move from submission to the Law to the freedom of filial obedience. This transition is made possible by the gift of the Spirit of the Son, who cries out in our hearts, 'Abba, Father'. It is the cry of trusting abandonment, the certainty that God is Father in all circumstances. For this reason, the believer is no longer a slave, but a child and, as a child, an heir: everything that belongs to the Son is also promised to him. The difficulty for human beings often lies in not daring to believe in this reality: not daring to believe that the Spirit of God dwells in them, that God's strength and capacity to love are truly given to them. And yet, none of this is due to human merit: if we are children and heirs, it is by grace. It is in this profound sense that we can say that everything is grace.

Important elements: +The fullness of time as the fulfilment of God's plan. +History as a journey towards God's benevolent plan. +The fulfilment of the Scriptures in Jesus, without determinism. +Respect for human freedom in the divine plan. +Jesus: Son of God, true man, born under the Law. +Redemption as liberation from the slavery of the Law. +The transition from slaves to children. +The gift of the Spirit who cries out 'Abba, Father'. Sonship as a promised inheritance. +Grace as the foundation of everything.

*From the Gospel according to Luke (2:16-21)

'What you have hidden from the wise and intelligent, you have revealed to the little ones' (Lk 10:21/ Mt 11:25): this verse illuminates the story of Jesus' birth, which is apparently simple but deeply theological. The shepherds, marginalised men who did not observe the Law, are the first to receive the angel's announcement: they thus become the first witnesses, bearers of the good news. Luke's narrative (Lk 2:8-14) emphasises how God's glory envelops them and how they are seized with fear and joy. Their experience recalls the words of Jesus: God reveals his mystery to the little ones, not to the wise. The story takes place in Bethlehem, the city of David and 'house of bread', where the newborn is laid in a manger: a symbol of the one who gives himself as nourishment for humanity. Mary observes in silence, meditating in her heart on all the events (Lk 2:19), showing attentive and filial contemplation, in contrast to the loquacity of the shepherds. Her attitude is reminiscent of that of Daniel, who kept the visions he received in his heart (Dan 7:28), foreshadowing the messianic destiny of the child. The name 'Jesus', which means 'God saves', reveals his saving mystery. Like every Jewish child, Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day and subjected to the Law of Moses, in full solidarity with his people. Luke insists on the circumcision and presentation in the Temple (Lk 2:22-24) to emphasise Mary and Joseph's perfect observance of the Law, not to highlight a ritual detail, but to show Jesus' complete adherence to the history and tradition of his people. This is consistent with his future identification with the wicked, as foretold: "And he was numbered among the wicked" (Lk 22:37). Finally, the discretion and silence of Mary, mother of God, show her humility and ability to become an instrument of God's plan. The centre of the plan is not Mary, but Jesus, the Saviour.

St Ambrose of Milan (4th century), commenting on the scene of the shepherds and Mary's attitude, writes: Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart: she did not try to explain the mystery in words, but kept it in faith" (cf. Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam, II).

Important elements: +The revelation of God's mystery to the 'little ones', not to the wise and the shepherds: marginal witnesses and first heralds. +Bethlehem as the city of bread, symbol of saving nourishment. +Mary meditates on the events in her heart, a model of contemplation and silence. +The name Jesus means 'God saves'. +Circumcision and observance of the Law: Jesus' solidarity with the people and Presentation in the Temple: total adherence to the Law of Moses. +Jesus identified with the wicked: a sign of his mission. +Mary's silence and humility: an instrument of the divine plan, not the centre. + The plan of salvation has Jesus, the Saviour, at its centre.

+Giovanni D'Ercole

Childbirth and Manifestation

(Mt 2:1-12)

Mt writes in the 80s for the third generation worshippers. It is a time when he sees that in the first communities the pagans entered in droves, while precisely those who for centuries had been waiting for the Light to which they seemed so fond were disdainfully rejecting it.

The narrative of the Epiphany draws inspiration from what was happening before the eyes of believers at the end of the first century.

People who have always had the habit of waiting, by now they did not wait or see anything. They had become so accustomed to ancient expectations that they no longer imagined that they could have a real Encounter with the Newness of God.

The impact of those who honestly were looking for the Star was quite different: a distinct approach, albeit in precarious balance, which nevertheless allowed indeed the distant ones on the way to ask the right questions.

Without interests to defend, the new seekers of God were still on the march, they were moved away from all the ancient shackles and from their own ideas. Without respite they walked a long and new Way.

They were not just looking for quietist reassurances. They understood that the Treasure of God is in a Journey, for a not mediocre wonder; all of Origin.

While addressing religious authorities and experts in the ancient Scriptures (vv.1-2), authentic pilgrims continued to head forward.

In this way, flying over the habitual fences of respect for roles, social prominence, conformist interpretation.

But if the throne feared for its power, the temple was afraid of losing the exclusivity on God, then hegemony over consciences.

[In the Gospels, thrones and altars are under the banner of supremacy, strength, dowry, deception: here vv.3-4].

However, the Explorers did not submit to ceremonies of established verticism, nor to the influence of a fake uniformity.

Thus receiving the Radiance of Christmas Revelation: God is not a ruler, but unarmed. Tender and Small, among defenseless.

By tradition, the people of Messianic promises were considered to be awarded a regal, priestly and sponsal dignity.

These Gifts [gold and incense and myrrh: v.11] are now passed on to people of any cultural background.

Those who are endowed with a «freewheeling intuitions» - remote, «effective» treasures, so precious for the synodal path (and equally neglected) [Speech September 18, 2021].

In short, the seekers of God are called and drawn from an unthinkable geography and history, because they remain the only ones who have the liver to constantly embark on a different route: «other Way» (v.12).

Because the normality of the dictated courses kills life - annihilating the spirit of adventure and surprise that bothers to dive into the present.

And those born from wave to wave produce healthy opportunities.

The Lord knows to what potentialities of good the even more embarrassing creatures can be converted, and chaises them.

At some point in our journey - then from time to time - we will understand that the discomfort of exploration had the function of bringing to light the Child in us, hidden and misjudged.

In short, some "religious" defects make us Unique, Special. They guide us to venerate that Frugolus present, who is complicit in us.

They bring us Home, our very own.

[Epiphany of the Lord, January 6]

Birth and Manifestation

Mt 2:1-12 (1-18)

The Epiphany narrative takes its cue from what was happening before the eyes of believers at the end of the first century.

Mt writes in the 1980s for the third generation of believers.

It was a time when even in the earliest communities it was noticeable that pagans had entered in droves - while those who had been waiting for centuries for the Light they seemed so fond of were disdainfully rejecting it.

The self-confident people, all pious, chosen, always installed, who had been in the habit of waiting ... were now waiting for nothing.

They saw every happening the same as before; nothing new.

They had become so accustomed to their old hopes or their certainties, that they no longer imagined that they could make a personal, real encounter with the Newness of God.

They took refuge in their own little world of habit, known and safe; without remedy - some even out of opportunism of position.

Thus they avoided the hassle of having to rethink a fundamental thought.

They were the experts in religious practice; how to contradict the role-minded, veteran Judaizers, top of the class?

It was not the young life, the face-to-face, nor the reality, that engaged them. Only perhaps the regrets of the glorious past; imperial, even.

No earthquake had to claim space, within the convictions and image of the chosen people.

After all, those who conceive according to common ranks have nothing to think about but their own illusory clichés - losing touch with events.

Ultimately floundering in the attempt to cling to the usual motifs, always repeated; without present incisiveness, nor future trajectory.

The veterans at the head of the same fraternities of the origins found it difficult to abandon themselves to the new tide of people and impulses coming at them - yielding to the stimuli with confidence, enjoying new breath.

Mt notes that the already secure and titled felt bound by 'cultural' and religious merits that did not admit of fractures, variations, other basic ideas.

In particular, because they did not trust in the power of concrete life, they did not allow themselves to be saved or sustained by Providence, which was renewing the face of the earth.

Rather, devout people seemed bound to the habit of the usual external scaffolding of worship, and ways of understanding and doing.

So in this pericope the evangelist encourages the believing brethren of his communities, to shift their gaze, to open their vision.

For a Faith that could know more, and grasp-beyond what was stagnating in the mechanical identity world of established religiosity, now almost useless.

Quite different was the impact of those who honestly sought Salvation, the Light, the Star; even from an intimate sense of emptiness, rather than from certainties.

The option of Faith is also for us a different approach, all precariously balanced, which nevertheless allows even those far away to ask the right questions.

Deprived of interests to defend, the wayfarers of the truly sacred abandon their conceptions. They set out, freed from all the fetters of (particular, inherited) custom or of the dominant à la page thinking.

Undeterred, the pilgrims of the divine Spirit walk their long Way; without falsehood.

They do not seek only quietist assurances; they are not content with what is in their pockets, nor with the easy external consensus.

They understand that God's Treasure is hidden in a mysterious Path, but one that flanks and is worth more than comfort or approval.

Presence [nothing clamorous, but] on which one can paradoxically lean, for a wonder that is not mediocre; all of Origin.

While addressing religious authorities and experts in the ancient Scriptures (vv.1-2) the travellers continue to move forward.

They fly over the habitual fences of role-respect, social prominence, conformist interpretation.

Meanwhile, if the throne fears for power, the temple fears losing exclusivity over God, hence hegemony over consciences.

[In the Gospels, thrones and altars stand for supremacy, power, dowry, deception: here vv.3-4].

However, the Explorers do not submit to ceremonials of established verticality, nor to the influence of a feigned uniformity.

Thus they receive the radiance of the Revelation of Christmas: God is not a ruler, but defenceless. Tender and Small, among the helpless.

Traditionally, the people of the messianic promises considered themselves endowed with royal, priestly and spousal dignity.

These Gifts [gold and frankincense and myrrh: v.11] are now passed on to people of all backgrounds.

To add to the dose, Mt sets the stage not only for distant pagans, but for the worst that the ethical target audience of the time could imagine: magicians!

Remarkable people at that time, if they acted as astrologers: a kind of scrutinisers of the heavens and intellectuals of the sacred places - thus eminent representatives of different cultures. 

But the Greek term "màgoi" - literally: "magicians" - also indicated charlatans, corrupters, even deviators of biblical spirituality.

An activity severely condemned by the Scriptures, and in the Didaché put on the index among the most degrading activities: between the prohibition of abortion and that of stealing.

God welcomes and recognises first not the powerful (or the religious) drunkards and addicts of appearance; rather, the distant ones.

And among them, those precisely those who are strangers to any label or usual criterion of discernment.

Pope Francis would perhaps mention those who are endowed with a "flair without citizenship" - a remote, "effective" treasure, so precious for the synodal path (and equally neglected) [Address 18 September 2021].

The Christmas of Lk introduces the shepherds, the prairie dogs who led an impure and wild life, like the beasts they tended.

In Mt we find the magicians: even the deceivers!

In short, the seekers of God are called and drawn from an unthinkable geography and history, because they are the only ones who have the guts to constantly take a different path: "another Way" (v.12).

The critical witnesses do not stop at the melancholy of the third wheel: they want the risk of direct love.

The normality of comfort zones, of reasoning, procedures, dictated paths, kills life - annihilating the spirit of adventure and surprise that bristles at diving into the present.

The waters of the new energy that feeds on astonishment are contaminated by commonplaces, by the usual nests that do not evolve and only prop up roles or positions - making the astonishment of the vital quest pale.

But when we gloss over banal judgements, conformisms, mental cages, local customs, glamorous fantasies - our Uniqueness dares to give birth to an unknown Person.

And he who is born from wave to wave produces healthy opportunities.

At some point along our path - then from time to time - we will realise that the discomfort of exploration had the function of giving birth to the Child within us, concealed and misjudged.

The Lord knows to what potential for good precisely the most awkward creatures can be converted, and He tampers with them.

But one can risk it all not out of habit: only out of Faith, that is, trusting Friendship and Hope, in action.

In short, certain 'religious' faults make us Unique, Special. They make us venerate that present Frugolo, who is our accomplice.

They make us return Home, the one that is truly ours.

Revelation, support, new Way and new People

The energy of sadness

(Mt 2:13-18)

The cruelty of Herod - an exasperated egomaniac - became proverbial even in Rome.

In his last years, absurdly withdrawn into a restless adherence to himself, he caused three of his sons to perish and issued a decree [not executed due to his death] by which he ordered the most influential among the Jews to be eliminated - both the (supposed) pretenders to the throne and the dissenters on the land.

In the Gospel passage the king is an icon of the will to power that kills those who recall the spirit of Christ's childhood: the Son of God placed his being in the Father's Mission.

[Such decentralised humility not only saves us in the order of grace, but also in that of human equilibrium].

Mt wrote his Gospel in response to the situation the Church was experiencing at a very critical time.

After the year 70, the only groups that survived the destruction of Judaism were the Messianic Christians and the Pharisees - both convinced that the armed struggle against the Roman Empire had nothing to do with the fulfilment of the Promises.

Not many years after the disaster in Jerusalem, it was precisely the sect of the Pharisees, now deprived of their place of worship - the centre of national identity - that began to organise themselves to centralise the governance of the synagogues.

Accused of betraying their particular culture and customs, the Judaizers who recognised Jesus as the Son of God were eventually driven out of the synagogues themselves.

Growing opposition and then explicit separation from the covenant people made the bewilderment of the faithful and the problem of the very identity of the early Assemblies of Faith acute; groups in obvious distress.

Mt encouraged them to avoid defections, supporting those who had received the sharp excommunication from the leaders of popular religiosity - hitherto admired for their strong devotion, and held in high regard.

To help overcome the trauma, the Glad Tidings addressed to the Judaizing converts set out to reveal Jesus as the true fulfilment of the Prophecies and the authentic Messiah - in the figure of the new Moses who fulfils the promises of liberation.

Like him, a persecuted man who had to relentlessly move and flee (cf. Ex 4:19).

According to a generalised belief in Judaism, the time of the Lord's Anointed One would re-actualise the time of Moses. 

But the ancient leader of "the Mount" had imposed a relationship between God and the people based on banal obedience to a Law.

The genuine and transparent Son, on the other hand, now proposes to the brethren of Faith a creative relationship of blessedness and communion based on Likeness.

A relationship called to overcome the old righteousness of the Pharisees (Mt 5:20).

No fear then - even for us - of harassment, which must simply be taken into account.

On the contrary, taken as opportunities to witness love and strong involvement, in the Master's own story - reinterpreted in the first person.

Here is also indicated a new Path of seeking the Light or Star that guides our steps.

All like the Magi - strangers, yet authentic worshippers of the Lord.

They were able to avoid the vigilance of the ruler - thus they found their own dwelling place, deviating from the path already planned.

Like God's Envoy par excellence who experienced the same fate as his people, the churches of all times can experience in him an identical Exodus story.

An unprecedented journey, a forge of exploration and change of mentality; of consolation and more vivid hope - with inexorable contrasts.

Christ is the hidden and persecuted Messiah, founder of a new People, resigned and fraternal. Germ of an alternative society to the ruthless one in the field.

Crowning of the hopes of all men.

Denial of the Lord's way itself projects a dark atmosphere: it becomes preservation of the belligerent.

Rejection of humanisation... whose therapy lies in the trust of the 'little ones', in the youthful and 'childlike' audacity that does not know the impossible.

The innocent children of that extermination are the figure of the children of God of every century, as the 'peers' of Jesus, able to re-actualise the spontaneous time - contrary to violence and death.

They are the persecuted and taken out because of the paradoxical subversive force of their tender, outspoken faith.

The opposite of the servile and flattering, devoured by calculation; always ready for deference to the fierce holders of power. Intimidated by the possibility that a soft and puny life-form might destabilise their positions.

But in the event of severe anguish, even the energy of sadness that runs through painful events (vv.17-18) will rediscover what really matters.

This will allow for rebirth (in weeping, in darkness) separating us too from that kind of character.

To internalise and live the message:

In the realisation of yourself in Christ, how have you tenderly broken down the prison of common thought, power and its fears?

Let us set out

to change our minds, to find ourselves

Dear young people!

On our pilgrimage with the mysterious Magi of the East, we have reached that moment which St Matthew in his Gospel describes to us as follows: "When they entered the house (on which the star had stopped), they saw the child with Mary his mother, and prostrating themselves they adored him" (Mt 2:11). The outward journey of those men was over. They had reached the goal. But at this point a new journey began for them, an inner pilgrimage that changed their whole life. For surely they had imagined this newborn King differently. They had indeed stopped in Jerusalem to gather news from the local king about the promised king who had been born. They knew that the world was in disarray, and therefore their hearts were restless. They were certain that God existed and that he was a just and benign God. And perhaps they had also heard of the great prophecies in which the prophets of Israel announced a King who would be in intimate harmony with God, and who in His name and on His behalf would restore the world to order. To seek this King they had set out: from the depths of their innermost being they were in search of the right, of the righteousness that was to come from God, and they wished to serve that King, to prostrate themselves at his feet and thus to serve themselves in the renewal of the world. They belonged to that kind of people "who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Mt 5:6). This hunger and thirst had followed them on their pilgrimage - they had made themselves pilgrims in search of the righteousness they were waiting for from God, in order to serve it.

Although the other men, those who stayed at home, may have thought them utopians and dreamers - they were instead people with their feet on the ground, and they knew that to change the world one must have power. That is why they could not look for the child of promise except in the palace of the king. Now, however, they bowed before a child of poor people, and soon learned that Herod - that King to whom they had gone - intended to undermine them with his power, so that the family would be left with nothing but flight and exile. The new king, before whom they had prostrated themselves in adoration, differed greatly from their expectation. So they had to learn that God is different from how we usually imagine him. Here began their inner journey. It began at the very moment when they prostrated themselves before this child and recognised him as the promised King. But these joyful gestures they still had to achieve inwardly.

They had to change their ideas about power, about God and man, and in doing so, they also had to change themselves. Now they saw: God's power is different from the power of the world's powerful. God's way of acting is different from how we imagine it and how we would like to impose it on Him. God in this world does not compete with earthly forms of power. He does not pit His divisions against other divisions. To Jesus, in the Garden of Olives, God does not send twelve legions of angels to help him (cf. Matthew 26:53). He contrasts the noisy and overbearing power of this world with the defenceless power of love, which on the Cross - and then again and again throughout history - succumbs, and yet constitutes the new, divine thing that then opposes injustice and establishes the Kingdom of God. God is different - that is what they now recognise. And that means that they themselves must now become different, they must learn God's way.

They had come to put themselves at the service of this King, to model their kingship on his. This was the meaning of their gesture of homage, of their worship. Also part of it were the gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh - gifts that they offered to a King they considered divine. Worship has a content and also involves a gift. Wanting by the gesture of adoration to recognise this child as their King at whose service they intended to put their power and possibilities, the men from the East were certainly following the right track. By serving and following Him, they wished together with Him to serve the cause of justice and goodness in the world. And in this they were right. But now they learn that this cannot be achieved simply by commands and from the top of a throne. Now they learn that they must give themselves - a gift less than this is not enough for this King. Now they learn that their lives must conform to this divine way of exercising power, to this way of being of God himself. They must become men of truth, of right, of goodness, of forgiveness, of mercy. They will no longer ask: What is this for? They must instead ask: With what do I serve God's presence in the world? They must learn to lose themselves and in this way find themselves. As they leave Jerusalem, they must remain in the footsteps of the true King, following Jesus.

Dear friends, we wonder what all this means for us. For what we have just said about the different nature of God, which must guide our lives, sounds beautiful, but remains rather nuanced and vague. That is why God has given us examples. The Magi from the East are only the first in a long procession of men and women who in their lives have constantly looked for the star of God, who have sought that God who is close to us, human beings, and shows us the way. This is the great host of saints - known or unknown - through whom the Lord, throughout history, has opened the Gospel before us and turned its pages; this, He is still doing today. In their lives, as in a large picture book, the richness of the Gospel is revealed. They are the luminous wake of God that He Himself throughout history has traced and still traces. My venerable predecessor Pope John Paul II, who is with us at this moment, beatified and canonised a great host of people from ages far and near. In these figures, he wanted to show us how to be a Christian; how to conduct one's life rightly - to live according to God's way. The blessed and the saints were people who did not stubbornly seek their own happiness, but simply wanted to give of themselves, because they were reached by the light of Christ. They thus show us the way to become happy, they show us how to be truly human persons. In the vicissitudes of history, they have been the true reformers who have so many times raised it from the dark valleys into which it is always in danger of sinking again; they have always enlightened it again as much as was necessary to make it possible to accept - perhaps in pain - the word spoken by God at the end of the work of creation: 'It is good'. It is enough to think of figures such as St Benedict, St Francis of Assisi, St Teresa of Avila, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Charles Borromeo, the founders of the Religious Orders of the 19th century who animated and directed the social movement, or the saints of our time - Maximilian Kolbe, Edith Stein, Mother Teresa, Padre Pio. By contemplating these figures we learn what it means to 'worship', and what it means to live according to the measure of the child of Bethlehem, according to the measure of Jesus Christ and God himself.

The saints, we have said, are the true reformers. Now I would like to express it even more radically: only from the saints, only from God comes the true revolution, the decisive change in the world. In the century just gone by we experienced revolutions whose common programme was to no longer wait for God's intervention, but to take the fate of the world totally into their own hands. And we saw that, with that, always a human and partial point of view was taken as the absolute measure of orientation. The absolutization of what is not absolute but relative is called totalitarianism. It does not free man, but takes away his dignity and enslaves him. It is not ideologies that save the world, but only turning to the living God, who is our creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is truly good and true. The true revolution consists solely in turning unreservedly to God who is the measure of what is right and at the same time is eternal love. And what could save us if not love?

Dear friends! Allow me to add just two brief thoughts. There are many who speak of God; in the name of God, hatred is also preached and violence is practised. That is why it is important to discover the true face of God. The Magi of the East found it, when they prostrated themselves before the child of Bethlehem. "He who has seen me has seen the Father", Jesus said to Philip (Jn 14:9). In Jesus Christ, who allowed his heart to be pierced for us, the true face of God appeared in Him. We will follow him together with the great host of those who have gone before us. Then we shall walk on the right path.

This means that we do not construct for ourselves a private God, we do not construct for ourselves a private Jesus, but that we believe in and prostrate ourselves before that Jesus who is shown to us in the Holy Scriptures and who in the great procession of the faithful called the Church is revealed as living, always with us and at the same time always before us. One can criticise the Church a great deal. We know it, and the Lord himself has told us so: she is a net with good fish and bad fish, a field with wheat and darnel. Pope John Paul II, who in the many blesseds and saints has shown us the true face of the Church, has also asked forgiveness for what evil has happened in the course of history through the actions and speech of men of the Church. In this way he also showed us our true image and urged us to enter with all our faults and weaknesses into the procession of the saints, which began with the Magi from the East. After all, it is consoling that there is discord in the Church. Thus, with all our faults we can nevertheless hope to find ourselves still in the following of Jesus, who called precisely sinners. The Church is like a human family, but it is also at the same time the great family of God, through which He forms a space of communion and unity across all continents, cultures and nations. That is why we are happy to belong to this big family that we see here; we are happy to have brothers and friends all over the world. We experience right here in Cologne how beautiful it is to belong to a family as large as the world, which includes heaven and earth, past, present and future, and all parts of the earth. In this great group of pilgrims we walk together with Christ, we walk with the star that illuminates history.

"When they entered the house, they saw the child and Mary his mother, and bowing down they adored him" (Mt 2:11). Dear friends, this is not a distant story that happened long ago. This is presence. Here in the sacred Host He is before us and in our midst. Just as then, He mysteriously veils Himself in holy silence, and just as then, He reveals the true face of God. He became for us a grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies and bears fruit until the end of the world (cf. Jn 12:24). He is present as then in Bethlehem. He invites us to that inner pilgrimage called adoration. Let us now set out on this pilgrimage and ask Him to guide us. Amen.

[Pope Benedict, WYD Cologne Vigil 20 August 2005].

Dear young friends,

In our pilgrimage with the mysterious Magi from the East, we have arrived at the moment which St Matthew describes in his Gospel with these words: "Going into the house (over which the star had halted), they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him" (Mt 2: 11). Outwardly, their journey was now over. They had reached their goal.

But at this point a new journey began for them, an inner pilgrimage which changed their whole lives. Their mental picture of the infant King they were expecting to find must have been very different. They had stopped at Jerusalem specifically in order to ask the King who lived there for news of the promised King who had been born. They knew that the world was in disorder, and for that reason their hearts were troubled.

They were sure that God existed and that he was a just and gentle God. And perhaps they also knew of the great prophecies of Israel foretelling a King who would be intimately united with God, a King who would restore order to the world, acting for God and in his Name.

It was in order to seek this King that they had set off on their journey:  deep within themselves they felt prompted to go in search of the true justice that can only come from God, and they wanted to serve this King, to fall prostrate at his feet and so play their part in the renewal of the world. They were among those "who hunger and thirst for justice" (Mt 5: 6). This hunger and thirst had spurred them on in their pilgrimage - they had become pilgrims in search of the justice that they expected from God, intending to devote themselves to its service.

Even if those who had stayed at home may have considered them Utopian dreamers, they were actually people with their feet on the ground, and they knew that in order to change the world it is necessary to have power. Hence, they were hardly likely to seek the promised child anywhere but in the King's palace. Yet now they were bowing down before the child of poor people, and they soon came to realize that Herod, the King they had consulted, intended to use his power to lay a trap for him, forcing the family to flee into exile.

The new King, to whom they now paid homage, was quite unlike what they were expecting. In this way they had to learn that God is not as we usually imagine him to be. This was where their inner journey began. It started at the very moment when they knelt down before this child and recognized him as the promised King. But they still had to assimilate these joyful gestures internally.

They had to change their ideas about power, about God and about man, and in so doing, they also had to change themselves. Now they were able to see that God's power is not like that of the powerful of this world. God's ways are not as we imagine them or as we might wish them to be.

God does not enter into competition with earthly powers in this world. He does not marshal his divisions alongside other divisions. God did not send 12 legions of angels to assist Jesus in the Garden of Olives (cf. Mt 26: 53). He contrasts the noisy and ostentatious power of this world with the defenceless power of love, which succumbs to death on the Cross and dies ever anew throughout history; yet it is this same love which constitutes the new divine intervention that opposes injustice and ushers in the Kingdom of God.

God is different - this is what they now come to realize. And it means that they themselves must now become different, they must learn God's ways.

They had come to place themselves at the service of this King, to model their own kingship on his. That was the meaning of their act of homage, their adoration. Included in this were their gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh - gifts offered to a King held to be divine. Adoration has a content and it involves giving. Through this act of adoration, these men from the East wished to recognize the child as their King and to place their own power and potential at his disposal, and in this they were certainly on the right path.

By serving and following him, they wanted, together with him, to serve the cause of good and the cause of justice in the world. In this they were right.

Now, though, they have to learn that this cannot be achieved simply through issuing commands from a throne on high. Now they have to learn to give themselves - no lesser gift would be sufficient for this King. Now they have to learn that their lives must be conformed to this divine way of exercising power, to God's own way of being.

They must become men of truth, of justice, of goodness, of forgiveness, of mercy. They will no longer ask:  how can this serve me? Instead, they will have to ask:  How can I serve God's presence in the world? They must learn to lose their life and in this way to find it. Having left Jerusalem behind, they must not deviate from the path marked out by the true King, as they follow Jesus.

Dear friends, what does all this mean for us?

What we have just been saying about the nature of God being different, and about the way our lives must be shaped accordingly, sounds very fine, but remains rather vague and unfocused. That is why God has given us examples. The Magi from the East are just the first in a long procession of men and women who have constantly tried to gaze upon God's star in their lives, going in search of the God who has drawn close to us and shows us the way.

It is the great multitude of the saints - both known and unknown - in whose lives the Lord has opened up the Gospel before us and turned over the pages; he has done this throughout history and he still does so today. In their lives, as if in a great picture-book, the riches of the Gospel are revealed. They are the shining path which God himself has traced throughout history and is still tracing today.

My venerable Predecessor Pope John Paul II, who is with us at this moment, beatified and canonized a great many people from both the distant and the recent past. Through these individuals he wanted to show us how to be Christian:  how to live life as it should be lived - according to God's way. The saints and the blesseds did not doggedly seek their own happiness, but simply wanted to give themselves, because the light of Christ had shone upon them.

They show us the way to attain happiness, they show us how to be truly human. Through all the ups and downs of history, they were the true reformers who constantly rescued it from plunging into the valley of darkness; it was they who constantly shed upon it the light that was needed to make sense - even in the midst of suffering - of God's words spoken at the end of the work of creation:  "It is very good".

One need only think of such figures as St Benedict, St Francis of Assisi, St Teresa of Avila, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Charles Borromeo, the founders of 19-century religious orders who inspired and guided the social movement, or the saints of our own day - Maximilian Kolbe, Edith Stein, Mother Teresa, Padre Pio. In contemplating these figures we learn what it means "to adore" and what it means to live according to the measure of the Child of Bethlehem, by the measure of Jesus Christ and of God himself.

The saints, as we said, are the true reformers. Now I want to express this in an even more radical way:  only from the saints, only from God does true revolution come, the definitive way to change the world.

In the last century we experienced revolutions with a common programme - expecting nothing more from God, they assumed total responsibility for the cause of the world in order to change it. And this, as we saw, meant that a human and partial point of view was always taken as an absolute guiding principle. Absolutizing what is not absolute but relative is called totalitarianism. It does not liberate man, but takes away his dignity and enslaves him.

It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true. True revolution consists in simply turning to God who is the measure of what is right and who at the same time is everlasting love. And what could ever save us apart from love?

Dear friends! Allow me to add just two brief thoughts.

There are many who speak of God; some even preach hatred and perpetrate violence in God's Name. So it is important to discover the true face of God. The Magi from the East found it when they knelt down before the Child of Bethlehem. "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father", said Jesus to Philip (Jn 14: 9). In Jesus Christ, who allowed his heart to be pierced for us, the true face of God is seen. We will follow him together with the great multitude of those who went before us. Then we will be travelling along the right path.

This means that we are not constructing a private God, we are not constructing a private Jesus, but that we believe and worship the Jesus who is manifested to us by the Sacred Scriptures and who reveals himself to be alive in the great procession of the faithful called the Church, always alongside us and always before us.

There is much that could be criticized in the Church. We know this and the Lord himself told us so:  it is a net with good fish and bad fish, a field with wheat and darnel.

Pope John Paul II, as well as revealing the true face of the Church in the many saints that he canonized, also asked pardon for the wrong that was done in the course of history through the words and deeds of members of the Church. In this way he showed us our own true image and urged us to take our place, with all our faults and weaknesses, in the procession of the saints that began with the Magi from the East.

It is actually consoling to realize that there is darnel in the Church. In this way, despite all our defects, we can still hope to be counted among the disciples of Jesus, who came to call sinners.

The Church is like a human family, but at the same time it is also the great family of God, through which he establishes an overarching communion and unity that embraces every continent, culture and nation. So we are glad to belong to this great family that we see here; we are glad to have brothers and friends all over the world.

Here in Cologne we discover the joy of belonging to a family as vast as the world, including Heaven and earth, the past, the present, the future and every part of the earth. In this great band of pilgrims we walk side by side with Christ, we walk with the star that enlightens our history.

"Going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him" (Mt 2: 11). Dear friends, this is not a distant story that took place long ago. It is with us now. Here in the Sacred Host he is present before us and in our midst. As at that time, so now he is mysteriously veiled in a sacred silence; as at that time, it is here that the true face of God is revealed. For us he became a grain of wheat that falls on the ground and dies and bears fruit until the end of the world (cf. Jn 12: 24).

He is present now as he was then in Bethlehem. He invites us to that inner pilgrimage which is called adoration. Let us set off on this pilgrimage of the spirit and let us ask him to be our guide. Amen.

[Pope Benedict, World Youth Day Vigil Cologne 20 August 2005]

1. "Arise, shine out Jerusalem, for your light has come. The glory of the Lord is rising on you" (Is 60: 1).

The prophet Isaiah turns his gaze to the future. He is not looking so much at the secular future, but, enlightened by the Spirit, he directs his gaze to the fullness of time, to the fulfilment of God's plan in the messianic age.

The prediction uttered by the prophet concerns the Holy City, which he sees brightly shining:  "Though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples, above you the Lord now rises and above you his glory appears" (Is 60: 2). This is exactly what happened with the incarnation of the Word of God. With him "the true light that enlightens every man came into the world" (Jn 1: 9). From now on everyone's destiny will be decided by whether he accepts or rejects this light:  for the life of men is found in him (cf. Jn 1: 4).

2. Today the light that appeared on Christmas extends its rays:  it is the light of God's epiphany. It is no longer only the shepherds of Bethlehem who see and follow it; it is also the Magi Kings, who came to Jerusalem from the East to adore the newborn King (cf. Mt 2: 1-12). With the Magi came the nations, which begin their journey to the divine Light.

Today the Church celebrates this saving Epiphany by listening to the description of it in Matthew's Gospel. The well-known account of the Magi, who came from the East in search of the One who was to be born, has always inspired popular piety as well, becoming a traditional part of the crib.
Epiphany is both an event and a symbol. The event is described in detail by the Evangelist. The symbolic meaning, however, was gradually discovered as the Church reflected more and more on the event and celebrated it liturgically […]

5. Today's liturgy urges us to be joyful. There is a reason for this:  the light that shone from the Christmas star to lead the Magi from the East to Bethlehem continues to guide all the peoples and nations of the world on the same journey.

Let us give thanks for the men and women who have made this journey during the past 2,000 years. Let us praise Christ, Lumen gentium, who guided them and continues to guide the nations down the path of history!

To him, the Lord of time, God from God, Light from Light, we confidently address our prayer.

May his star, the Epiphany star, continually shine in our hearts, showing to individuals and nations the way of truth, love and peace in the third millennium. Amen.

[Pope John Paul II, homily for the ordination of bishops 6 January 2000]

“Lumen requirunt lumine”. These evocative words from a liturgical hymn for the Epiphany speak of the experience of the Magi: following a light, they were searching for the Light. The star appearing in the sky kindled in their minds and in their hearts a light that moved them to seek the great Light of Christ. The Magi followed faithfully that light which filled their hearts, and they encountered the Lord.

The destiny of every person is symbolized in this journey of the Magi of the East: our life is a journey, illuminated by the lights which brighten our way, to find the fullness of truth and love which we Christians recognize in Jesus, the Light of the World. Like the Magi, every person has two great “books” which provide the signs to guide this pilgrimage: the book of creation and the book of sacred Scripture. What is important is that we be attentive, alert, and listen to God who speaks to us, who always speaks to us. As the Psalm says in referring to the Law of the Lord: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105). Listening to the Gospel, reading it, meditating on it and making it our spiritual nourishment especially allows us to encounter the living Jesus, to experience him and his love.

The first reading echoes, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, the call of God to Jerusalem: “Arise, shine!” (Is 60:1). Jerusalem is called to be the city of light which reflects God’s light to the world and helps humanity to walk in his ways. This is the vocation and the mission of the People of God in the world. But Jerusalem can fail to respond to this call of the Lord. The Gospel tells us that the Magi, when they arrived in Jerusalem, lost sight of the star for a time. They no longer saw it. Its light was particularly absent from the palace of King Herod: his dwelling was gloomy, filled with darkness, suspicion, fear, envy. Herod, in fact, proved himself distrustful and preoccupied with the birth of a frail Child whom he thought of as a rival. In realty Jesus came not to overthrow him, a wretched puppet, but to overthrow the Prince of this world! Nonetheless, the king and his counsellors sensed that the foundations of their power were crumbling. They feared that the rules of the game were being turned upside down, that appearances were being unmasked. A whole world built on power, on success, possessions and corruption was being thrown into crisis by a child! Herod went so far as to kill the children. As Saint Quodvultdeus writes, “You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart” (Sermo 2 de Symbolo: PL 40, 655). This was in fact the case: Herod was fearful and on account of this fear, he became insane.

The Magi were able to overcome that dangerous moment of darkness before Herod, because they believed the Scriptures, the words of the prophets which indicated that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. And so they fled the darkness and dreariness of the night of the world. They resumed their journey towards Bethlehem and there they once more saw the star, and the gospel tells us that they experienced “a great joy” (Mt 2:10). The very star which could not be seen in that dark, worldly palace.

One aspect of the light which guides us on the journey of faith is holy “cunning”. This holy “cunning” is also a virtue. It consists of a spiritual shrewdness which enables us to recognize danger and avoid it. The Magi used this light of “cunning” when, on the way back, they decided not to pass by the gloomy palace of Herod, but to take another route. These wise men from the East teach us how not to fall into the snares of darkness and how to defend ourselves from the shadows which seek to envelop our life. By this holy “cunning”, the Magi guarded the faith. We too need to guard the faith, guard it from darkness. Many times, however, it is a darkness under the guise of light. This is because the devil, as saint Paul, says, disguises himself at times as an angel of light. And this is where a holy “cunning” is necessary in order to protect the faith, guarding it from those alarmist voices that exclaim: “Listen, today we must do this, or that...”. Faith though, is a grace, it is a gift. We are entrusted with the task of guarding it, by means of this holy “cunning” and by prayer, love, charity. We need to welcome the light of God into our hearts and, at the same time, to cultivate that spiritual cunning which is able to combine simplicity with astuteness, as Jesus told his disciples: “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Mt 10:16).

On the feast of the Epiphany, as we recall Jesus’ manifestation to humanity in the face of a Child, may we sense the Magi at our side, as wise companions on the way. Their example helps us to lift our gaze towards the star and to follow the great desires of our heart. They teach us not to be content with a life of mediocrity, of “playing it safe”, but to let ourselves be attracted always by what is good, true and beautiful… by God, who is all of this, and so much more! And they teach us not to be deceived by appearances, by what the world considers great, wise and powerful. We must not stop at that. It is necessary to guard the faith. Today this is of vital importance: to keep the faith. We must press on further, beyond the darkness, beyond the voices that raise alarm, beyond worldliness, beyond so many forms of modernity that exist today. We must press on towards Bethlehem, where, in the simplicity of a dwelling on the outskirts, beside a mother and father full of love and of faith, there shines forth the Sun from on high, the King of the universe. By the example of the Magi, with our little lights, may we seek the Light and keep the faith. May it be so.

[Pope Francis, Epiphany 2014]