Jesus, as a rising star (cf. Num 24:17), comes to enlighten all nations and illuminate the nights of humanity. With the wise men who look to heaven, we too ask today: “Where is the newborn?” (Matthew 2:2). So which is where we can find and meet our Lord? From the experience of the sages, we understand that the first “place” where love allows itself to be found is in the turmoil of questions.
The fascinating adventure of these wise men from the East teaches us that faith is not born from our merits or theoretical considerations but is a gift from God. His grace helps us wake up from apathy and make room for the essential questions of life that take us out of the presumption that we are okay and open us to what is beyond us. In the sages at the beginning is this: the restlessness of the questioner. Driven by their longing for the infinite, they explore the sky. They are dazzled by the star’s brightness, representing the tension toward the transcendent that animates the journey of civilizations and the constant search of our hearts. That star leaves a question in their hearts: Where is the newborn?
Brothers and sisters, the journey of faith begins when, with God’s grace, we create space for the restlessness that keeps us awake; when we allow ourselves to be addressed, when we are not satisfied with our habits but resolutely face the challenges of each day; when we stop locking ourselves in a neutral space and decide to inhabit the uncomfortable spaces of life that makeup relationships with others, surprises, unforeseen events, projects that need to be carried out, dreams that need to be realized, fears that need to be faced, suffering that breaks into the body. In these moments, irrepressible questions arise in our hearts that open us to the search for God – where is happiness for me? Where is the whole life I long for? Where is the love that will not pass away, disappear, break, or face frailties, failures, and betrayals? What opportunities are hidden in my crises and sufferings?
It so happens that the air we breathe offers us “soul tranquilizers” every day, substitutes to calm our restlessness and banish these questions – from the products of consumption to the lures of pleasure, from grand debates to the idolatry of prosperity; everything seems to be telling us: don’t overthink, let it be, enjoy life! We often try to store our hearts in the vault of comfort, but if the wise did that, they would never meet the Lord. To calm your heart, to calm your soul, so that there is no more restlessness: that is the danger. But God dwells in our troubling questions; in them, we “look for him as the night looks for the dawn… He is in the silence that worries us before death and the end of all human greatness; it is in the need for justice and love that we carry within us; it is a holy mystery that meets the nostalgia for the Other, the nostalgia for perfect and complete justice, for reconciliation and peace” (CMMARTINI, Incontro al Signore Risorto. Il cuore dello spirito cristiano, Cinisello Balsamo 2012, 66). So this is the first place: a riot of questions. Don’t be afraid to enter this turmoil of questions: these paths lead us to Jesus.
The second place where we can meet the Lord is the risk of the road. Questions, even spiritual ones, can cause frustration and desolation if they do not lead us on the path or direct our inner movement toward God’s face and the beauty of his word. The journey of the Wise Men, “Their outward journey,” said Benedict XVI, “was an expression of their inner journey, the inner journey of their heart” (Homily for Epiphany, January 6, 2013). The sages do not stop to look at the sky and contemplate the light of the stars but embark on a risky journey that does not guarantee safety in advance with an accurate map in hand. They want to find out who the King of the Jews is, where he was born, and where they can find him. They ask Herod for it, who in turn calls the leaders of the people and the scribes who question the Scriptures. The sages are on their way. Most of the verbs describing their activity are verbs of motion.
It is the same with our faith: without a constant journey and constant dialogue with the Lord, without listening to the Word, and without perseverance, it cannot grow. It is not enough to think about God and pray to calm the conscience; we must become disciples of following Jesus and his gospel, talk to him about everything in prayer, and look for him in everyday situations and the faces of our brothers and sisters. From Abraham, who set out on a journey to an unknown land, to the wise men who set out to follow the star, faith is a journey, a journey, a story of departures and more departures. Let us always remember: faith is a journey, a journey, a story of departures and further departures. Let us remember that faith does not grow if it remains static; we cannot enclose it in some personal piety or within the church’s walls, but we must take it outside and live it on a constant journey to God and our brothers and sisters. Let’s ask ourselves today: am I walking towards the Lord of life so that he becomes the Lord of my life? Jesus, who are you to me? Where do you call me to go? What do you ask of my life? What decisions are you inviting me to make for others?
Finally, after the confusion of questions and the risk of the journey, the third place of encounter with the Lord is the wonder of adoration. At the end of the long journey and arduous search, the wise men entered the house, “they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell to the ground and worshiped him” (v. 11). This is the crucial point: our restlessness, our questions, spiritual journeys and practices of faith are to be united in the adoration of the Lord. They find their source center there because everything is born from there. After all, the Lord arouses feelings, actions, and deeds in us. Everything is born there, and everything culminates there because the goal of everything is not to achieve a personal goal and gain glory but to meet God and be embraced by his love, which gives the basis of our hope, which frees us from evil, which opens us to love others, which makes us people capable of building a fairer and more fraternal world. It makes no sense to be passed orally active if we do not put Jesus in the center and do not worship him—the wonder of bowing. There, we learn to stand before God, not to beg him for something or to do something, but to remain silent and surrender to his love, to let ourselves be captured and reborn by his mercy.
We often pray, ask, and think, but we usually miss the prayer of adoration. We have lost the sense of adoration because we have lost the restlessness of questions and the courage to go forward at the risk of the journey. Today, the Lord invites us to do as the wise men did: let us fall on the ground before God and surrender to him in awe and adoration. Let us worship God and not our ego; let us worship God and not false idols, which seduce us with the allure of prestige and power; fascinated by false news, let us worship God that we do not bow down to things that pass away and to the alluring but empty logic of evil.
Brothers and sisters, let us open our hearts to restlessness, ask for the courage to advance on the path, and end in adoration! Fear not; it is the way of the sages; it is the way of all the saints in history: to accept the restlessness, to set out on the journey, and to bow down. Brothers and sisters, let us not let the restlessness of questions die out in us; let us not stop our journey by succumbing to apathy or complacency; and when meeting the Lord, let us surrender to the wonder of adoration. Then we discover that the light illuminates even the darkest nights: Jesus, the bright morning star, the sun of justice, the merciful brightness of God who loves every person and every nation on earth.
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