Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “The arrival of the Three Wise Men in Bethlehem to adore the new born Messiah, is the sign of the manifestation of the universal King to all peoples and to all men and women in search of the truth”, the Holy Father said in his homily during Mass in St Peter's Basilica on the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord on 6 January.
The Holy Father recalled that with the Epiphany the Church celebrates “Christ, the Light of the world and His manifestation to all peoples”. On Christmas day "a great light" came on earth and appeared to a small group of persons, like “a little flame in the night: the cry of a fragile new born babe, in the silence of the world”. “The birth of the King of the Jews had been announced by the rising of a star visible at a great distance. This was the testimony of ‘some wise men', who came to Jerusalem from the east shortly after the birth of Jesus, in the time of King Herod”. The Pope explained that “the old prophecies are borne out by the language of astronomy” and the symbol of the light applied to the birth of Christ “expresses God's special blessing upon the descendants of Abraham, destined to extend to all peoples on earth”.
The visit of the Wise Men to the infant Jesus recalls the origin of the people of God, the call of Abraham and the beginning of “God's great plan to make one family of all humanity by means of a covenant with a new people chosen by Him to be a blessing among all peoples. This divine plan still continues and had its culminating moment in the mystery of Christ…in the fullness of time Jesus Christ came to bring to the covenant to completion: He, true God and true man, is the Sacrament of God's fidelity to His plan of salvation for all humanity, for all of us.”
The adoration on the part of the Three Wise Men initiated “a movement opposed to that of Babel: from confusion to understanding, from dispersion to reconciliation. This helps us see a link between the Epiphany and Pentecost: if the Nativity of Christ, who is the head, is also the nativity of the Church, his body, we see in the Three Wise Men, the peoples who join the remnant of Israel, a forecast of the great sign of the ‘multilingual Church', actuated by the Holy Spirit fifty days after Easter. The faithful and tenacious love of God, who is faithful to his covenant from one generation to the next…This ‘mystery’ of God's fidelity is the hope of history. Certainly, it meets with forces of division and tyranny, which lacerate humanity because of sin and conflicting selfish interests. The Church is in history at the service of this ‘mystery’ of blessing for all humanity. In this mystery of God's fidelity, the Church is faithful to her mission only if she reflects the light of Christ the Lord, and thus helps all the peoples of the world on the path towards peace and true progress”.
Although “with Jesus Christ, the blessing of Abraham extended to all peoples”, unfortunately today “a thick mist envelops the nations” and the history of humanity. “It cannot be said that globalisation is synonymous to world order, quite the contrary - the Pope said -. Conflict for economic supremacy and hoarding of resources of energy, water and raw materials, render difficult the work of many people at various levels to build a world of more justice and solidarity. What is needed is some greater hope, which enables people to prefer the common good of all rather than the luxury of a few and the desperation of many”. “This great hope can only be God - the Pope said - God who revealed himself in the Babe at Bethlehem and in the Crucified and Risen One… Only a sober style of life, accompanied by serious efforts to promote equal distribution of resources, can make it possible to install an order of development which is just and sustainable. There is need of persons who nurture great hope and possess great courage. The courage of the Three Wise Men who undertook a long journey following a star, and did not hesitate to kneel in front of the Child and offer Him their precious gifts”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 7/1/2008, righe 45, parole 691)
