Matthew 2,1-12 – Epiphany of the Lord, Solemnity
There is a detail in the story of the Magi that the evangelist Luke tells us that always strikes me every time. He reports that these mysterious characters who set out to look for Jesus are guided by a star. And perhaps this is what we have lost in our time. The stars represent the great desires that should guide our lives, but very often we no longer live guided by the stars, that is, inflamed by desires. But we live focused only on our needs, slaves of our belly rather than citizens of our heart.
This is the hell we are living in: we have everything and we are unhappy. The Magi instead remind us that the only thing that makes life possible is not the illusion of having everything, but it is the possibility of having a desire, a passion, an ideal, a meaning that makes life burn.
In fact, the rampant depression in the Western world is a sort of lack of life, passion and motivation. It’s nice to think that the encounter with Christ is an encounter that rekindles the starsthat is, it rekindles the great desires that guide our lives. And true joy is hidden there. Whoever encounters Christ encounters the source of this light, encounters the root of every star, the foundation of every desire, the raw material of every passion, the true face of every sense. And whoever has this encounter comes out changed. It is no coincidence, in fact, that the Magi “After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they returned to their country by another route”.
You change not simply by making decisions, but by encountering something that makes change possible. This is today’s celebration: it is the celebration of rekindled desires; it is the celebration of a life-changing encounter.
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