Where do you look for answers to your questions concerning life? Are you aware that only Christ can transform you and give you the right direction? - Daily Reflections January 5,2014

THEY RETURNED ON ANOTHER WAY

 

Since my earliest childhood days, I was “in contact” with the Magi because the majestic cathedral of my hometown Cologne houses the relics of the Wise Men. During the World Youth Day 2005, held in Cologne, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI walked with a huge crowd of young people from the banks of the River Rhine and entered the cathedral. After praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament, he walked under, in his own words, “the most exquisite reliquary of the whole Christian world” containing the relics of the Three Kings. He said, “These relics are only a poor and frail sign of what those men were and what they experienced so many centuries ago. The relics direct us toward God Himself; it is He who, by the power of His grace, grants to weak human beings the courage to bear witness to Him before the world.”

       The Magi went out to find the Messiah whom they thought to be a powerful king. Nothing could stop them on their difficult journey until they found the Infant in Bethlehem. There was only one question they needed an answer for: “Where is the newborn King of the Jews?” Eventually they found Him and the encounter must have been shocking. It changed their ideas about power, God and men — and they also began to change. They began to understand that God’s power and ways are not as we imagine or wish them to be. The Magi had to learn to give themselves, as no lesser gift would be sufficient for this King. They had to learn to lose their life and so find it. As Matthew said, “They left on another way for their home,” for one who has met Christ cannot live in the same way he came.

       It is true that today we no longer look for a king but we still have many unanswered questions: “Where do I find standards to live by? On whom can I rely? Where is the One who can satisfy my heart’s deepest desires?” The fact that we ask questions means that our journey is not over. May we not search in the wrong place but find Him who is the only answer to all our questions. An encounter with Him alone will make us continue our journey “on another way,” as the Wise Men did. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Where do you look for answers to your questions concerning life? Are you aware that only Christ can transform you and give you the right direction?

 

Lord, be the guiding Star in our lives. Be the Answer to all our questions. Transform us so that we may continue our journey on a different way — the Way that is You.