Matthew 2:1-12
Herod called all the chief priests and scribes of the people. He asked them where the Christ was to be born. They knew! It was all there in the prophecies! You can still find those prophecies and more, in your bible. What’s more is that they knew approximately when. The Book of Daniel kind of lays it out. So the religious leaders of the Jewish people knew where and when the Chtrist was to be born. And yet they stayed in Jerusalem. I think we are kind of like that as well. Most of us are comfortable with respect to our religion. We come in all flavors -- some of us barely get to Church once or twice a year. Some have dropped out completely. Some of us never miss a weekend liturgy. I can even recognize a few daily mass goers. The point is, how do we shake up our spiritual lives? How are we going to make progress this year, real progress? Do we want to be in the same shape next year as we are now?
The wise men can show us a few things. First, they put themselves out. We think they probably occupied the same positions in Persia as did the scribes and priests in Jerusalem. They were primarily advisers, maybe astrologers, we don’t know -- but magi were relied upon to give sound advice and the successful ones probably lived pretty well. But these magi based upon their own scriptures and calculations about the stars also knew where and when the Christ would be born, and they left their comfortable homes and crossed over into foreign lands. If we want to progress in our spiritual lives, we need to do the same thing.
Another thing about the magi is that they weren’t afraid to ask for help. They had learned from their own sources approximately where and when the Messiah would manifest himself, but they sought help in figuring out the last bit. They went to the local experts. If we are going to do something about our spiritual lives, if we want to make progress, we need to consult people who can help us. And all of us can use help. It doesn’t even have to be an expert. If we begin regularly talking about our spiritual lives with a confidant, we’ll begin to see where we could do better, and even what we need to do to do better. Husbands and wives should be talking about their spiritual lives with each other. Good friends should be helping each other get to heaven.
When the magi found the Christ child they were overjoyed, it says; they prostrated themselves -- that meant they got down on their knees. They recognized the holiness in that Holy Family. There are holy people among us, and you might know some of them. But there is holiness in everyone, and the more we learn to recognize that, the more sensitive we become to holiness. Great spiritual progress will come when we train ourselves to recognize the holiness in each other.
New Years is a time for resolutions. I hope we all will make a resolution to do something to stir up our spiritual lives. There are many things we can do. We can try to build something into our daily or weekly schedule -- perhaps begin a program of spiritual reading, of studying scripture; we might decide to say the rosary every day -- or even one decade of the rosary. Certainly there are other prayerful practices that come to mind praying all or part of the daily prayers of the church. As a deacon, I’m supposed to pray those prayers. In the olden days I had to spend 110 dollars on the four books that contain the year’s worth of prayers, and if I went on a trip I’d have to remember to bring the appropriate book. Nowadays I have an app on my cell phone that allows me to pray the appropriate prayers.
But while all these things are good, probably the best thing you can do to grow spiritually is to join with others who are trying to grow as well. We’ve got plenty of opportunities here in our parish. The Knights of Columbus, the St. Joseph Society, the Saint Mary’s Ladies Guild, Food for the Soul -- Loaves and Fishes -- and many more organizations. If you are involved with other people in service to God’s people, your spiritual growth is assured.
The magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod and they returned to their home by another way. If we set out to grow in our spiritual lives, we can expect to be changed, we can count on some discomfort. We know that Satan is the enemy of spiritual growth and will do what he can to make it hard for us to break out of our habits. But when we encounter obstacles we should rejoice, because God will help us overcome them, and it shows we are on the right path. So I hope that today you will make a new year’s resolution to do something so that next year this time you can look back and see that you have grown spiritually.
