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Homily by His Grace, Archbishop John Ha
Stars are fascinating bodies of light in the universe. In a place where there are no city lights, one could gaze into the sky in a clear night and be captivated by the countless stars in the sky. In days of old, stars played an important role in night navigation. In today’s Gospel story we have an instance of this guiding role of a star: magi from the East were guided by a star to Bethlehem – to the place where Jesus, the infant king of the Jews, was born.
Magi were originally members of the Persian priestly caste. Persia was east of the Promised Land. Magi were people associated with supernatural knowledge and power. In the Old Testament (Num. 24:17), a “magus” from the east was asked to curse the people of Israel but instead blessed them. He said, “A star shall rise from Jacob, and a scepter from Israel.” In the light of this background, the magi in our Gospel story were people of supernatural knowledge and power. They came from the east to look for the “infant king of the Jews”.
In this search of theirs, these magi were guided by a star which took them to Jerusalem where it seemed to disappear. This left them in a lurch and they needed another form of guidance – guidance from the scriptures. This guidance came from the chief priests and scribes of the people whom King Herod consulted. All these were the scripture scholars of the day. They knew from the prophet that this infant leader was to be born at Bethlehem in Judea. And when the magi had received this information, there in front of them was the star they had seen rising. It went forward and halted over the place where the child was.”
The magi with all their supernatural knowledge needed a star – a cosmic body of light – as a guide for direction. The supernatural knowledge associated with them could not dispense with this natural knowledge provided by science. Now that they were privileged to have a star for their guide – that is, science for their direction, they found themselves coming to a standstill in Jerusalem. The star had apparently disappeared. Natural science, however advanced, can only do so much to lead us to God. Beyond it, there is a need for revelation to know God more. It was with that revelation that the magi could proceed to find the infant king of the Jews. When they came before Him, “they fell to their knees and did Him homage”. This gesture expresses worship – an activity properly rendered to God. So they actually acknowledged the baby Jesus as God-with-us – that is, the Emmanuel.
There are a couple of points from today’s feast that I would like to draw attention to. The first has to do with the relationship between reason and scientific knowledge on the one hand and faith and revelation on the other. There is no contradiction between the two sets of knowledge. Science does not disprove God. In fact, it points to God. The more science discovers the whole complex of nature, its laws and its inexhaustible potential through interactions among its components, the more it affirms that there is God and He is the one sustaining all these mysteries of nature. Just take the human body as an example. It is a world by itself. The complexities of the cells, tissues, organs and nerve systems of the body, where they are located in the body, how they interact are such that each organ and function require their own specialists to unfold the wonders behind them or to treat them when they become defective. No matter how science explains all these complexities and how they work together, it has to come to terms with God – the one who created the human body as a living body and sustains all the whole net work of complexities in it. Take God away from all these, the body collapses and returns to dust or even to nothingness.
Faith and revelation are needed for us to go beyond reason and science to know more about the God who created the universe and every being in it. More than that, faith and revelation bring us into a personal relationship with God. Revelation is given in the scriptures as well as in the living tradition of the Church. Revelation endorses all that science and reason tell us about God, and leads us beyond. It tells us who God is – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It unfolds God’s loving plan of salvation for us. St. Paul in today’s second reading acknowledges this revelation: “It was by a revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery. This mystery has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.”
One of the things the scriptures revealed to the magi was that the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem was the infant king of the Jews. Then when they had found Him, revelation told them that He was God-with-us, the Emmanuel. That was why they fell to their knees and did Him homage – they worshipped Him. He was God coming to save us from sin. Surely, in the story of the magi, the close relationship between scientific knowledge provided by the cosmos and revelation given in the scriptures is asserted.
The second point I would like to highlight from today’s feast is that God’s salvation, while coming to the Jews and taking place in their midst, was no less meant for the Gentiles represented by the magi from the east. This would be given endorsement later on when the risen Lord just before ascending to His Father’s right hand commissioned His apostles to go out into the whole world and make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:18-20). They were to do this by baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them all Jesus had commanded them. In giving this commission, Jesus assured His apostles, “I am with you to the close of age.” This assurance had obviously to do with the Emmanuel – God-with-us.
We thank God that because of the apostles’ fidelity to this commission followed by that of the missionaries, we have come to receive the scriptures. Like the magi we have come to believe in Jesus the Emmanuel, God-with-us, through reason and science as well as through faith and revelation in the scriptures as expounded by the Church. Like the magi we have come to worship the Emmanuel in Christ, the infant king of the Jews. There is one other thing we need to imitate the magi. The Gospel story tells us, “They were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.” We need also to take a different way in our lives – that is, to change our lifestyle if this has been directed by a godless mentality and fraught with sinful tendencies. We need to convert – to turn to the Lord.
We are still in Christmastide as well as the beginning of the year. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you and your dear ones at home: A BLESSED CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR, abundantly filled with God’s choicest blessings.
Archbishop John Ha
Saturday, 02 January 2010
(at Holy Trinity Church
for the Installation of Rev Fr Augustine Jepy
as rector of Holy Trinity Church)
