The Star

For many Western Christians, today is the Epiphany. ("Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord" in Catholic-speak.)

On this day, we remember the visit of the Magi from the East to the Christ Child.

Matthew Chapter 2 tells us they came because of a star. The star provides the imagery for the alternate opening prayer at Mass today:

Father of light, unchanging God,
today you reveal to men of faith
the resplendent fact of the Word made flesh.
Your light is strong,
your love is near;
draw us beyond the limits which this world imposes,
to the life where your spirit makes all life complete.

In an Epiphany post over at the Parish Blog of St. Edward the Confessor, Fran today makes this wise observation:

"The reality is that all of our faith journeys are about the unlikely and often impractical matter of following our star that leads to Jesus. We keep trying to domesticate our faith journeys and they were meant to be wild."

Finally, in celebration of today's solemnity, here is another rendition of the old hymn "We Three Kings":



Flashbacks: Epiphany 2009, 2008 and 2007.