Like the Magi, after these tough past years, we might also be puzzled about the meaning of what we went through and also about God’s role in our life. The Christmas message is that God who comes to share our sufferings, while not solving them, transforms them from within through the gift of Himself. It’s a mystery which is not easy to understand or accept.
The Magi have become the symbol of people around the world who are led by the light of Christ. They are the image of the church, made up of people of every race, tribe, language, and nation.
The apostles are a proof of the transforming contact with Jesus. Their own mothers would have been surprised to see them transformed from quarrelsome brutes to well-mannered gentlemen, from proud and ambitious recruits to humble servants, from impulsive characters to prudent leaders, from cowardly weaklings to brave martyrs.
Pope Francis declared on April 14, 2013 in St Paul’s Outside the Walls: “[W]e have to empty ourselves of the many small or great idols that we have and in which we take refuge, on which we often seek to base our security. They are idols that we sometimes keep well hidden; they can be ambition, a taste for success, placing ourselves at the center, the tendency to dominate others, the claim to be the sole masters of our lives, some sins to which we are bound, and many others. This evening I would like a question to resound in the heart of each one of you, and I would like you to answer it honestly: Have I considered which idol lies hidden in my life that prevents me from worshiping the Lord? Worshiping is stripping ourselves of our idols, even the most hidden ones, and choosing the Lord as the center, as the highway of our lives.”
The Wise Men knew something important: they knew that they did not know everything. Socrates taught: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” This is why the wise men asked for directions. They practiced the virtue of prudence.