Gospel for January 5 2025 – Matthew 2:1-12
Gospel Reflections for January 5 2025
I have a few questions…
…I would like to know why some people get sick while others remain healthy, how the universe and life evolved, how love can last …and even how to improve politics today!
Maybe you have questions as well. Sometimes answers are obvious but many are difficult to find. Where can you look for wisdom?
Today’s Gospel tells the story of the Magi (wise teachers) going to Bethlehem by the light of a star that was itself among billions of other stars.
Why did they follow just that special one? The Magi had wisdom. While education is knowing a lot of things …true wisdom is knowing just the right things!
Our Catholic faith affirms two complementary and equal sources of wisdom and truth.
One source is Revelation, or all the things God said and did in scriptures and tradition. For example, the scriptures revealed the Messiah would come from Bethlehem.
The other source is accurate scientific Observation of the world. The Magi accurately observed a star and recognized it also signaled the Messiah was at Bethlehem.
Both revelation and observation affirm why there is such a long tradition of our Catholic Church support for both science and faith. All of our Catholic faith is based both on faithful revelation and scientific observation together.
That is also why the Catholic Church has a long tradition of starting schools all over the world, and even started the very first universities. You can use both faith and reason to find God’s wisdom for your life.
The Magi, like all good scientists and theologians, observed signs in the sky that announced the plan of God, and they followed just the right star that brought them to the right place.
In a few months we will enter the Season of Lent and host the return of The University Series at St. Bruno, Beatitudes, and St. Mary’s parishes. We will offer over 40 different sessions on topics about Scriptures, Faith & Science, Marriage and Family Issues, Spirituality, and Current Events. Stay tuned for more info about this large program.
The Magi in today’s Gospel are a great example of ancient scientists who correctly observed the signs of God’s plan and travelled to the greatest source of wisdom for all their questions in Bethlehem. Perhaps that is why they are still called “Wise.”
Make their wisdom your goal both now and during Lent.
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
I had a friend that was science prone and claimed that God was a figment of people’s imagination. I found arguing with Him was a waste of time but your article today was wonderful in explaining how science would not exist without education provided by the Church.
I clipped your explanation and sent it to him as further proof of the value of Catholic
Christian Education. Certainly would be nice to know what their calculations were to make them select that star to follow.
Thanks for drawing attention to that as I had never thought about it before. Perhaps this will help me convince him that there is a Gracious and Merciful God.
Yes, the Shepherds represent the people who find Christ from direct revelation from the Angels, and the Magi represent those who find Christ from observing the universe. Both groups have found Jesus in Bethlehem by different but complementary ways. Both science and revelation lead us to God.
Dear Father Dave,
Yes, “The unbeatable star.”
Imagine traveling, as the Magi did, to find the baby of the star, universe, and heaven, and be embraced by His gentle infancy and love, and then enchanted by His innocence. Christ, the newborn, is our path of rapture into heaven.
Well said!