on the way

Have you ever tried to have a person do something that he, or she, does not feel inclined to do?
It is quite a… task, we know it.
One may use petition, supplication, cajoling or threatening, but a stubborn silent refusal may be all that is given as a reply!

I think that this is what the prophets of God’s people have sometimes met with.
No wonder that, at times, they used strong language to wake up their people.
Isaiah was no exception as he addresses the people of Jerusalem.

On this feast of Epiphany, his first word in today’s first reading (Is.60:1-6) is rather mild but insistent in tone: “ARISE, JERUSALEM!”
In today’s language, one may say: ‘GET UP!’

Why? Normally, a person gets up to do something, or to go somewhere.
This is the case for the Magi whom we meet in today’s gospel text (Epiphany, Year B – Mt.2:1-12).
They have risen, left their respective countries and set out on a journey.
They are not yet certain where their traveling will take them but they are on the move.

In this first week of a new year, this is somehow our situation as well.
We are on the move – the days go by, one by one, and take us with them.
We are not at all certain where the 31^st of December will find us – neither the where nor the how are clear to us just yet.

But what is indeed clear and assured is: to what and with whom we are traveling.
Whether we are conscious of it or not, whatever our age and condition, our steps are taking us to God’s home – the place he has prepared for us – and our traveling companion is the one who has become, by his own choice, God-with-us.
 
Our steps are taking us there… if we have chosen this direction and this traveling companion.
The choice is ours… and remains so all along the way…

Source: Image: Pinterest

Note: Other texts about this feast are available at:  https://image-i-nations.com/fete-de-lepiphanie-annee-b/

https://image-i-nations.com/mages-dou-viennent/