January 6, 2014 - Pope Francis on Monday marked the solemn feast of the Epihany of
the Lord, holding out the Magi as models of how to overcome danger and darkness in
order to find Jesus, the Light of the World. Epiphany that commemorates the visit
of the Three Magi, or Wise Men from the East, to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, symbolizes
the first manifestation of Christ, to all the people of the world outside the chosen
people of Israel. “Like the Magi, every person has two great “books” which provide
the signs to guide this pilgrimage: the book of creation and the book of sacred Scripture,”
the Pope said in his homily at Mass in Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica. “Listening to
the Gospel, reading it, meditating on it and making it our spiritual nourishment especially
enables us to encounter the living Jesus, to experience him and his love.” Commenting
on the Gospel of Matthew, the Pope explained that for a moment the Magi had lost sight
of the guiding star when they arrived in Jerusalem at the palace of King Herod, which
was gloomy and filled with darkness, suspicion, fear. Herod’s rules of the of the
game were being turned upside-down, appearances were being unmasked and a whole world
built on power, success, possessions and corruption was being thrown into crisis by
a Child! However, the Wise Men were able to overcome that dangerous moment of darkness
of worldliness in Herod’s palace, because they believed the Scriptures and the words
of the prophets, and once more saw the star and experienced “a great joy”. Here the
Pope pointed to what he called holy “cunning” - the spiritual shrewdness which the
wise men from the East used on their way back, avoiding the gloomy palace of Herod.
They teach us how not to fall into the snares of darkness and how to defend ourselves
from the shadows which seek to envelop our life. We need to welcome the light of
God into our hearts and, at the same time, to cultivate that spiritual cunning which
is able to combine simplicity with astuteness, as Jesus told his disciples: “Be wise
as serpents and innocent as doves”. “They teach us not to be content with a life
of mediocrity, of “playing it safe”, but to let ourselves be attracted always by what
is good, true and beautiful … by God, who is all of this, and so much more! And they
teach us not to be deceived by appearances, by what the world considers great, wise
and powerful.