This material was first published by Redemptorist Publications
and is included here with their permission.

It’s the season of starlight, kings and gifts. We hear again stories of the first pilgrims seeking Jesus, of a dove descending on God’s beloved Son and of water turned to wine.

It’s the season of revelation, light and joy as God, born as man, shows us again his presence among us.

The light shines in the darkness and in the stories we hear there are dark shadows. There is a king, deceitful, cruel and vindictive who seeks the light only to destroy it. There is myrrh, a gift bringing to mind the bitter suffering this child is born to face.

Living as one of us he will know love and hatred, joy and sorrow, hope and despair, worship and crucifixion. He does not flinch from experiencing fully what it means to be human. In the way he lives and loves he shows us what it means to be fully human.

Like the wise men, let us pay homage to the true King and offer the best of who we are as gifts to him. Let us travel through life resisting the shadows of today’s Herods (and the darkness within ourselves), seeking instead the paths of starlight and wonder.