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The Jubilee Year Pilgrims of Hope closes this week on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. As the Holy Doors swing shut, we turn our gaze to the East and the Magi. How can this story speak to us as we consider all that God has done in the year that has ended and what lies ahead?
Pilgrims of Hope
The Magi could be called the first Christian pilgrims, leaning into hope as they are led by a star to the Christ child.
For some of us, the Jubilee Year has been marked by physical journeys to holy places. But even if we haven’t been able to go on pilgrimage, this special year has called us to journey together illumined by the light of hope.
The Jubilee is a time of conversion and renewal, an opportunity to embark on a new path, animated by the hope that we can build a world in which everyone can lead an authentically human life in truth, justice and peace.
A story of two kings
For all our traditional crib scenes and carols, the story in Matthew's Gospel contains only two kings: the jealous King Herod, a ruthless tyrant who ruled by fear, and the infant Jesus, the prophesied "King of the Jews," who will rule by love.
The Magi, those wise spiritual seekers from a distant land, refused to kneel before the powerful, wily Herod. Instead, they sought out and worshipped the vulnerable child, born in poverty.
The “wise ones” are the first outside of God’s chosen people to recognise the Messiah. In this story of their journey, we are reminded that Jesus is a light for the whole world. Christ calls each of us to openness, to encounter and to recognise that all people are our neighbours.
In this Jubilee Year, we have sought to respond to Pope Francis’ call to be “tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind.” To seek Christ, like the Magi, and find him in our sisters and brothers. To bring our gifts as we pray and work for a better world for all the human family.
“They departed to their own country by another way”
Epiphany means “showing forth” and we commonly use the word to describe a sudden revelation, a time of new insights and fresh understanding.
In encountering Jesus, the Magi are changed. They go home by another way.
Throughout the Jubilee Year, we too have been on a journey together. But what next? Let’s take time today to listen to the stirrings of the Spirit as we consider what God is calling us to in the year ahead.
Join us in this Epiphany prayer as the Jubilee Year comes to a close.
You may also like to reflect back over the Jubilee Year with our guided journalling video.
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