Sunday, January 26, 2014

Gospel For Today - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

Today St. Paul gives us a message crucial to living an authentic Christians life.  He is writing to the Church in Corinth, which is experiencing difficulty and division.  "For it has been reported to me about you," he writes, "...that there are rivalries among you.  I mean that each of you is saying, 'I belong to Paul,' or 'I belong to Apollos,' or 'I belong to Cephas,' or 'I belong to Christ'" (1 Cor 1:10-13).

There is division within the Church at Corinth. The faithful are separating themselves into different factions, claiming loyalty to different leaders.  This is wrong, and it is against Christian unity.  Christ prayed to the Father on the night before He suffered, "That they may be one, as You and I are one" (Jn 17:21).  When there is division within the Church, it is against the mind of Christ.

Certainly this applies to our own day, when it is not hard to see division within the Church.  One only has to look out upon the vast landscape of Protestantism to see the results of division.  Our Protestant brothers and sisters are a part of the Church.  The Catechism calls theirs "a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church" (CCC 838).  But they "have not preserved unity," as the Catechism also states, quoting from the Second Vatican Council.  The division began with those who said, "I belong to Luther," and later expanded to those saying, "I belong to Zwingli," or "I belong to Calvin," etc.  And it continues today with "I belong to Joel Osteen" or "I belong to Robert Schuller," or "I belong to Rick Warren," and so forth.

Every schismatic or heretical movement has begun with someone sanding up to exert their own will and judgment as supreme.  I know better what it means to be Christian.  Follow me.

But if you look at the names St. Paul mentions to the Corinthians, there are no Biblical counterparts to Martin Luther or John Calvin.  There are no reformers, heretics or schismatics in the list.  The people of Corinth are saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Cephas (Peter)," and even "I belong to Christ." Certainly St. Paul and St. Peter were not going around stirring up division within the Church.  They were not preaching their own egos; they were preaching only Christ.  

And notice that Our Lord Himself has made the list!  Some in Corinth are claiming, "I belong to Christ."  We may rightly ask, "What is wrong with that!?"  Certainly all serious Christians today should be able to say, "I belong to Christ and Christ only.  He is my Lord and my God."  That's what being a Christian is all about.

It is not St. Paul or St. Peter, and certainly not Christ, who are sewing division within the Church.  Rather it is the people of the Church who are confusedly and misguidedly grouping themselves into different factions, based on who baptized them, who taught them the faith, or for whom they feel a personal allegiance.  And St. Paul reminds them this is wrong.  This is against the spirit of the very Christ they claim to follow.

Christ established the Church as the earthly means of our salvation.  The Second Vatican Council calls the Catholic Church "the universal help toward salvation" through which "the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (Decree on Ecumenism 3, 5).  The Church is Catholic, which means "universal."  And so within the Church we find great diversity of culture and language, and even spiritual practices.  After all, St. Paul also told the Corinthians of the body of Christ having many members -- some of us are feet, some are eyes, some are hands, etc.  Some of us are teachers, others prophets, others priests, and so on (1 Cor 12:12-31).

But the Church is also One, which means within that diversity there must be unity.  We all may be different members of the Body of Christ - hands, feet and so forth - but we are members of the same body.  And the Body of Christ is the Church.  Christian unity can be found, therefore, only within the Church.  One cannot say, "I belong to St. Paul" without the Church.  Even though St. Peter is the head of the Apostles, the visible source of our unity here on earth, and the one to whom Christ gave the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, we cannot say, "I belong to Peter" without the Church.  (The name Cephas is the Aramaic form of Peter).  

And even though Christ is head of the Church, one cannot say, "I belong to Christ" without the Church, anymore than one can say, "I belong to the head without the body."  

To be a follower of Christ, then, means being humble enough to submit yourself to be a part of His Body, the Church.  This can be a hard lesson to learn.  A few decades after St. Paul wrote his letter, the Christians in Corinth were still having difficulties.  There was still division.  And so they received another letter, sometime in the 90's, from Pope St. Clement.  

St. Clement was the fourth bishop of Rome, and so our fourth Pope.  He succeeded Cletus, who succeeded Linus, who succeeded Peter (the life expectancy of the Pope was pretty short in those days of persecution).  As successor of the head of the Apostles, Clement wrote to the Church in Corinth and exhorted them to be united with Christ, and with each other, in the Church.  He speaks of Christ being sent by God, and the Apostles being sent by Christ, and the bishops (and the priests and deacons who serve them) as being appointed by the Apostles as successors in their ministry.  And he speaks of the humility required on the part of the faithful to submit to the rightful authority of the Church.

Humility is the key to Christian unity.  Humility enables us all to say, "I cannot save myself," and "I am not my own judge."  Humility enables us to submit to rightful authority and to do so with joy.  Humility within the Church's leadership ensures that they lead with the authority of Christ and not their own.  So that they would be as horrified as St. Paul was to hear Christians saying, "I belong to Paul," if they were to discover that a cult of personality had grown up around them.  

There can be a strong temptation within us today to pin our faith to a charismatic leader within the Church.  This does not have to be someone famous, like Pope Francis or Pope Benedict XV.  Maybe it is your pastor.  Maybe your campus minister, or youth minister.  These people may be holy people, but if you idolize them you miss the point of their message.  You are being like the Corinthians.  For what happens when your pastor is transferred to a new parish, and you aren't  quit sure you like the new guy?  What happens when a new pope is chosen who looks and acts different from the last one?  If these things challenge your faith, perhaps your faith is misplaced.  

We rightly admire the saints (both the great ones named by the Church and the small ones in our own lives).  What makes the saints great is that the holiness that shines forth through them does not emanate from within themselves but from Christ.  To allow Christ to live in you requires a dying to self, and this begins with humility.  To be united with Christ means being united with His Body, the Church.  Even if that is hard at times.  And even if you don't know what that may mean in your life.  "Submission" has become a dirty word in today's society, but it is a requirement of the Christian.  Submission to right and Godly authority is not a source of weakness, but strength.  Dying to self means living in Christ.

In today's gospel reading, Jesus calls to Peter and Andrew as they are fishing in the Sea of Galilee.  The gospel says, "At once they left their nets and followed Him" (Mt 4:12-23).  They had the courage - and the humility - to abandon their way of life and all that they knew to follow Christ.  From this faith the seeds of the Church were planted.  Pray today that we may be just as prepared to die to ourselves and our own ways so that we may also follow Christ as members of His body, the Church.

FURTHER READING
Also, read the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Christian unity, paragraphs 813-822.

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

CCM Bulletin week of January 20


FAQ… The Church and abortion

Here’s some information from the US Bishop’s website on the Church’s reflections on abortion over two millennia.

Respect for Unborn Human Life: The Church's Constant Teaching

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law" (No. 2271). 
In response to those who say this teaching has changed or is of recent origin, here are the facts:
  • From earliest times, Christians sharply distinguished themselves from surrounding pagan cultures by rejecting abortion and infanticide.  The earliest widely used documents of Christian teaching and practice after the New Testament in the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) and Letter of Barnabas, condemned both practices, as did early regional and particular Church councils. 
  • To be sure, knowledge of human embryology was very limited until recent times.  Many Christian thinkers accepted the biological theories of their time, based on the writings of Aristotle (4th century BC) and other philosophers.  Aristotle assumed a process was needed over time to turn the matter from a woman's womb into a being that could receive a specifically human form or soul.  The active formative power for this process was thought to come entirely from the man – the existence of the human ovum (egg), like so much of basic biology, was unknown. 
  • However, such mistaken biological theories never changed the Church's common conviction that abortion is gravely wrong at every stage.  At the very least, early abortion was seen as attacking a being with a human destiny, being prepared by God to receive an immortal soul (cf. Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you").
  • In the 5th century AD this rejection of abortion at every stage was affirmed by the great bishop-theologian St. Augustine.  He knew of theories about the human soul not being present until some weeks into pregnancy.  Because he used the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, he also thought the ancient Israelites had imposed a more severe penalty for accidentally causing a miscarriage if the fetus was "fully formed" (Exodus 21: 22-23), language not found in any known Hebrew version of this passage.  But he also held that human knowledge of biology was very limited, and he wisely warned against misusing such theories to risk committing homicide.  He added that God has the power to make up all human deficiencies or lack of development in the Resurrection, so we cannot assume that the earliest aborted children will be excluded from enjoying eternal life with God.
  • In the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas made extensive use of Aristotle's thought, including his theory that the rational human soul is not present in the first few weeks of pregnancy.  But he also rejected abortion as gravely wrong at every stage, observing that it is a sin "against nature" to reject God's gift of a new life.
  • During these centuries, theories derived from Aristotle and others influenced the grading of penalties for abortion in Church law.  Some canonical penalties were more severe for a direct abortion after the stage when the human soul was thought to be present.  However, abortion at all stages continued to be seen as a grave moral evil. 
  • From the 13th to 19th centuries, some theologians speculated about rare and difficult cases where they thought an abortion before "formation" or "ensoulment" might be morally justified.  But these theories were discussed and then always rejected, as the Church refined and reaffirmed its understanding of abortion as an intrinsically evil act that can never be morally right.
  • In 1827, with the discovery of the human ovum, the mistaken biology of Aristotle was discredited. Scientists increasingly understood that the union of sperm and egg at conception produces a new living being that is distinct from both mother and father.  Modern genetics demonstrated that this individual is, at the outset, distinctively human, with the inherent and active potential to mature into a human fetus, infant, child and adult.  From 1869 onward the obsolete distinction between the "ensouled" and "unensouled" fetus was permanently removed from canon law on abortion.
  • Secular laws against abortion were being reformed at the same time and in the same way, based on secular medical experts' realization that "no other doctrine appears to be consonant with reason or physiology but that which admits the embryo to possess vitality from the very moment of conception" (American Medical Association, Report on Criminal Abortion, 1871).
  • Thus modern science has not changed the Church's constant teaching against abortion, but has underscored how important and reasonable it is, by confirming that the life of each individual of the human species begins with the earliest embryo.
  • Given the scientific fact that a human life begins at conception, the only moral norm needed to understand the Church's opposition to abortion is the principle that each and every human life has inherent dignity, and thus must be treated with the respect due to a human person.  This is the foundation for the Church's social doctrine, including its teachings on war, the use of capital punishment, euthanasia, health care, poverty and immigration.  Conversely, to claim that some live human beings do not deserve respect or should not be treated as "persons" (based on changeable factors such as age, condition, location, or lack of mental or physical abilities) is to deny the very idea of inherent human rights.  Such a claim undermines respect for the lives of many vulnerable people before and after birth.


___________________

Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Gospel For Today - 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (A)

Last week I wrote that through our baptism we are united with Christ's death and resurrection, and born again as children of God.  This is true.  When we say that these things are brought about through baptism, we are not speaking symbolically -- at least not in the sense that we typically think of something being symbolic.

A symbol is a sign of something else, but we usually understand the symbol to be something quite distinct from the reality it signifies.  For example, the US flag is a symbol of our nation.  But you and I know that the flag, that rectangle of colored cloth, is not actually the United States of America.  It's a piece of cloth.  But it is a symbol that represents our country and so we rightly respect it and treat it with a certain dignity; not because the flag itself is worthy of honor, but because we give honor to the thing being represented.

That's how most symbols work.  A picture of my mother is a symbol that represents her and brings her to mind.  And I may value that picture because I love my mother.  But I know that the picture is not my mother.

But that's not how baptism works.  Baptism is a symbol, but it is a special kind of symbol that we call a sacrament.  The Catechism calls sacraments "efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us" (CCC 1131).  Another common definition of sacrament is "a visible sign of an invisible grace."  A sacrament, such as baptism, is a sign, which is another way of saying symbol.  But it is an "efficacious sign."  That means it is a sign that actually brings about what it signifies.  In other words, baptism doesn't merely represent our union with Christ's death and resurrection.  It actually causes that union to occur.

This is the way that all the sacraments operate.  The Eucharist is not just a symbol of Christ's Body and Blood.  It is Christ's Body and Blood.  Through Reconciliation we do not receive a representative forgiveness, we are truly forgiven by God.  God is the main actor in each of the sacraments He instituted, and there are seven: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, confession (or reconciliation), matrimony, holy orders and anointing of the sick.  Through each of these God makes His grace present to us in a special and particular way.

There are human actors, as well.  There is the one receiving the sacrament, of course, and also the minister who typically administers the sacrament (the exception being marriage, in which case it is the couple receiving the sacrament who administer it to each other).  There is a ritual formula. There is a physical element.  God uses aspects of His creation to impart His grace to us.  We are both physical and spiritual creatures, and so when God comes to us through the sacraments He established in His Church, He comes to us through both physical and spiritual means.  Baptism involves cleansing with water; that is the physical aspect.  We can see the clean, pure water.  We can hear the sound of it being poured out.  We can feel the cool wetness on our skin.  We feel "washed." 

But more than the physical aspect, there is a supernatural aspect to baptism that we cannot see or hear or feel but is nevertheless there.  John said in today's gospel reading that he baptizes with water, but Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit.  When John administered the waters of baptism to Jesus, he saw the Spirit of God descent upon Him like a dove.  You and I may not be able to see it, but that happens at each and every Christian baptism.  The Spirit comes to rest upon the one newly reborn in Christ.

Baptism is the first sacrament of initiation into the Christian life, the sacrament that opens the doors of grace and brings us into the body of Christ.  It is the first sacrament we receive, and the majority of Catholics (excluding converts to the faith such as myself) are baptized as infants shortly after birth.  You may not be able to remember your baptism, but this is what happened to you.  (And if you are unbaptized and reading this, know that this can be yours).

Baptism brings about the forgiveness of sins -- all sins, both original sin and any personal sin the one being baptized may have committed in life.  Further it removes all punishment for sins.  In baptism one is made a new creation.  The old truly passes away and is no more (CCC 1263).

Baptism fills you with "sanctifying grace," making you a son or daughter of God.  The word "sanctify" means "to be made holy," and the word "grace" means "gift."  Baptism is a gift to help you become holy.  It strengthens you, giving you the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, which are aimed chiefly at God Himself (you have faith in God, you hope in God, and you love God).  Baptism gives you the power to live your life guided by the Holy Spirit and to grow in goodness by living a virtuous life (CCC 1266).

Baptism makes you a member of the universal Church, the Body of Christ.  You become united, in Christ, with Christians of all nations and races, of all places and times.  You share in the priesthood of Christ, meaning you are called to serve others, under the authority of the Church, to help spread the good news of God's love and mercy (CCC 1267-1270).

Baptism also leaves an indelible mark on your soul, marking you as one who belongs to Christ.  "No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation" (CCC 1272).  

This last point is important.  Perhaps you read the above and said, "Wow, that sounds great, but I was baptized as a baby and I don't exactly feel any of that."  It doesn't matter.  That's the glory of the sacraments.  A sacrament works whether you "feel" it or not.  A sign, as we commonly think of it, only has meaning if we choose to give it meaning.  But a sacrament is an "efficacious sign."  That mean it is effective on its own.  Whether you feel it or not, God's grace is truly there.

It is possible for us to ignore that grace.  And perhaps you have been ignoring all the gifts of baptism that I just described above.  Perhaps you have not been living them out in your life, not allowing them to bear fruit.  Perhaps you have forgotten about those gifts entirely.  It does not matter.  They are still there.  You still bear the mark of a child of God, and not even the gravest of sins can wipe that mark away.  You belong to Him.  

If this is you, then I invite you to start living the grace of your baptism today.  Baptism is the gateway to the sacramental life.  If you have been away from that life for a while, I invite you to recall your baptism and return to it.  Come back to Confession and the Eucharist (the daily bath and daily bread of the Christian).  You are a new creature, reborn in Christ, a member of a royal priesthood.  God has great things in mind for you - nothing short of perfection.  Don't settle for a life of mediocrity and sin.  Start living the life of love and grace.  Start living your baptism.

God bless,
Matt

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

CCM Bulletin Week of Jan 13

Man’s Maker was made
   That he, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at his mother’s breast;
   That the Bread might hunger;
   That the Water thirst;
That the Light sleep;
   That the Way be tired on its journey;
   That the Truth might be accused of false witness;
   That the Teacher be beaten with whips;
   That the Foundation be suspended on wood;
   That Strength might grow weak;
   That the Healer might be wounded;
   That Life might die.
                                                                                   ~St. Augustine



GIVE YOUR HEART AWAY 2014
This is the annual service weekend for Catholic college students in our diocese. February 14-16 in Hickory, NC. We provide a morning of service to local organizations, engage in theological reflection on service, learn about Catholic Social Teaching, celebrate mass together, and have a great time. Cost is $50. Registrations are due January 24th—register by going to www.catholiconcampus.com, clicking “GYHA” and then clicking on the “register here” link. 

“ALTERNATIVE” ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK
Sister Eileen Spanier from UNCC is planning a vocation discernment expedition to Philadelphia (where her community is based) on the last weekend of our spring break (March 7-9). Cost is $50; a fun outing is part of the trip as well. See details on the flyer, and contact Sr. Eileen if you’re interested. I’m pretty sure that at the moment it’s for women only (but that might change).



___________________

Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Gospel For Today - Baptism of the Lord

SOLEMNITY OF THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD (A)

Today we conclude the Christmas season with the celebration of the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.  A common question that arises at this time each year is, "Why was Jesus Baptized at all?"  It's a fair question, especially when you consider the reason and the effects of our own baptism.

Why are we baptized?  The short answer is, "for the forgiveness of sins."  We are sinners, plain and simple.  We are conceived in the state of original sin, which is the general state of all mankind since the Fall of our first parents, the effects of which are many but include the loss of the grace of original holiness.  We also, if we are baptized as adults, will have committed many personal sins in our life.  These sins are called "actual" sins, not because original sin is not "actually" a sin, in the way we use the word today; rather because these are sins we commit in act, or by our actions.  In either case, original sin or actual sin, baptism cleanses us of that sin.  It transmits God's forgiveness.  "By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin" (CCC 1263).

But Jesus Christ is the sinless One.  He is God Incarnate.  In His human nature He is like us in all things except sin.  So if Christ was conceived without original sin, and if He committed no personal sin, then why was Jesus baptized by John?  

We are not alone in asking this question.  In today's gospel reading from Matthew John himself tries to stop Jesus from being baptized.  "I need to be baptized by you," he says, "and yet you are coming to me?"  Yet Jesus said His baptism was fitting, "to fulfill all righteousness."  

There is more here than meets the eye, and there is more to baptism than meets the eye.  Baptism does more for us than simply wipe away all sins.  Not that the forgiveness of all sins and remission of all punishment due to sins is not enough, mind you!  That alone is a miraculous, generous, and merciful action of our God.  It already is more than any of us deserve, but God does not stop there.

According to St. Paul, the one who is baptized unites himself or herself with Christ's death.  That sounds kind of bad, until you realize that it is only by being united to His death that we can be united to His Resurrection.  

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in the newness of life (Rom 6:3-4).

This "newness of life" begins with Christ's baptism.  When Jesus arose from the waters, our gospel today tells us that "the heavens were opened."  These same heavens were closed to us after Adam's sin; they are opened now with Christ.  The gospel also speaks of the Spirit coming down and resting over Jesus in the water.  Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters of creation in Genesis 1:2, now the Spirit descends over the waters of the new creation which is being wrought in Christ.

So why was Jesus baptized?  The answer is not for the forgiveness of His sins, but for ours.  Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  By subjecting Himself to baptism, He is emptying Himself.  The Catechism calls His baptism the "first manifestation" of His self-emptying (CCC 1224), a self-emptying that would end with His suffering and death on a cross.   Likewise the descent of the Holy Spirit over the waters is a manifestation of the new creation to be worked in Christ through His death and Resurrection.  The appearance of the Holy Trinity (the Son, being baptized, the Spirit descending over the waters of baptism, and the Father saying He is well pleased) is a manifestation of the Trinity coming to rest in our own hearts upon our baptism.  

If you recall from last week, we spoke of the word epiphany meaning "manifestation," or making known.  Thus the Baptism of the Lord is a sort of epiphany, an extension of the epiphany we celebrate when the wise men, three Gentile sages from the east, came to worship Christ the Lord.  And as a symbol of dying and rising, Christ's baptism foreshadows the passion, death and resurrection to come.  Thus it is fitting that we celebrate His baptism today, to end the Christmas season and prepare us for the great Lent and Easter celebrations to follow.

Why was Jesus baptized?  He was baptized for us, to give our own baptisms meaning; so that the waters of this earth would be made holy, conduits of His grace, in order that we might be united with Him in death, united with Him in eternal life, reborn as children of God, creatures in the new creation.  

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723

Gospel For Today - Epiphany

SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

The word "epiphany" means "manifestation."  So what does the word "manifest" mean?  Manifest means "to make known."  Today we celebrate the great solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, considered to be the apex of the Christmas season.  In what way today is the Lord made known?

One would think that the manifestation of the Lord would be considered His birth, which we celebrated on Dec. 25.  This is the day when we celebrate His arrival on the human scene, when we welcome Emmanuel, God-with-us, into our midst.  Did that not complete the great incarnational event that began when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive a son by the Holy Spirit?

In a way yes, but in a way no.  While at the Nativity we celebrate the birth of Christ and His arrival to the Jewish people, that is by no means the whole story.  For while it is true that Christ, the Messiah, came to the Jews, He did not come only for the Jews.  In our first reading today from Isaiah, the prophet says, "Rise up in splendor Jerusalem, your light has come!"  But he continues, "Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you."  Our psalm today proclaims, "all kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him."  And our second reading from Ephesians tells us that "the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise of Christ Jesus."  

This is what is unique about our Catholic faith - that it is catholic.  "Catholic" comes from the Greek meaning "of the whole."  It is usually translated as "universal." We call it the universal Church not only because she teaches universal truths, but that those truths and  the salvation they proclaim are meant for all peoples, of all lands, of all times.  There is not a single nation, tribe, clan, family or individual whom Christ did not come to redeem.  While Christ is the fulfillment of all that God promised to His chosen people, He is also the extension of that covenant to the whole world.  

The event we celebrate today with the arrival of the magi to pay homage and adore the infant Christ is the manifestation - the epiphany - of Jesus' universal kingship.  Who were the magi?  The Bible is silent as to their names, but tradition gives them as Casper (Gaspar), Melchior and Balthasar.  The magi were eastern sages.  They were not Jews and there is no reason to believe that they were familiar with Jewish prophecy or scripture.  So why would they care about the birth of a baby boy to a young woman in a backwater Jewish province of no real political significance?

The magi were the priestly caste from Persia.  We sometimes refer to them as the "wise men" and that is important.  For even though there is no reason to believe they were exposed to Jewish traditions or prophecy they did seek out wisdom.  In their tradition, in the east, they sought wisdom from the stars.  And something they saw in the stars at that time told them that a great king had been born in Bethlehem.  And not just any king, but a universal king, such that even though He was born among Jews, these Persian sages felt compelled to make the long and dangerous journey to pay Him homage.  

Through the method of learning they looked to for truth and guidance - watching and reading the stars - they came to know the truth of Christ's kingship.  They responded to that truth in the only way that seemed appropriate to them.  They desired to worship and adore the Lord.  The magi are considered to be the first fruits of the Gentiles and the beginning of the Christian faith, bringing in their wake the whole mass of earth's people who would come to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.  They were not looking for a Messiah.  They did not know the prophecies of Isaiah.  But they were seeking the truth.

Like them, we today need to seek out truth.  Our minds were made for this task.  The Second Vatican Council affirms that God comes to those "who seek God with a sincere heart" (Lumen Gentium 16).  Even in non-Christian religions, we recognize "shadows and images" of God, elements of "goodness and truth" that are "a preparation for the Gospel" (CCC 843).  

These elements of truth can also be found in the physical sciences, where the open mind can discover signs pointing to the transcendent creator of this magnificent universe.  They can be found in the study  of history, where can be discovered accounts of the creator-God born among the Jewish people in Israel and working miracles, including His own Resurrection.  They can also be found in the lived experiences and examples of those around us who have allowed Christ to enter their lives and forever change them.

When we discover the truth, whoever we are and however it comes to us, there is only one proper response.  We need to do what the magi did.  We need to realize that in the light of this Truth, nothing can ever be the same.  We need to stop what we are doing - leaving behind our old lives if need be - and seek Him out.  A King has been born.  Come, let us worship.

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723