Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Mary’s of the Lake:

[Below is part of Pope Francis’ Reflection during the Angelus on Jan 6, 2020]:

We celebrate the SOLEMNITY OF EPIPHANY in memory of the Magi who went to Bethlehem from the Orient, following the star, in order to visit the newborn Messiah. At the end of the Gospel story, it says that the Magi, being warned in a dream not to return to Herod..., departed to their own country by another way.’ (Mt 2:12). By another way!

 After traveling a long time, these wise men from distant lands find the one they wished to meet, after seeking him for so long, undoubtedly through exertion and danger. And when they finally reach their destination, they prostrate before the Child, they praise him and offer him their precious gifts. After that, they resume their journey without delay to return to their lands. But that encounter with the Child has changed them.

 The encounter with Jesus does not hold back the Magi. Indeed it instills in them a renewed thrust to return to their countries to recount what they had seen and the joy they had

felt. There is a demonstration of God’s style in this, of his way of manifesting himself in history. The experience of God does not block us, but frees us. It does not imprison us, but rather

puts us back on a journey and delivers us to the familiar places of our lives. The places are and will continue to be the same. However, after the encounter with Jesus, we are no longer the ones we were. The encounter with Jesus changes us, transforms us. The Evangelist Matthew highlights that the Magi returned ‘by another way’ (v. 12). They were led to change their path after the angel’s warning, so as not to run into Herod and his network of power.
Each experience of encounter with Jesus leads us to take a different road because from him comes a good power that heals the heart and separates us from evil.

 There is a wise dynamic between continuity and newness: the Magi return ‘to their own country’ but ‘by another way’. This indicates that we are the ones who have to change, to transform our way of living albeit in our everyday environment, to modify our criteria of judgment over the reality that surrounds us....

       

THANK YOU for your prayers & gifts to me on the occasions of Xmas & New Year. God Bless: Fr. Philip