It’s the closest the two planets have appeared together in about 800 years, and won’t occur again until 2080.Most great conjunctions are not particularly notable. But occasionally, like this year, Jupiter and Saturn cross paths so close to each other that they can be barely distinguishable to the naked eye. Or sometimes the two planets cross paths when they are opposite the Sun, so their apparent retrograde motion results in a triple conjunction, as was the case in 7 BCE.1
That is the reason that conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 2020 was named “The Christmas Star.” It reminded the faithful and even the sceptics of the famous star of Bethlehem that the three beloved characters in today’s gospel followed.
We love them because they are exotic and a little neurotic. Who leaves hearth and home to go searching for a new king on the basis of the appearance of a star?
Still we love them so much we have given them names – Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar. We have given them a place of origin – the Orient or far east – seen throughout most of history as a place of mystery and majesty. And we have made them essential characters in any worthwhile church Christmas pageant. Churches hang stars in the sanctuary and Christmas trees have to have a star someplace on them if not at the very top because of these guys.
Yet despite the legends that surround them, in their own time they may not have been well thought of at all.
They were not so much respectable "wise men" or "kings" but horoscope fanatics -- a practice condemned by Jewish standards. The Magi would thus represent, to the early Jewish reader, the epitome of Gentile idolatry and religious hocus-pocus -- dabblers in chicken gizzards, forever trotting off here or there in search of some key to the future.
We might compare them to people in fortune-teller booths, or people on the "psychic hotline" or other "occupations" that fore-tell the future by stars, tea leaves, and Tarot cards.2
Yet they saw something in the sky and they followed it. Something that was, for them, as hard to do as seeing any stars at all in the neighbourhood in which I live.
The magazine Time Out Chicago reported that, according to the experts at the Adler Planetarium, one “should be able to spot the conjunction low in the southwest sky after sunset—just make sure that you have a clear, unobstructed view of the horizon.”3
Yet they saw something in the sky and they followed it. Something that was, for them, as hard to do as seeing any stars at all in the neighbourhood in which I live.
Good luck with that! It may be better here in Aurora but in the city of Chicago if you look in any direction the chances are your view of the Christmas star or any star will be overshadows by a street light, or an ally light, (Yes, we light our alleys in Chicago) or the light from your neighbour’s back yard.
It’s hard to see the Christmas star in Chicago just as it may have been hard for us to see any light shining through the darkness on the day the church has set aside to celebrate the revealing of out Lord to the nations.
Last Wednesday, January 6 there were over 4,000 deaths attributable to the Covid virus in the United States and over 250,000 new cases. Those statistics alone would have been enough to block out any light that might have shown from the Christmas star.
But then our attention was refocused once again to our television screens where we watched our Nation’s Capital come under siege by a bunch of armed thugs who while chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” with their lips while showing by the flags they carried and the caps they wore that their allegiance was to only one person.
He is, in the words of Utah Senator Mitt Romney, “a selfish man” with injured pride” who incited an “insurrection.” Then the man who knew what it was like to loose a presidential election himself said, “The best way we can show respect for the voters who are upset is by telling them the truth. That is the burden, and the duty, of leadership.4
Some leaders govern by fear, intimidation and lies. The man the magi faced was such a leader.
Herod too was the stuff of legend. We know a lot about him and his kind and his cruelty was legendary. “He not only murdered most of his good friends, but even his beloved wife, and three of his own sons.” He was such a threat to every one and so disliked that to ensure mourning at his funeral, “Herod wanted his soldiers to kill notable political prisoners upon the news of his death. His goal was expressed thus: ‘So shall all Judea and every household weep for me, whether they wish it or not.”5
He was one evil man and when he became afraid all of Jerusalem did so too. Can you imagine that? Herod, with all the might of Imperial Rome behind him became afraid of a child not yet two years old.
Fear can do terrible things to you. Even if you have a moral compass it can make you lash out at your enemies and try to destroy them by either word or deed. That is exactly the kind of leader Herod was.
He also was a congenital liar. He treats truth like a second home only living there occasionally. This time, however, his lie is so transparent, so insincere, that even these storefront psychics can see through it. They hear him say, “search for this little child with the utmost care. And when you have found him come back and tell me—so that I may go and worship him too.”6 And they know it is a lie. They see through this seemingly powerful man like a cheap suit.
He is unable to worship anything else but himself. He is unable to care for anything or anybody else but himself. All Herod and his kind care about is keeping their political power at all costs. They are their own gods answerable, they believe, to nothing or nobody.
Still the visitors from the east follow the star. Through clouds and lies, twists and turns, they follow. And once they have found the one they had been looking for they return to their own country by a different route.
We stand with them today and will have to journey with them for the next few days, and months, and then for the rest of our lives with same faith and courage they had. We need to travel a different road from some of our leaders and their seditious followers.
Now we know that to put our faith in some earthly leaders is folly. To trust some is pure foolishness. And to believe their words is dangerous.
We know there is another way. Amid the gloom and doom, the tumult and despair of the past few days we have been lead to follow another leader whose ways are always justice and peace.
Like the magi we have found the one, been touched by the one, who came among us to rule not with power of might but the power of love.
In the days ahead follow his way, hold on to his promises, and the Christmas star will shine upon you.
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