The Star of Bethlehem
God Is Present!
As we start this year under the vibrations of the Ecumenical and Fraternal Christmas of Jesus, we seek to be under His Divine Light so it can guide our path throughout life. Let’s look up and observe the bright signs God sends us to follow and find the Hope, the Love that has been and still is born.
Also, let us question: How can we be instruments of the Light of God in this world? Because we are all here for a purpose. I believe that. Me, you, everyone. We just have to figure out what purpose we have to accomplish and how we can help Christ in His work to implement His Divine plans for all of us. Now, Jesus let us a hint in His Gospel of what He expects from us and that is to live under His New Commandment (John 13:34 and 35: “Love one another, as I have loved you. Only by this shall all of you be recognized as my disciples, if you have the same Love for one another.”
Let us see how can we be disciples of Jesus throughout this year that is starting.
In Spirit and Truch under the light of the New Commandment, we will study the passage in the Gospel of Jesus, according to Matthew 2:1 to 12, so we can find the necessary lesson to implement in our lives and to follow the Star of Bethlehem to be with Christ and help Him:
The Visit of the Wise Men
1. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem,
2. saying, “Where is He who was born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
3. When Herod the king heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where Christ should be born.
5. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:
6. ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are no longer least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler, who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
7. Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, carefully inquired of them what time the star appeared.
8. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, so that I may come and worship Him vc
also.”
9. When they heard the king, they departed. And behold, the star which they saw in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great excitement.
11. And when they came into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary, His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12. But being warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.”
Pray to see the Star
What can we take from this passage that applies to our lives? First, we need to pray to perceive that star, the Star of Bethlehem. The same prophesied by Micah in the Old Testament, which served as a guide for all the priests and scribes to discuss with Herod. But the same star appeared to the wise men and showed them the path to Christ.
Pray to perceive it so you can partake in His birth; in bringing this Good News; in bringing this Word of Love; in helping, in protecting the child that is being born in the name of God.
When we do that and actually pray, raise our voices to the sky, to the heavens, asking God to show us, we are certain that it will appear. We are putting our faith in work when we have this Accomplishing Faith, that is when we believe with all our heart and all our spirit that God is doing His part, but we also have to do ours.
Decision to follow
Once God shows us the Star, we need to make a decision.
Either we're going to be with the king Herod. That is the world, all of those who think that they are in power, who think they have an eternal legacy based on a material foundation and want to destroy the child, want to go and kill that hope.
Or we're going to follow the Star, leaving everything behind, not listening to those false authorities, and go and search for Jesus Christ, the Son of God that became flesh. The Light itself, that is God Himself. Carrying the potentiality for us to start doing something, to start living and feeling life and not being a cold, inhuman being like the winter, cold and not propagating life.
Even though the winter season has its purpose as well. As a cycle, from death comes life, and through it, we understand eternal life. Our Divine Master, Jesus, is the one who brought this message. So, imagine if we decide to be with king Herod. We wouldn't be talking about this gospel.
We wouldn't be receiving the Good News of God. We wouldn't be receiving His Love. We wouldn't know about an entire spiritual life there is. That is beyond what we feel and perceive here in this material world, with our material eyes.
Let us choose to act like wise men. Let us be wise and follow the path the Star of Bethlehem shows us.
Not being held back with fear, but having the courage that our Lord Jesus Christ is giving to us. God is giving to us, so we can take the first step and go and walk and find Him. Find this child.
Prepare for the arrival
While we are on this path, we have to do the work. We have to prepare for the arrival. Right? We can’t get there with our hands empty.
We have to prepare ourselves for it, just like the wise men did. We have to prepare a gift. We have to work for it to not get there with our hands empty and end up saying to Jesus Christ: “Here, what I have for you. What is it? Nothing!”
What have you been doing throughout this whole year, throughout this whole path that you have been following, that the stars have been showing to you?
Prepare something, that is, work. Have deeds, not bad ones, but good deeds. Of course, we're not perfect. Of course, we are all imperfect beings, but it doesn't diminish our struggle and perseverance. It doesn't diminish the importance of what we intend to do as being good, as being something that worships the Star of Bethlehem that leads us to Christ.
Offering to God and the Begotten Son
When we have this divine ideal shining in the heavens we keep that in our mind and work to reach that star. Work to be right under its light. You don't have to worry, you will be doing good deeds.
You will be going to do great things in your life. Be sure of it. What is most interesting is that when are walking on this path, even though it can be dark just like the moonless night, even though it sure as hell can be cold and we may think that we are at the bottom of our lives. Surrounded by darkness, indecisions, doubts, by everything that can make us fall and be in this darkness preventing us from rising up again and not continuing on the path. Remember that it is in the darkest nights that the brightest stars shine. Keep that in your mind. On those moments the Star of the Christ will shine and show us what to do.
It will lead us to Him, the Son of God, with everything that we prepared, all the gifts, as the wise men did with the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Thus being able to say to Him: “Here, my Beloved Friend, this is what I did. This is what I dedicate all my life to, all my heart, all my sweat, all my blood. For you, Christ!”
He will reward us, but not one that will perish with time. Not a material one. I'm not talking about money, a house, a car. I'm talking about a reward from God that nothing can buy. A feeling, an emotion, a sense of purpose that will fill our spirits.
That's what we are working for. That's what we were fighting for. To see the beauty of God.
Representations of the Star
All that can also be represented, when we receive a child in our family, the same as Jesus Christ. When this moment of a child’s birth happens in our lives, a feeling that is immeasurable. It can’t be described in such a way that we can only call it: Love.
This Love opens your eyes to see everything in him or in her. To see everything that there is and it can become, all the potentiality, all the goodness that they can be doing in the world. Not only for you and your family but also for other people. There is a natural perception of seeing the hope that Christ is sending to us, the hope that God is sending to us. As we see in the book of Genesis when God tells Abraham (26:4):
I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.
Would we say that all children are children of God? Yes. So it doesn't mean that they all need to be of one religion? No. Everyone has a light, something to hope, to do, to be part of. The same goes for when Jesus is sending a friend, a wife, someone, a guardian angel. They can all be the representations of the Star of Bethlehem because they can lead us to a new path that is necessary for us to follow. That is necessary to take us from the darkness that keeps us at the bottom of the pit, helping us to rise and then at the end of the path, find the Divine Master again.
Blessings from Bethlehem
He [God] counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names.
(Psalms 147:4)
God knows us, each one of us by name. He is calling you, me. He is calling everyone to walk. Take the first step, but we have to decide to do it, to follow the Star.
By doing that, our actions will praise God. Every goal that is achieved, every objective completed in materializing His Love, is something to be praised—not in the sense of inflating our egos but in the joy and pride of accomplishing a meaningful objective. How can we not feel joy when being part of all the beautiful and divine plan of Christ for this World? Preparing the path for His Triumphant Return?
When we do that, our guardian angels, our spiritual friends, the spiritual world that is with us, that is giving us directions, that is giving us an intuition of what to do inside of ourselves, on how to act, on what objective to put right in front of us. Our spiritual friends will be praising us in the heavens, as the angels praised all of the shepherds who were doing their job, giving everything that they had. When Christ was coming into this world, what did the angels sing (Gospel of Jesus, according to Luke 2:14)?
Glory to God in the Highest, and Peace on Earth to those of Good Will.
When we do our part and fully trust, that God is sending a star to show us the way and for us to follow. We will feel and have that Peace in our hearts.
Peace that no one besides God and Christ can give us. That is an act of Good Will. Act in His name, work to be part of His Ecumenical Flock of beings who only want to make this world a better place. That is what we need to have as an ultimate goal for this year.
This is the beginning where we start to live, make our resolution lists, and discuss the objectives that we want to achieve. New plans, new strategies, seeking to change our life, but being open to this change. Because maybe you are not making any plans or setting higher goals, but who knows?
The Star of Bethlehem can show up to you and lead you to an unimaginable change. Let us be open to the change that Christ is bringing to our life. A change that will lead us directly to him and that will give us peace of mind, and peace of spirit.
Be full of divine love that is immeasurable, that can’t be compared to anything here in this world.
Now, as we said in the beginning, we are here to ask for Christ to see this Star. This is the time to take us from the coldness that we are now feeling in this life. To rip that from us and give us a new life. Give us that warmth, that heat, that fire that will make us follow His path.
Bethlehem, a city that no one cared about and no one was thinking about, had the honor to receive the Son of God, to receive Jesus Christ. That is to show us that Jesus is in those places, that we don't care, that we're not giving our attention to it.
The way that we are going to open our perception to the Star of Bethlehem is by praying, as we said in the beginning. Let us pray Jesus’ Ecumenical Prayer, the Lord's Prayer that He taught us in His Gospel (Matthew 6:9 to 13):
Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come.
Your Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses just as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever.
Amen!
May the light of Christ give you life! May His Star that is showing the path to Bethlehem shine in your life so you can follow it! May you take that decision. May you have the courage to take the first step on an amazing path that will change everything in your life. That's my hope for you in this year.
That's also the hope for me so that I can be in this Light of Christ working for Him, having the honor to be one of His disciples while we learn to love, as He loved us.
Jesus lives in our hearts forever!
