Christmas is over.  The wise men came and went a few days ago.  A new year has begun.  I am a firm believer that Christmas lasts until Epiphany.  Even with this extended view of Christmas there were so many things this Advent and Christmas season I didn’t get done that I had hoped to get done.

2014 seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.  Looking back on the life of prayer and worship that sustained my ongoing spiritual journey throughout the year, much was accomplished and experienced throughout that trip around the sun we called 2014.

Throughout this year, I was amazed at how my path crossed paths with so many people searching.  For some it was a church to hold a religious memorial service for their loved one and a minister to help lead the service since “we are not church going people.”  For others it was like minded people to worship with and celebrate Mass for.  And for others it was sharing and discussing angst at not finding a church home even though deep down they know that God is calling them to grow in their relationship with Christ and to find a church family where they felt welcomed and loved and motivated to become a part of.

I found myself, more often than not, questioning and discerning whether or not remaining a part of the Independent Sacramental Movement was right for me.  Truth be told, I sometimes wonder if it is a bit egocentric and not as focused on the community of faith who make up the body of Christ as it should be.

I couldn’t help but feel these past few days that I was like the three wise men, the three kings who were guided by that star so long ago to find and discover and know this infant born to be the Savior of the World.  I couldn’t help but feel that the family whose path crossed mine early last year seeking a religious memorial service for their loved one, they too caught a glimpse of that star and longed for, searched for a faith filled way to honor and remember their deceased loved one.  Those individuals who crossed my path over Christmas and shared with me their desire to find a church family and home and grow in their love and knowledge and witness of Christ, they too were like those wise men in the desert enamored by the light of that star.

Next time you are outside on a clear dark night, look up, catch a star with your gaze and remember, that whisper, that little nudge, that desire, that inclination to grow in your life of prayer and awareness of God is not just your ego selfishly seeking it, but a wondrous God of love, compassion, and grace wanting nothing more than to be united closer to you.

The collect, from today’s Mass in the Roman Missal sums this up well by praying:

O God, who through your Son raised up
your eternal light for all nations, grant
that your people may come to acknowledge
the full splendor of their Redeemer,
that, bathed ever more in his radiance,
they may reach everlasting glory.

Through Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
AMEN

Originally published January 8, 2015