January 4, 2026 ~ The Epiphany of the Lord ~ Year A
Spiritual Reflection
January 4, 2026 ~ The Epiphany of the Lord ~ Year A (PDF)
They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Mt 2:10-11
The Magi set out because of a deep desire which prompted them to leave everything and begin a journey. It was as though they had always been waiting for that star. Pope Benedict XVI
St. John of the Cross asserts that the soul has observed that life is short, “. . . the things of the world vain and deceitful [Eccl 1:2], that all comes to an end and fails like falling water [2 Sam. 14:14].”1 You have to discover how false this seductive flickering light is – this longing to possess after which you incessantly chase. Only then will you desire to follow the real light that knocks on the door of your heart and compels you to become poor in spirit. This light frees you from illusions that coerce your heart to rule amid dust and trash. It compels you to accept the unique lordship of God by following the light of His will. In this way, when you follow this light, you will discover the true pearl – God’s Kingdom – for which it is worthwhile to give up everything.
Because our thoughts should be directed toward God, all matters, even those that are good in and of themselves, that become the subject of concern and occupy our thoughts are obstacles that hinder our union with God. We cannot love without spiritual poverty. In this sense, St. John of the Cross emphasizes that “for to love is to labor to divest and deprive oneself for God of all that is not God.” In this sense, spiritual poverty means to be stripped of false treasures that enslave our hearts and prevent us from following the call of God’s love. Poverty is the only path that allows us to obtain the only true treasure for which it is worthwhile to live.
God’s “knocking” on the door of the human heart can be very dramatic. A person who is preoccupied with himself and his own illusory treasures, that which contaminates the soul, prevents himself from hearing the sound of the Lord’s knocking. Such an individual responds to God by saying: “Not now. I’m busy… maybe later. Right now I do not have time.” With striking clarity this situation demonstrates, on the one hand, God’s infinite humility as He patiently knocks on the door. On the other hand, this situation also depicts a person who arrogantly plays with the One who, despite the fact that He lowers Himself by becoming a beggar and knocking, does not cease being the Almighty God and Lord of all the trash that this arrogant person accumulates, organizes and adores within himself.
God’s knocking is His call to you to turn your head and fix the gaze of your soul in His direction. He wants to give you His heart and, in this way, fill the emptiness of your human heart which is greedy for garbage. He wants to fill the emptiness that gives birth to sin, torment, and fear. Paraphrasing St. Augustine, one may say that restlessness torments the heart of a man until his heart turns toward the Lord and rests in Him.
Original sin wounded our nature to such a degree that the attachments to which we constantly succumb imprison us. In truth, this prison is made up of our illusions; we are locked up in this prison because we are enslaved by our illusions. Ordinary knocking is often not enough. In order to enter this interior castle of our egoism, God has to forcefully attack it. He has to crush the barricades that surround the heart and reconstruct our interior selves such that our interior selves will be pleasing to Him, not to us. However, by resisting God’s knocking and refusing to open the gates of our castle to Him, we make it impossible for God to love us as He desires. Thus, we choose our own meager and seeming happiness in which there is no place for the love that He desires to bestow upon us – the burning, passionate love that consumes His heart.
Slawomir Biela, Open Wide the Door to Christ, pp.2-6
Reference from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
27 The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.
30 "Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice."5 Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness. But this search for God demands of man every effort of intellect, a sound will, "an upright heart," as well as the witness of others who teach him to seek God.
2566 Man is in search of God. In the act of creation, God calls every being from nothingness into existence. "Crowned with glory and honor," man is, after the angels, capable of acknowledging "how majestic is the name of the Lord in all the earth." 1 Even after losing through his sin his likeness to God, man remains an image of his Creator, and retains the desire for the one who calls him into existence. All religions bear witness to men's essential search for God. 2
Questions for Reflection
1. Has my soul been searching for the “star” as the Magi did, or have I been content with earthly treasures or just an occasional, distracted glance?
2. How have I recognized God’s knocking in these past days of Advent?
3. How can Mary lead me to find Jesus and come to adore Him?
Prayer after Sharing
Thank you, God, for allowing me to see the truth about my weaknesses and how it calls upon the abyss of your merciful Love.
