Go and search diligently for the child

One of the amazing things in the Gospels is when important statements of great spiritual worth are spoken by bad people with bad motives.

In the Gospel for the Solemnity of the Epiphany (Matthew 2:1-12) celebrated in some places today, the infamous King Herod the Great is secretly putting a place a sinister plan for infanticide. As part of that plan, he tries to recruit the Magi to be his unwitting spies and this is why he tells them:

Go and search diligently for the child

Fair-sounding words with darkly evil motives and yet with tremendous value for us.

With the celebration of the Epiphany, our celebration of Christmas reaches a high note and will very soon come to an end. The flood of Christmas cards and Christmas Carols has run its course, the nativity scenes will be put away and we may not think about the scene at Bethlehem until next Christmas.

And yet, as we begin this new year of our Lord 2006, we can go forward with no better guide for our lives than those unwittingly prophetic words of Herod:

Go and search diligently for the child

Every day, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, however things may be, look for Jesus, the child born in Bethlehem: look and pray for new insights and new understanding about our Savior, look and pray for a closer and deeper experience of his presence and his love, approach the Lord in prayer and in his word and in the Sacraments, look for and follow-up on opportunities to serve the Lord – especially in those who are the most needy and vulnerable.

Let this be the year we come closer to Jesus – our Savior, our Lord, our eternal love – in ways more special than ever before.

Go and search diligently for the child