As Pope Francis continues to undergo complex medical treatment for bilateral pneumonia and a respiratory infection at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican on Wednesday released the Holy Father’s prepared jubilee catechesis on “Jesus Christ our hope.”
Reflecting on the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus, recorded exclusively in the Gospel of St. Matthew, the 88-year-old pope encouraged Christians to follow in the footsteps of these wise “pilgrims of hope” who set out on a journey from their homelands in search of God.
“The Magi were considered to be representatives both of the primordial races, generated by the three sons of Noah, and of the three continents known in antiquity, Asia, Africa, and Europe, as well as the three phases of human life: youth, maturity, and old age,” the pope explained in his Feb. 19 catechesis.
“They are men who do not stay still but, like the great chosen ones of biblical history, feel the need to move, to go forth. They are men who are able to look beyond themselves, who know how to look upward,” he said.
Despite difficulties experienced in the journey of faith, the Holy Father said God speaks to people through “creation and the prophetic word.”
“The sight of the star inspires an irrepressible joy in those men, because the Holy Spirit, who stirs the heart of whoever sincerely seeks God, also fills it with joy,” he shared.
Through ancient Scripture, the Magi were able to identify the birthplace of the “newborn King of the Jews” and “become the first believers among the pagans” in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world.
“They see ‘a humble little body that the Word has assumed; but the glory of divinity is not hidden from them. They see an infant child; but they worship God,’” the pope said, referencing ancient author Chromatius of Aquileia.
In his prepared text, the pope added: “The Gospels therefore tell us clearly that the poor and the foreigners are among the first to meet the God made child.”
The Holy Father concluded his written reflection on the Magi by asking people to offer the child Jesus “the most beautiful gifts” of our faith and love.
“Let us learn to adore God in his smallness, in his kingship that does not crush but rather sets us free and enables us to serve with dignity,” he said.
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
