Parish Bulletin | Year of Saint Joseph | Dec 26-27 2020: Holy Family | 75th Anniversary Year
Physicist: 'Star of Bethlehem' may have been planetary alignment (Part Two)
The celestial event that led the Magi to Jesus was an extremely rare and symbol-packed happening.
It also intrigues Mathews that it was Zoroastrian priests who would have been the protagonists in the story.
“Today we would call them astrologers, but they had a somewhat different belief system than that of modern astrology,” he said in the interview. “This was a very ancient religion that had their own belief in a ‘trinity’ and a coming messiah. Zoroaster literally means ‘Shining light.’ They had a belief that the stars, planets, Sun and Moon were tokens of the divine. Frankincense to them was a symbol of ‘eternal light’ used in their ceremonies.”
No wonder, then, that that was one of the three gifts they brought Jesus.
“The most surprising thing to me about this story is that God would have timed His arrival to coincide with the belief system of a group of non-Hebrew astrologers,” Mathews said. “Indeed, astrology was forbidden in the Jewish belief system. This explains why no one in Herod’s court was aware of ‘His star in the East’ of which the Magi spoke. What was God intending to say?”
Mathews believes that the answer might be two-fold. “One is that this is symbolic of the gift of redemption to all peoples brought by the Christ child,” he said.
“The second is something of a personal message to humankind. As one who studies the heavens myself,
I can somewhat empathize with the Magi in that even in modern science, as was the case of those ancient astronomers, we explore the heavens in search of evidence of creation and the creator. And then, as today, God is a rewarder of those that seek him with all of their heart. I believe that the Magi sought with all of their resources and being for evidence of the creator of all things in the heavens. And that God chose to reward that.”
John Burger,Aleteia, - published on 12/15/20
4 Ways to imitate St. Joseph on a daily basis
While prayers and devotions are important to honor St. Joseph, what is more important is to imitate the life and example of the foster-father of Jesus.
In the 19th-century book Devotion to Saint Joseph, the author explains this concept plainly.
The most excellent devotion towards our holy patrons consists in imitating their virtues. Endeavor each day to practice some of those virtues which shone in St Joseph; for example, conformity to the holy will of God.
The book also details a helpful practice that can remind you to imitate St. Joseph.
Father Louis Lalemant, having chosen St Joseph for model of the interior life, practiced each day in his honor the following exercises: two in the morning and two in the evening.
1 Listen to the Holy Spirit
The first was to raise his mind toward the heart of St. Joseph and consider how docile he had been to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Then examining his own heart, he humbled himself for his times of resistance, and animated himself to follow more faithfully the inspirations of grace.
2 Unity of Prayer and Work
The second was to consider with what perfection St. Joseph united the interior life to the occupations of his state in life. Then reflecting on his own life, he examined if there were some defects to correct. Father Lalemant attained by this holy practice to a great union with God and he knew how to preserve it in the midst of occupations which seemed the most distracting.
3 Devotion to the Virgin Mary
The third was to unite himself spiritually to St. Joseph as spouse of the Mother of God; and considering the admirable lights which the saint had on the virginity and maternity of Mary, he encouraged himself to love this holy patriarch for the love of his holy spouse.
4 Adore the Christ Child
The fourth was to represent to himself the profound adoration and the paternal services which St. Joseph had rendered to the Child Jesus: he asked to be permitted to join with him in adoring, loving, and serving this Divine Infant with the tenderest affection and the profoundest veneration.
Philip Kosloski, Aleteia, - published on 12/14/20
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