Is 60:1-6; Eph 3:2-3a,
5-6; Mt:2-1-12
At one point of the war every man was drafted and because there was no labour to work the fields, and then starvation set in. Many who subsisted on bitter wild oranges succumbed to cholera, malaria and dysentery. As able-bodied men died, the President, recruited a new army of wounded and child soldiers. He armed them with sticks painted to look like guns, disguising the youngsters with fake beards. The army’s original red uniforms had dwindled to rags; rain seeped through ponchos made of shredded carpets. Eventually they fought naked.
Throughout the war, the president of the country imagined a vast conspiracy against him, and jailed and tortured thousands of his most loyal backers, including his own mother and sister. His brother was among the 700-800 people he had executed—often by lance to save ammunition.
According to a rough-and-ready post-war census, just 29,000 males over the age of 15 were in the country. One observer called the survivors “living skeletons…shockingly mutilated with bullet and sabre wounds”. Jaguars roamed freely and feasted on human flesh. Women wandered the streets naked.
Probably most of us have never heard about this war which started in 1865 and ended in 1870, and involved four countries: Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. It left Paraguay totally destroyed and its president Franciso Solano Lopez dead.
Today's feast of Epiphany and today's gospel place in front of us the image of the different worlds. The worlds which propose different ways of living. The world of Herod, which it seems was chosen by the president of Paraguay in 1800s, and the world of Christ to which we are led by the Star.
The
world of Herod is marked by separation and alienation. It is marked by
rejection and prejudice and stubborn unwillingness to be gathered together. It
makes war, not peace. It builds walls instead of bridges. Instead of reaching
out, it encourages us to keep our distance. In the Herod's world we do not
converse; we accuse, we deride, we gossip, we curse, we kill.
The
world of Christ gathers without exception and prejudice. It is marked by love,
compassion, and forgiveness. It gives a chance to everyone. It encourages and
brings people closer to one another. Yes, in the world of Christ there is
suffering and death, but also there is also a promise of the resurrection and
the new life.
The
Magi, although by many could be considered outsiders and unbelievers, chose to
search and to be a part of the world of Christ. Yes they encountered Herod in
their lives, but they still chose to follow the Star which led them to Christ.
What
about us?
Our parish will celebrate this upcoming
September 75th anniversary as the community of St. Mary's. We will celebrate
this feast on the weekend of September the 8th. The side note, I am looking for
the individuals, to lead and to help with this celebrations, so please contact
me by email or phone.
What are we going to truly celebrate on
the 75th anniversary of our community on September 8th? Are we as St. Mary's
community the Star leading others to Christ?
Like the magi led by the Star gathered
unto God and to salvation, all of humankind is to be gathered in. In the
interim between Jesus’ advents between his birth and the second coming, the
community who believes in him must continue the process of gathering in all
others, without exception and without prejudice.
Many of us would quickly say yes we do
it, we just open the doors in the last two weeks to the homeless men of our
area, I hope you met them, we help our brothers and sisters in Haiti, we
collect peanut butter and food to help others, we do so many other things.
But can we do even more as community and
as individuals to welcome strangers, immigrants, poor, those who feel abandoned
and not belonging, those who left the catholic church, and other such exiles?
Can
we as the community of St. Mary's be even the brighter Star on the Blacksburg'
sky so more can find their way to Christ and His world?
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