Day 19—Thursday, December 18

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
Matthew 2: 1-2

A SIGN IN THE HEAVENS

I have a hill. It’s not mine, exactly, but it’s the hill that I go to late some nights with my telescope when I’m feeling contemplative. It’s a good-sized hill and if you scramble up the fairly steep, but short slope, you find yourself in a patch of pitch-black land overlooking the lights of the cities below. There’s a breathlessness and wonder at feeling like I’m suddenly transported out of Southern California, hovering above some of the most bustling counties in the nation, towering over the tiny glittering lights of lives below. The miracle of this hill is also its immunity to smog and light pollution; I can see stars.

On nights of astronomical importance my hill becomes quite crowded with others willing to make the climb for eclipses and meteor showers. There is a palpable energy and wonder when the heavens are about to do something different. The crowd on my hill is electric with anticipation.

How much greater the excitement and wonder of these Magi, who are not amateur astronomers like myself, who are not merely anticipating a predicted astronomical event, but rather have spotted an anomaly, an impossibility, atop their own hill? In this panel of Giovanni de Modena’s fresco, the Magi are clambering over themselves to get a better view. They’ve half fallen to their knees in wonder. The scene is harried, frantic, full of energy and movement. The horses are rearing; the attendants are beside themselves trying to keep the party together.

This is not the regal, solemn procession of wise men that we are used to; this is not a monotonous plodding journey across foreign lands. Modena’s fresco, like others during the fifteenth century, emphasizes the narrative and the chronological sequence of the Magi’s journey, even above the adoration of the child in Bethlehem. He paints six separate scenes of the Magi’s journey, as their caravan traverses various terrain, while addressing the adoration and presentation of gifts in Bethlehem in a single panel.

In this we find the reality of advent! The majority of our time in this season is spent in the procession—the joyful anticipation, the clambering and scrambling over hills and daily tasks of life—all the while pointing at the star, the sign in the heavens of the promise about to be fulfilled. Like Modena’s Magi, we cry, “It’s still there, up ahead! We have to get closer, ever closer! Perhaps over this hill, perhaps after this week, it will be upon us!”

Are we electric with anticipation? Are we pursuing the signs in the heavens?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus
may your light shine our way,
as once it guided the steps of the magi:
that we too may be led into your presence
and worship you,
the Child of Mary,
the Word of the Father,
the King of nations,
the Saviour of mankind;
to whom be glory for ever.
Amen.

Megan Clarke, Center for Christianity, Culture & the Arts