Plenary, 10 Jan 2007
Meeting date: Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. The first item of business, as is usual on Wednesdays, is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Sister Andrea Fraile, from the Sisters of the Gospel of Life, in Glasgow.
Sister Andrea Fraile (Sisters of the Gospel of Life):
On Monday we celebrated the baptism of the Lord. With that, Christmastide is now officially over: the trees are dismantled and the decorations unceremoniously pulled down. It is business as usual and yet, as with every great event that passes, various images and impressions from that time remain with us for a little longer. As happens when a pebble is cast into a loch, the ripples silently move the water.
Among the last figures to emerge at Christmas are the three wise men—the kings about whom we know very little, but who travelled from a far place to take their turn to kneel in adoration before the tiny feet of Christ. What can we say about them? They were the leading intellects of their day. Their science and learning were driven by a profound desire to find the truth and meaning that lie at the foundation of everything. Their searching led them to God made man, not in the splendour and dignity of a palatial throne, but in a poor and wretched manger.
You would have thought that sophisticated men of such rank, upbringing and civilised background, who had such a refined sense of what is fitting, would have balked at what they found. We do not know what they expected, but they could not have expected that, yet Matthew's gospel tells us:
"the sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage."
Those men were great because they were open to having their expectations turned on their heads and they were open to the fact that their thoughts would have to play second fiddle to the thoughts of God. Those men were kings, rulers and lawmakers who humbly acknowledged that they would not have any power were it not for that child in the manger. We cannot help but admire their courage. They ventured into a strange land, into the domain of a hostile ruler, unafraid of where the truth would lead them and unafraid of looking mad and misguided among their contemporaries.
The start of every year sees us making resolutions and plans for the weeks and months ahead—that is only right, but let us never forget that we are living in God's world. He may well lead us down roads that we neither want nor expect. At such times, let us remember those kings of old and be open and generous in the face of God's will. True greatness and integrity will always mean humbling ourselves before one who is greater, and if that makes us look mad and misguided among our contemporaries, then let us have the courage to do it anyway.