Collateral effects of having followed a star
Three groups of people are given an appointment at Herod?s courts, and their characteristics are very similar to ours.
Herod: the preventive fear
King Herod is perturbed when he sees the wise men. He represented the political and economical power founded on oppression that promotes the rise of protest movements. Therefore, it is normal that Herod is panic-stricken listening to people speaking of a new king and he reacts in an exaggerated manner.
The massacre of the Innocents is a present day drama and it is the tragic epilogue for the one who, being afraid, declares a preventive war. It is an event of which we are the spectators at a worldwide level, but it is also something that everyone of us lives at a personal level. We all experience fear, when our role is called into question, and we are all ready to order ?massacres? and to build walls in order to ensure our survival.
The chief priests and the scribes: the seeing-deaf
Consulted by Herod, the chief priests and the scribes answer correctly to the questions made by the tyrant. They give all the information to show how God will enter into history to save humanity. But the Gospel does not say that the chief priests and the scribes joined the Wise Men to go and worship the Child. Knowing where to go to look for the truth, recognize it? this is just the first step to put it into practice. Who doesn?t know the Declaration of the Human Rights? How many countries have signed solemn pronouncements in favour of peace, of public debt reduction? We too, in some ways, subscribed to those agreements, but it is only in our everyday lives that all of us can transform the truth into reality.
The Wise Men: those who search for the truth that unites
It seems that the Wise Men came from different countries and had reached the same destination, after having covered a long way. They became friends because they were searching for the truth. In a period of ethnic, religious and cultural fundamentalism, this convoy of Wise Men became the icon of those who are not only able to dialogue among themselves, but also with those they meet all along their journey to reach the truth. How important it is to be open to the meeting and to confrontation when the brightness of the star fades away!