We are just concluding the festival season and the winter is setting down. We have learnt to follow the star with the wise men, and to adore the Master with the simplicity of the shepherds. If the lowly shepherds were the first recipients of the “Good News” of the birth of the Shepherd of the world, it is a sure indication of God’s option for the marginalized and the people at the periphery. The shepherds wasted no time to rush to the scene of nativity witnessed the historical event and thereupon became missionaries. It calls us and reminds us that the synodal Church’s priority is to bring those in the periphery to the mainstream

The Magi, who spotted the extraordinary star, dared to follow without the help of Global Posting System. They were guided by the Scripture and the Creation, unmindful of the fourth king, who stayed in his palace, fuming and plotting to annihilate his probable ‘rival’. As Holy Father Pope Francis says, “Like the Magi, every person has two great ‘books’ which provide the signs to guide this pilgrimage: the book of creation and the book of Sacred Scripture. What is important is that we are attentive, alert, and listen to God who always speaks to us.” It is very true, as Elizabeth Barrett Browning puts it, “Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries”. It is, therefore, of paramount importance to keep following the star, creation, and the Scripture in order to find the Saviour. At this juncture we recall that for the last two years our special attention was on prayer and study of the documents of Vatican II; and now we are at the Jubilee Year 2025, focusing on hope. Celebrating this historic blending events, we are, freed from despair, determined to be people of hope