Daily Gospel Reflection

The Power of Clarity

Welcome back. I'm Matthew Kelly. We're exploring how radical and relevant Jesus' Gospel is today, the genius of it, and how to apply it to our lives. Today's Gospel reading comes from the second chapter of Matthew, verses 1 through 12. Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod, the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him." When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet, and you owe Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel." Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too may come and worship him."

When they had heard the king, they went their way. And low, the star, which they had seen in the east, went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We're looking for a word or phrase or idea. There's so many today: Herod was troubled, Herod lies to the wise men, the wise men, the star.

And the phrase, "When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." Wow. What gives you that kind of energy, excitement, enthusiasm, happiness, joy? What comes from that? Well, I think there's a clue here. What gave the wise men that excitement, that enthusiasm, that joy, that happiness, that it was clarity. It was clarity.

They saw the star. They followed the star. The star gave them direction. The star was leading them to the Christ. And the thing about clarity is when we know who we are and what we're called to and how to do it, life is different. It's radically different. That's the power of vocation, right? That's the joy, the rejoicing of knowing who we are and what we're here for and what we're being called to do and how to go about it.

And so today I encourage you in your prayer to ask God to give you more clarity. Give you more clarity because when we have clarity, like the wise men, they rejoice exceedingly with great joy. When we have clarity, we have that kind of joy. The virtue of the day is wisdom. It was the wise men seeking Jesus. I remember many years ago I was driving past the church, and they had these signs up. They used to change a sign every week. And the sign right before Christmas said, "Wise men still seek Jesus today." The wise men were seeking Jesus. The question is, are we seeking Jesus? And that is an epic sign of wisdom. Let's take that wisdom into our lives and renew our efforts and energy to seek Jesus. Have a great day and remember, don't just be yourself, be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.