Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ, the director of the Vatican Observatory discussed
the star of Bethlehem and the journey of the Magi in a front-page reflection
published by L’Osservatore Romano on January 6, the feast of the
Epiphany. “The feast of Epiphany is special to us astronomers,” he said. “Of
all the visitors who came to see the newborn Savior, only shepherds and
astronomers are specifically mentioned by St. Matthew. Of course, this fame
comes with a cost. Epiphany is also the season when we astronomers are besieged
with requests to ‘explain’ the Star of Bethlehem.”
After discussing Johannes Kepler’s identification of the star with a
conjunction of planets, Brother Consolmagno said that “my experience as a
scientist makes me approach the Magi story with a completely different set of
unanswerable questions … The story of the Magi inspires us to look at our own
journey. What are we looking for? Why do we look? How do we know it when we
find it? And are we brave enough to return home with it, once we have found
it?”
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