I’m so jealous of the Magi in the Gospel. I do not understand how they can see a star, follow it, get to their destination, remember gifts, and not lose the gifts along the way. Me on the other hand, I have a terrible sense of direction and need to use GPS for every trip. Every morning, I cannot find several items: keys, wallet, watch, phone. Even when I find these items, I will most definitely lose one or two of them during the day. Finally, I have a terrible habit of losing my coffee mugs. I will take three sips, put it down, walk away, and completely forget where I put it. I go through 10 coffee mugs a week and leave a trail of mugs in my wake.
I get lost and I lose things. If I look at my most common prayers, one of the top five every time, “Lord, where am I going?” I am jealous of the Magi because even if I were given a star in the sky, I am not sure I could follow it.
However, I know this grand story of salvation starts not with what I am doing but with what God is doing. When I am lost, I recall the promises made by the Lord through the Prophet Jeremiah (29:10-11), “I (LORD) will fulfill my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” In the following verses, the Lord makes three promises. First, if we call upon the Lord, God will hear us. Second, when we seek the Lord, God will find us. Finally, the Lord will gather us back from all our places, back to Godself.
As I continue in this new year, and pray once more: “Lord, where am I going?” My starting point is not with me but with God. The Lord is at work and fulfilling the promises to those who are lost and loved, sacred and scarred, beautiful and broken. That’s me. That’s you.
May God be Praised!
Fr. Joe Newman, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
