As we take down the Christmas decorations and pack them away for another year, we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany on January 6, and recall the story of the Magi visiting the infant Jesus.
They found the Christ child guided by the star after a long journey.
But how and where are we to find Jesus today?
Jesus, during his ministry, was to be found feeding the hungry, healing the sick and often mixing with those excluded and marginalised in the society of his time.
And today he is to be found in those struggling to heat their homes and feed their families, in the homeless and the refugees seeking shelter, in drug addicts, in the lonely, among the soldiers fighting in Ukraine and their frightened families, and with the hungry and thirsty in drought-stricken East Africa.
When the Magi arrived in Bethlehem, they offered their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
In the same way today, we are called to offer our gifts and serve Jesus in the people that we meet. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells us that when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit those in prison, we do it for him.
As we begin a new year, inspired once more by the Christmas story of love, joy and peace, perhaps we can find opportunities in our daily lives to use whatever gifts and talents we have to help the people that we meet.
Sue Cooper is a member of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
