St. Paul seems surprised, as no doubt were most of the Jews, to find that being the Chosen People did not make them the exclusive members of the divine family. The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body,
and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. The story of the magi from the East in St. Matthew’s gospel demonstrates that this divine reality was part of the story of Jesus from the very beginning. In our time we can all to easily succumb to the same temptation to think that our path to God is the right one or the only one. Will it be only Catholics who go to heaven? only Christians? only Church goers? The magi found their way to Jesus “by another way,” through science, not by reading the Bible. Today’s feast serves to remind us that God is bigger than our idea about God and that way to God is as diverse as there are people on the earth.
