Written by Just over 12 months ago, on Christmas Day 2021, the James Webb telescope was launched into space on a rocket from French Guiana. It eventually reached its destination in space nearly 1m miles beyond the earth. It’s the largest optical telescope in space and allows astronomers to view objects too old, distant or faint for other telescopes to detect. About six months after launch, its first and stunning photographs of the far reaches of outer space were produced. The objects that it is now detecting are so far away that astronomers are seeing them as they appeared billions of years ago, not long after the very first galaxies formed.
As light travels at about 670 million miles per hour, it takes eight minutes for light from the sun to reach the Earth. Because it is so far away, it means that when we look up at the sun we are technically seeing it as it looked eight minutes ago. The next nearest star (Proxima Centauri) is four light years away, meaning that we are seeing this star now as it looked five years ago (in 2018). For reference, one light year equals about 5.8 trillion miles. A dying star in the Orion constellation called Betelgeuse will one day explode in a spectacular supernova. But, perhaps, it already has – the star is 642 light years away, which means we are seeing it as it appeared in the year 1380, during the reign of Richard II. (source: BBC)
In our Gospel today St Matthew describes the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus as the fulfilment of the Prophesy of Isaiah in the first reading (and which we read at Christmas Mass every year). Originally, this prophecy was for fellow Israelites after they had been invaded by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC. He promised that the ‘great light’ of God’s intervention would come amongst them and brighten their darkness.
The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light. On those who dwell in the land of shadow and death a light has dawned.
St Matthew describes the emergence of Jesus and the beginning of his new community or kingdom as the dawning of a new era. In this community, Christ’s light would shine and bring light and hope to people living in comparative darkness. People would enjoy God’s eternal love. The poor, the sick, the disadvantaged and the victims of injustice would have a special place in people’s hearts; darkness in all its forms would be confronted; sins would be forgiven; sinners would be gathered into God’s love; and through the cross and resurrection of Jesus the grip of death would be broken.
His first disciples were called by Jesus to work with him in establishing this kingdom. Our Church has the same Christ-given mission. The Church is not the Kingdom – it is Christ’s agent or body to bring it about. It exits not for itself but to build up and extend in every society the values of this kingdom for the benefit of others.
To be in his kingdom Jesus asks people to ‘repent’ – to turn away from selfishness to the service of others; to turn from love of self to love of God in others; to recognise one’s need for God; to depend less on ‘self’ and more on God; to become self-less rather that selfish; to realise that what we and the ‘world’ might consider important may count for little or nothing with God; and that what we and others might not rate at all may be seen differently by God
The values of this Kingdom are the opposite of worldly ones – here to rule is to serve and to serve is to rule; clinging to life leads to spiritual death, and death [to self] leads to life. In this Kingdom, we each are brothers and sisters of each other; and in its fulfilment the least of society will have pride of place at the heavenly banquet that awaits us when we die.
The kingdom began with Jesus but it has not yet fully come – it is in a state of developing or ‘becoming’. This is why Jesus asked us to pray ‘Thy kingdom come’ when he taught his disciples how to pray. The challenge for us is not just to say this prayer but to do what we can in our own life to be a ‘star’ that brings that brings light into the darkness of others, as Jesus did.
And on a personal level where there may experience shadow or darkness, we can make the opening verse of the Psalm (26) our own:
The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear?
The Lord s the stronghold of my lfe; before whom shall I shrink?
Michael Campion
Holy Name, Jesmond
21 January 2023
Sunday Mass: Saturday 4pm, Sunday 10am 