Pope quotes Van Gogh in Epiphany sermon

The Starry Night - Vincent van Gogh - Wiki image

Source: Vatican News

In his homily during Mass in St Peter's Basilica, for the Solemnity of the Epiphany today, Pope Francis called on us to lift our eyes up to heaven, like the Magi, to listen to the desire lodged in our hearts, and follow the star that God makes shine above us.

He said: They were wise men, famous and wealthy, yet they let themselves be unsettled by desiring to find the Christ Child and the sign of the star guiding them. They were filled with expectation - "seekers after God."

This "spirit of healthy restlessness" was "born of desire," the Pope noted, saying their secret was this capacity to "fuel the fire that burns within us," looking beyond the immediate and visible.

"It means embracing life as a mystery that surpasses us, as an ever-present cranny in the wall that beckons us to look into the distance, since life is not just our here and now, but something much greater."

Pope Francis then spoke about the artist Vincent Van Gogh, who described his need for God as so strong as to drive him outside at night to paint the stars. That is how God made us, he added, "brimming with desire, directed, like the Magi, towards the stars."

He noted as well how "we are what we desire," and this desire for God enlarges our gaze, strengthens our faith and moves us to serve Him, our brothers and sisters, and the common good.

"Brothers and sisters, as it was for the Magi, so it is for us. The journey of life and faith demands a deep desire and inner zeal."

The Church needs this deep desire and zeal that should animate our journey of life and faith, the Pope noted. It is good that we question how our journey of faith is going, and whether our religious practice still "warms our hearts and changes our lives."

We need to be "startled by Jesus and by the explosive and unsettling joy of the Gospel," he added, noting how the crisis of faith in our lives and society is also due to the "eclipse of desire for God."

"Faith, if it is to grow, has to begin ever anew. It needs to be sparked by desire, to take up the challenge of entering into a living and lively relationship with God."

Read the full homily text here: www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2022/documents/20220106_omelia-epifania.html

Watch the Epiphany Mass on Vatican Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNXhJhMqJyk