Walking by the Starlight of Faith: From Consolation to Union (S11, EP03)

The "Holiday High" is Fading. Now What?

The decorations are coming down, the carols are ending, and the emotional "high" of Christmas is beginning to wane. But what happens when the angels stop singing and you’re left in the quiet of a cold January? In this episode, we explore how to transition from the temporary feelings of the holidays into a "naked faith"—the kind of faith that sustains you when God feels distant and the path ahead is lit only by the faint glow of starlight.

Summary

As the festive glow of Christmas begins to fade, how do we transition from fleeting holiday emotions to a steady, persistent faith? Today, we dive into the profound contrast between the shepherds and the Magi. While an explosion of angelic glory greeted the shepherds, the Magi had to endure a long, quiet journey guided by a single star. We discuss why most of our spiritual lives look more like the Magi’s trek than the shepherds’ visitation. You’ll discover how to recognize God’s presence in the ordinary, the beauty of the Eucharist, and why the mystery of the Incarnation is the ultimate proof of God’s infinite love for you—even when you don't "feel" it.

Key Takeaways

• The Shepherd vs. The Magi Experience: Understand why God sometimes gives us "angelic" consolations and why, at other times, He asks us to walk by the "starlight" of pure faith.
• Finding God in the Ordinary: How to recognize Emmanuel (God with us) in your daily life and the Eucharist, even when you aren't experiencing big spiritual visions.
• The Power of the Incarnation: Why God becoming man is the ultimate answer to your deepest questions and the necessary starting point for all spiritual growth.
• Walking the "Starlight" Path of Faith: Practical encouragement for staying faithful to your prayer life when the pomp and circumstance of the season disappear.

TRANSCRIPT

Moving from Holiday Feelings to Naked Faith

Hey everyone, welcome back and Merry Christmas. I want to talk today about how we shift from these holiday feelings to a naked faith going into the new year. I'm going to use the Gospels to prove my point. When the angels showed up to the shepherds, they exploded onto the scene, saying, "Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of goodwill." The shepherds went to see the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger, and they relayed this story to Mary and Joseph. Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart, but now the shepherds leave and the Magi are coming next.

The Journey of the Magi and the Star of Faith

The Magi are interesting because they weren't like the shepherds where the angels came and told them what to do. The shepherds showed up and reached Christ quickly, but in the Magi's case, they had to journey a long way. They had to go to Herod first to try to find the new king, following the star until it eventually descended over where Jesus was in Bethlehem. That is where we are now. The star represents walking in faith, while the angels represent good feelings. When we're making this journey to Christ, often we're just following it by starlight.

Finding God in the Ordinary and the Eucharist

There are usually no angels showing up, no big visions, and no explosions of God that grasp your attention. In fact, most of the time, you're probably not paying much attention to God and you're probably not realizing that He's present to you because you're perhaps not spending as much time praying or mortifying as you should. This is for everybody, myself included; we all struggle and have our ups and downs. I'm merely pointing out the reality of this. We have to acknowledge that while the Christmas decorations are still up, they serve as a reminder that God is with us—Emmanuel. God showed up as a baby, the shepherds found Him, and they recognized Him as the chosen King.

We're guided by this starlight of God. When we meditate on the fact that, spiritually, God is always present to us by maintaining our existence and by virtue of baptism, we grow in union with Him. Often we are simply looking for God's presence on our terms. In one sense this is good, such as seeing God's presence in the Eucharist—the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ under the species of bread and wine. But other times we seek it on our own terms rather than accepting how God became incarnate out of love for us. We seek the child like the shepherds and the Magi, but instead of the initiative coming from God, we can self-will our own initiative and say God has to speak to us in a specific way, even though no one expected the Messiah to show up as a baby.

The Infinite Love of the Incarnation

Later, when Jesus was older and on His mission, people argued whether He was really the Messiah, believing a king should be born in a palace rather than a cave. The big takeaway of the feast of the Incarnation is that God loved us so much that He made Himself in our image. Seeing that infinite love and goodness, where He lowered Himself to our poverty compared to His infinite transcendent godhood, shows how much He loves us. This is the answer to the questions the philosophers have asked: God loves you and He became man so that we might become God, as St. Athanasius says.

As you go back into the starlight walk and the pomp and circumstance of the preparation for Christmas fades, I want you to remember that we're like the Magi walking by the star of faith in the darkness. God put that star there to guide us. It's not always what we would expect, and we may wonder where it's leading, but we must be like the Magi who followed the star until the epiphany—the manifestation of God to the Gentiles.

Conclusion: Meditating on the Redeemer

If you don't see that God infinitely loves you by virtue of the Incarnation, I encourage you to meditate on that because the Incarnation is the beginning of growth in the spiritual life. The Redeemer has arrived to save us from death. If that doesn't drive you to love God and grow in union with Him, I don't know what would, because the Incarnation is the path of the mystery of the person of Christ and the start of His human nature. That's about it for today, and I will talk to you next time.