The complete homily of Pope Francis, delivered at the Mass he presided over in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord 2025.
“We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him” (Mt 2:2): this is what the Magi testify to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, announcing to them that the King of the Jews has been born. The Magi testify that they set out on their journey, which changed their lives, because they saw a new light in the sky.
I would like us to reflect on this image as we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord in the Jubilee of Hope. I would like to underline three characteristics of the star of which the Evangelist St. Luke speaks to us: the star is luminous, the star is visible to all and indicates a path.
First of all, the star is bright. Many rulers in Jesus’ time called themselves “stars” because they felt important, powerful and famous. But it was not the light of any of them that revealed the miracle of Christmas to the Magi.
The artificial and cold splendor that they had, the result of calculations and power games, was not able to respond to the need for novelty and hope of these people in search. Instead, another kind of light did, symbolized by the star, which illuminates and gives heat by burning and allowing itself to be consumed.
The star tells us of the only light that can show us all the way to salvation and happiness: that is the light of love. That is the only light that will make us happy. Above all, the love of God, who, by becoming man, gave himself to us by sacrificing his own life.
Then, as a reflection, the love with which we too are called to give ourselves to one another, becoming with His help a reciprocal sign of hope, even in the dark nights of life. We can think about this: are we luminous, are we capable of giving hope to others with the light of our faith?
Like the star that guided the Magi to Bethlehem with its brightness, we too, with our love, can bring Jesus to the people we meet, making them aware, in the Son of God made man, of the beauty of the Father’s face and of his way of loving, which is closeness, compassion and tenderness. Let us never forget this: God is close, compassionate and tender.
And to do this we do not need extraordinary instruments or sophisticated means, but rather by making our hearts shine with faith, our gaze generous in welcoming, and our gestures and fraternal words full of kindness and humanity.
Therefore, as we look at the Magi who, with their eyes fixed on the sky, seek the star, let us ask the Lord to be for one another lights that lead to the encounter with Him (cf. Mt 5:14-16). It is truly a very bad thing when a person is not a light for others.
We now come to the second characteristic of the star: it is visible to everyone. The Magi do not follow the indications of a secret code, but rather a star that they see shining in the sky. They notice it; others, like Herod and the scribes, do not even notice its presence.
The star, however, always remains there, accessible to anyone who raises his gaze to the sky in search of a sign of hope. Am I a sign of hope for others? This too is an important message: God does not reveal himself to exclusive circles or to a privileged few, but offers his company and guidance to those who seek him with a sincere heart (cf. Ps 145:18).
Indeed, he often anticipates our own questions, and comes to seek us out even before we ask him (cf. Rom 10:20; Is 65:1). Precisely for this reason, in the Nativity scene, we represent the Magi with characteristics that encompass all ages and all races – a young person, an adult, an old person, with the physical features of the various peoples of the earth – to remind us that God seeks everyone, always.
And how much good it does us to meditate on this today, in a world where people and nations, although equipped with increasingly powerful means of communication, seem to be less willing to understand, accept and find each other in their diversity.
The star, which in the sky offers its light to all, reminds us that God, becoming man, comes into the world to meet every man and woman on earth, regardless of ethnicity, language or people to which they belong (cf. Acts 10:34-35; Rev 5:9), and that he entrusts us with the same universal mission (cf. Is 60:3).
In other words, it calls us to put an end to any form of preference, marginalization or rejection of people, and to promote among ourselves and in the environments in which we live a strong culture of welcome, in which the barriers of fear and rejection are replaced by open spaces of encounter, integration and sharing: safe places where everyone can find warmth and refuge.
That is why the star is in the sky. Not to remain distant and unreachable, but so that its light is visible to everyone, so that it reaches every home and breaks down all barriers, bringing hope to the most remote and forgotten corners of the planet.
He is in heaven to tell everyone, with his generous light, that God refuses no one and forgets no one (cf. Is 49:15). Because he is a Father whose greatest joy is to see his children returning home, united, from all parts of the world (cf. Is 60:4). To see them build bridges, smooth paths, seek out the lost and carry on their shoulders those who have difficulty walking, so that no one is left out and everyone shares in the joy of his home.
The star tells us of God’s dream: that all humanity, in the richness of its differences, may come to form a single family, and may live united in prosperity and peace (cf. Is 2:2-5).
And from here we come to the last characteristic of the star: that it indicates a path. This is also an important topic for reflection, especially in the context of the Holy Year that we are celebrating, where one of the characteristic gestures is the pilgrimage.
The light of the star invites us to make an interior journey which, as St. John Paul II wrote for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, frees our hearts from everything that is not charity, so that we may “fully encounter Christ, confessing our faith in Him and receiving the abundance of His mercy” (Letter on the pilgrimage to places linked to the History of Salvation, 29 June 1999, 12).
Walking together “is a typical gesture of those who seek the meaning of life” (cf. Bull Spes non confundit, n. 5). And we, contemplating the star, can also renew our commitment to be men and women “of the Way”, as Christians defined themselves at the beginning of the Church (cf. Acts 9:2), always animated by a healthy restlessness, which impels us to seek new opportunities to broaden our hearts and intensify the bonds that unite us to one another in charity.
May the Lord transform us into lights that guide us to Him, like Mary, generous in giving, open in welcoming and humble in walking together, so that we may find Him, recognize Him and adore Him. And in this way, after finding Him, we may be able to start anew, bringing the light of His love to the world.