Which star are you following?

Advent 2025

The NASA website is amazing, especially the stunning images from the Hubble and Webb space telescopes. The Triangulum galaxy is particularly fascinating as it harbours the largest region of new star formation in our Local Group of galaxies, showcasing the incredible wonders of the universe! Stars die and new stars are formed, the number of stars cannot be counted.

The Triangulum Galaxy, a composite photograph of images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
Copyright NASA

I observed a breathtaking dark sky at altitude in 1999 in Utah and Arizona. The number of stars was absolutely astounding, with the Milky Way shining brightly. The sheer beauty of such a crowded sky made it a delightful challenge to identify the constellations I knew well. When the Wise Men saw the Star of Bethlehem, they must have felt a wonderful sense of wonder and excitement, using their deep familiarity with the night sky to recognize a remarkable new addition.

No, I have not erred in discussing the wise men after the conclusion of Christmas. While the 12 days of Christmas have indeed passed for this year, the celebration of Epiphany on January 6th marks the occasion when the Western Church commemorates the arrival of the Wise Men, who were guided by a new star to present gifts to Jesus, the newly born King of the Jews. The Christmas-Epiphany season extends until Candlemas, observed on February 2nd, which falls on the 40th day after Christmas.

What was the Star of Bethlehem? Scholars have dabbled in theories about what may have graced the skies during Jesus’ birth, a time before 6 BC—when Herod had his murderous rampage—he finally kicked the bucket in 4BC. The timeline is murky; after all, who really knows how long Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus were holed up as refugees in Egypt? Now, let’s get to the juicy part: the contenders for this celestial phenomenon. Was it a supernova in the Andromeda galaxy, witnessed by Chinese astronomers—how ironic, a dying star rather than a vibrant new one? Or perhaps it was a comet or a dazzling planetary conjunction? Kepler tossed out the idea of a Jupiter-Saturn convergence, reminiscent of the 2020 spectacle, but hang on—a Jupiter-Venus conjunction might just be the real showstopper of that era.

Whatever it was, we can no longer be sure.

Whichever star it was that captured their attention, the wise men from the east noticed a remarkable star rising in the east and began their journey toward Jerusalem in the west, away from the direction of the star’s ascent. When they finally arrived and found it settling over Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, it could be a possible second planetary conjunction or perhaps it simply indicated that it could have been three months or even fifteen months later, when a stationary star appearing in the east would be seen to the south at the same time of day as they had first observed.

Which star to follow?

With so many stars in the sky, the Wise Men chose one, the one that led them to Jesus Christ.

To follow that star wasn’t easy and there were setbacks along the way. Supposing the newborn king of the Jews would be born in a palace led them to Jerusalem, that mistake was very costly to every family in Bethlehem. The ire of tyrant Herod was great and bloody. But the Wise Men knew this was not their story. It belonged to another. Theirs was just to come, give gifts and return, never to return to the story of the child to whom they left gifts. The story belongs to that child. The wise men did not follow the star so that they would become great or attain power. They followed the star that led to Jesus Christ.

What are you following? Is it something that will make you rich? Or politically powerful? Or famous?

Or does it lead to Jesus Christ, who lived a life of humility, who taught a way to humility. Who was God incarnate on earth. Like the way of the wise men, it will be difficult and there will be setbacks. It may not bring money, power or fame. But it is a way worth travelling.