Homily preached at Eltham College Chapel on 8th and 9th January 2007
Pluto is no longer a planet.
It is still an irritating cartoon dog,
which I'm sure reassures you no end,
but it is no longer a planet.
How significant is this fact for you?
It means that the school will have to update
the astronomy posters along the Physics corridor.
But what of astrologers who daily contribute to papers
and influence the lives of many
who “sort of” believe in that method of fortune-telling.
After all, the declassification of Pluto as a planet
must surely affect astrology rather heavily, mustn't it?
If you accept Pluto as a planet,
then you have to accept Eris,
or the imaginatively named 2003 EL61
which are about the same size as Pluto.
But then with these all extra planets,
you’d see horoscopes such as:
Scorpio:
Eris enters your sign tonight bringing a minor upset
in your love life when you sit on your girlfriend's mobile.
or
Libra:
Beware, 2005 FY9,
the bringer of obstreperous poodles,
enters into conjunction with the Sun.
Stay away from any small curly-haired dogs for the rest of the week!
Astrology may seem a bit of a joke to many of us,
but there are people who live their lives,
plan for their futures,
make their big decisions,
even run countries
according to what Jonathan Cainer
writes in the newspaper.
Have you ever found a prediction
made in a horoscope that came true?
[PAUSE]
Horoscopes do occasionally predict something interesting.
We all know that Wise men from the East
came to visit the Baby Jesus in the manger
bringing various gifts.
Who are these wise men?
Well, we don't know for sure.
We don’t even know how many of them there were.
Nowhere in the Bible will you find reference to three wise men.
Well that’s ruined every nativity scene
and quite a few carols for you hasn’t it?
What we do know is that they were
astrologers from Media following a star to the stable.
In fact, the Star of Bethlehem
is not a bizarre astronomical occurrence,
not a comet,
nor some atmospheric disturbance
nor a Flying Saucer containing the daleks.
It is an astrological event
– a rare conjfiguration of planets and stars
which means something for these astrologers,
who promptly jump on their
Formula 1, 5 cylinder camels
and gallop West to the manger.
[PAUSE]
Christians remember the visit of the wise men
as the Feast of the Epiphany.
The word Epiphany means “making known”.
We already see how the Lord
is made known to the Astrologers,
but some years later He also makes Himself known
to Saint John the Baptist at Jesus’ Baptism,
an event that St John has been preparing all his life for.
St John has been preparing himself
by becoming who he believes God wants him to be.
When the Lord appears at the river Jordan,
St John is given concrete proof that Jesus is who He says He is.
The astrologers don’t get this proof.
They see a baby in a horse trough,
and then they return,
never to be seen or heard of again.
What the astrologers see only dimly
through their charts and calculations,
St John sees face to face because of his faith in God,
and not in obscure calculations.
What does this say about maths teachers?
Astrologers choose to live their lives
controlled by the way the planets move.
St John chooses to live his life by preparing himself carefully.
Astrologers choose to give up
control of their lives,
control of their destinies,
control of their countries
to the stars.
St John, relying on his faith in God, keeps control of his destiny.
Now, after 2000 years,
we remember the name of St John the Baptist.
Of the Astrologers we know little,
not even how many there were.
Many people think that having faith in God
means being controlled by a superstitious belief,
that our destinies are controlled by our faith.
That’s not what Christians believe.
While God has plans for each one of us,
they involve us being who we are,
in becoming the person we are meant to be,
and that we ourselves have a vital role to play in that process.
God does allow us to make our own decisions.
[PAUSE]
The majority of you will not know
what you want to do with your lives
when you leave Eltham College.
Indeed, most of the staff probably don’t know
what they want to do with their lives.
You will have to make big decisions
– which options to take,
which A levels to do,
which university to apply to,
what job you want to do.
So how will you make your decisions?
Will you put the responsibility
for making those decisions
onto someone else,
or something else,
like the Astrologers do,
and thus only see shadows of the person that you could become?
Will you take the responsibility
for these decisions upon yourself
by considering your choices carefully
and by finding out who you really are,
and so live your life to the full?
The choice is yours.
How will you live your life?
2 comments:
Yes, I know, I've been a little harsh on the Magi, but I hope the message is clear.
Certainly astrology was once a part of science and approved by the Church, amid some rather arcane and complicated uses.
A major peont of what you've expressed is that whatever passes for 'science' in a given era may be factual or not, but, in either case is usable by God as a vehicle to express eternal Truth.
ed
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