by Father Michael Panicali
It must have been in the stars. While the prolific late actor — and converted Roman Catholic — James Earl Jones is known for providing his booming voice to the iconic figure of Darth Vader in the Star Wars films, his character of Balthazar in Franco Zeffirelli’s “Jesus of Nazareth” miniseries is fixated on a particularly bright and prominent star that guides him and the other two Wise Men, and their parties, to the Christ Child.
Balthazar’s dialogue reveals his appreciation for celestial events depicted in the stars that bear significance for the inhabitants of the earth. “Stars are not distant and aloof, cut off from the lives of men. The rising of a new star entails an immense labor in the heavens that always has its counterpart on earth.”
Balthazar’s contemporary, Melchior, in sensing the significance of the moment, voices that “the universe is about to bring forth a prodigy beyond our understanding.” Alongside Gaspar, the three Wise Men deduce, from their astrological calculations, knowledge of prophesy, and the promises within the sacred writings of the people of Israel, that the brightly burning star they are following is a sign of wonder, that is guiding them to nothing short of the birth of a king — who, as Melchior says, “will free us from the evils of this world.”
What they together deduce is what changes the very course of salvation history, not only for the people of Israel, but for all of humanity. It is the definitive realization that they have been led to the birth of the Savior of the world, who will deliver humankind from its sins.
Zeffirelli’s “Jesus of Nazareth” takes some literary license, as do many cinematic dramatizations of biblical events, with what little information the Scriptures offer us in our knowledge of the Wise Men. The late Pope Benedict XVI’s Jan. 6, 2013, Epiphany homily is much more abstract. Nevertheless, in his own masterful way, he is specific and clear that the Wise Men reflect the ambitions and searches that drive each and every human person.
“These men who set out toward the unknown were, in any event, men with a restless heart. Men driven by a restless quest for God and the salvation of the world. They were filled with expectation, not satisfied with their secure income and their respectable place in society. They were looking for something greater. They were no doubt learned men, quite knowledgeable about the heavens and probably possessed of a fine philosophical formation. But they desired more than simply knowledge about things. They wanted above all else to know what is essential. They wanted to know how we succeed in being human. And therefore they wanted to know if God exists, and where and how he exists. Whether he is concerned about us and how we can encounter him. Nor did they want just to know. They wanted to understand the truth about ourselves and about God and the world. Their outward pilgrimage was an expression of their inward journey, the inner pilgrimage of their hearts. They were men who sought God and were ultimately on the way toward Him. They were seekers after God.”
Our own seeking of God leads us not to a nebulous construction of an impersonal deity, but to the person of Jesus Christ, in whom we find all for which our souls, minds, and hearts earnestly long.
Father Michael Panicali is the parochial vicar for St. Helen Church in Howard Beach.