Legendary musician, songwriter and TV host Pete Seeger was one of the esteemed social activists of the 20th and 21st centuries. In a PBS American Masters tribute to Seeger, who died in 2014, filmmaker Jim Brown said, “A tireless crusader for social justice, world harmony and environmental causes, Seeger was even called, at the height of his activism, ‘America’s tuning fork.’”
His most popular song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” opens with, “Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing? Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?” It ends with the powerful question, “When will we ever learn?” It was a call for peace that eloquently critiqued the futility of war and violence.
Fr. Horacio dela Costa, S.J. (1916-1977), like Seeger, created some of his most celebrated works after the war. Dela Costa was revered as the “gentle genius” and, at times, compared to Jose Rizal, a leading light in the Filipino quest for nationhood and identity.
Dela Costa’s works had tremendous impact on culture, religion, history, literature, moral values, politics and nationalism.
Pope Francis has repeatedly said there is a need for the church to go back to its core message and mission, to proclaim and to live the mercy of God.
Seeger, Dela Costa and Pope Francis lived their lives totally committed to their core. Each, in his own way, served as a light in the dark moments of their era. They are exemplars we can reflect on and hopefully emulate as we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.
Like the Three Wise Men, they each pursued the star that led them to Christ in the manger, the Emmanuel.
Pope Francis, in his 2016 Epiphany homily, beautifully put it: “Their hearts were open to the horizon and they could see what the heavens were showing them, for they were guided by an inner restlessness. They were open to something new.”
This is the wisdom of the Three Magi, a wisdom that marked their journey from the beginning, setting out not “because they had seen the star, but they saw the star because they had already set out.”
Openness
This openness to something new, this willingness to risk, was the wisdom that led the Magi to Christ. This was the wisdom of Seeger, Dela Costa, and Pope Francis.
They had set out on their respective journeys, responding to a call and dedicating their life to what they believed God wanted them to do, and what they believed they could do to make this world better, more aligned to the core values they built their life and work on.
Thus, they earned the right to be icons of their advocacies and mission for many generations to come. They are modern-day Magi who saw the star because they journeyed and took risks.
In a world growing more complex and ethically confused (false news, post-truth, accelerations in many fields, etc.) and more violent and mean (terrorism, reemerging racism, fascism, bigotry, cyber-bullying), we need the wisdom of Magi who will lead us back to the Child in the manger.
It is the wisdom and life witness of men and women whose inner light will shine in the darkness that will keep us on the right path in our journey. –CONTRIBUTED
