1. Two thousand years ago, 3 wise men recognized a prophecy being fulfilled, and followed a Christmas Star. Theologians & scientists debate just precisely what that star was: a supernova, a conjunction of planets, etc. 

 - Scripture doesn’t describe physical phenomenon that are unnecessary to the salvific meaning of the story. In this case, the nativity author is content to let us know the Wise Men recognized it, and the implication is that any scripturally-wise Hebrew of the day would also understand. But even then, it is possible the nature of the prophetic star was understood by only a few Zoroastrians (converts from and descendents of the ‘lost ten tribes’ forcibly emigrated to Persian lands); otherwise, why only three wise men? Indeed, it seems the wise men spent some time in Herod’s Royal Court while the wisest of the Hebrew holy men researched their question. The Wise Men’s quest seemed to catch them off-guard. Regardless, these days, it seems that the entire understanding of the prophecy’s physical manifestation is lost to history.  Perhaps the message really does matter far more than the scientific underpinning. [This is a difficult admission for Duck Archer, a scientist curious about nearly everything … ]

 - Like all divine prophecies, precision wasn’t simply handed even to the Wise Men; the got to Palestine and had to ask for more precise directions from very human instruments of God’s will. Perhaps their saga was a foreshadowing, of sorts; a prelude to when the Jesus they worshiped grew to be an adult and told his followers to preach salvation to all nations: love God with all you’ve got, and love each other because all are created & loved by God! We can be reasonably sure that the Christmas Star, like all miracles, is not an end-all-be-all; the miracle is merely the attention-getter for a more profound message. The wise men seem to have understood: the star was the beacon, not the destination.

2. Today, Sirius, aka ‘the Dog Star’, is our Christmas Star. Find it by finding one of the most easily recognized constellations: Orion. Not at all visible in summertime, Orion is prominent in the southern winter sky. Find Orion’s 3 belt stars. Follow the line made by Orion’s belt, towards the east, to the first really bright star. That star is Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Sirius, like Orion, is only visible in Winter and Spring…

 - Sirius is visible from Christmas through Easter, and until the celebration of Jesus’ Ascension 40 days after Easter. In northern latitudes like Minnesota, the sun comes up early in Summertime, but in southern latitudes, some would say Sirius can be seen until Pentecost, 50 days after the celebration of the Ascension. 

 - Regardless: Sirius, our Christmas Star, is the brightest star in the nighttime sky, and is visible during the part of the year in which we commemorate events of Jesus’ mortal life on Earth.

There are three key phases of Sirius’ nightly appearance.

 - As Advent begins, four Sundays before Christmas, a new liturgical year begins. Advent is a season of hope and anticipation. As Advent begins, Sirius rises in the east at about 10pm – about the time adults go to bed.

 - At Christmas, Sirius rises at about 8pm, or at about the time kids go to bed. At the celebration of the savior’s birth, the whole family can easily see the Christmas Star rising during the normal course of the day.

 - Epiphany is the celebration of when the Wise Men arrived. Epiphany is January 6^th. At Epiphany, the entire nativity scene is completed. At Epiphany today, Sirius is rising as the sun sets; the Christmas Star is visible to all from the moment night begins.

[Fairness in advertising: Most of this Section 2, and some of Section 3, is a paraphrase from Fr Riley, then of King St Louis 9^th Parish in northern Virginia, circa 2001.]

3. Post-script.

In America’s emerging post-Shuttle space program, we have Project Orion. With Orion, mankind will again strike out beyond the known, to Moon and then to Mars. Just as the Wise Men required very human assistance in a great undertaking, and just as Orion points to Christmas, so too will humanity soon take the meaning of Christmas toward the stars. And again, a Christmas Star won’t be a destination (at least not soon); Sirius can remain a very bright beacon to a grand undertaking towards Sol’s planets, and then to any planets around Alpha Centauri and the other nearby stars …

But for now, we have a Christmas Star jam-packed with coincidental (?) meaning in its nightly arrival times. And, just as the original wise men, we can aspire to the wisdom that our Christmas Star points towards. We live on Earth, but yearn for our home in a far different place.

And our wonderful “beacon to something grander” sparkles. At least at sea level, the ‘Blue Giant star’ Sirius sparkles in alternating red, white, & blue. Look for yourself … and wonder about the age-old wisdom: “with God, there are no coincidences”…

‘give to God what is God’s, give to the world what is the world’s’

Perhaps it’s worth seriously considering the meaning, or multiple meanings, of Sirius.