December 6, 2024

Follow the star: Astronomer priest gives presentation on Advent Day of Reflection

REGIONAL
Story and photo by Carolee McGrath

SPRINGFIELD – Father Doug McGonagle, the pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Hadley, was the guest speaker for an Advent Day of Reflection for diocesan staff, Wednesday, Dec. 4 held at the Bishop Marshall Center. Father McGonagle, who wrote the book, “The Star of Bethlehem: What Did the Magi See?” gave a presentation on the Star of Bethlehem, which is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew.

“The star of Bethlehem is one of the classic images most of us have at Christmas mentioned only in the Gospel of Matthew,” he said.

Father McGonagle earned a bachelor’s and doctoral degree in astronomy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has done extensive research on the topic. For the last 15 years, he has done presentations, explaining the historical events that pointed to a royal birth when Jesus was born.

“The sort of the key piece is the moon occulting Jupiter. But Matthew talks about a star, it’s the fact that the moon occulted Jupiter, passed in front of Jupiter. By science we can see what the sky looked like at any time in the past. But this whole thing was originally driven by these Roman coins,” explained Father McGonagle. He points to research done by the late Michael Molnar, a former astronomer at Rutgers University, who wrote the book, “The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi.” Molnar describes ancient coins that show a leaping ram looking back at a star. His research also indicates an eclipse of Jupiter by the moon within the timeframe of Jesus’ birth.

“These Aires coins first start appearing around AD 6 when a fellow by the name of Quirinius was governor of Syria. Sound familiar? It should. He’s named in Luke’s Gospel when Jesus was born. When you read the book you will see how these coins may be pointing in an unambiguous way to a regal birth in Judea,” he said.

Father McGonagle also had two of the Roman coins with him which he showed to those gathered. Following the presentation, Bishop William D. Byrne celebrated the 12:10 p.m. Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral.

“Father Doug McGonagle, pastor of Holy Redeemer who’s also a Ph.D. in astronomy, gave us a talk on the Star of Bethlehem. It was a fascinating explanation of how the planets and stars align and what the Magi really saw. What a gift it was and his book is available on Amazon, so I would recommend reading it,” said Bishop Byrne.

To purchase Father McGonagle’s book, go to amazon.com