A little boy returned from Sunday school with a new perspective on the Christmas story. He had learned all about the Wise Men from the East who brought gifts to the Baby Jesus. He was so excited that he could hardly wait to tell his parents.
As
soon as he arrived home, he immediately began, “I learned all about the very
First Christmas in Sunday school today! There wasn’t a Santa Claus way back
then, so these three skinny guys on camels had to deliver all the toys!”
He
further continued, “And Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with his nose so bright
also wasn’t there yet, so they had to have this big spotlight in the sky to
find their way around!
Today
is the feast of the Epiphany which means “God revealing himself to all” – And
the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Did you know that Christians first
celebrated Christmas on this date? It
was only later that it was changed to December 25 because this Pope named
Gregory changed the whole calendar into what we know it now. But many
Catholics especially of the Eastern rite still celebrate Christmas during
this feast. Anyway this feast is also always
associated with its leading men – the Magi – the three wise men. But this feast
in reality is all about their journey – their journey of faith, their journey to Jesus Christ. And in that
journey it was always the light of the Star that guided them until they found
what they were looking for. The star pointed the way.
One
of the first songs I learned was:
Twinkle
twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.
Up above
the world so high like a diamond in the
sky.
This
too was first song of the Magi on the journey… they followed the star without
really knowing what they would find… it was a leap of faith. Believing that the star would lead them to
something more precious than a diamond… something more glorious than the star
itself. The star gave them faith.
One
of the first poems I memorized as a child was:
Star
light, star bright, First star I see tonight,
I wish I
may, I wish I might, Have this wish I wish tonight.
This
is the poem of the three wise men as they journeyed. They had a dream of finding someone very
important, someone who would change their life. As they wished upon the first
bright star they saw, they hoped, they wished that they may find this someone –
the fulfilment of their wish. The star gave them hope.
A
song in the movie I could always recall is that one in Pinocchio:
When you
wish upon a star makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires
will come to you.
When
finally the star pointed at the manger where the child Jesus lay, the three
wise men saw that for this child it makes no difference who you are- all were
humbled by the presence of this baby. They
realize now that all who search for Jesus in their hearts will always find Him.
And so they kneel before him offering their gift of myrrh- the myrrh of their humility (this perfume is used for burial and when we
die we become dust – humus… humility). Then they offer their gift of
frankincense – their frankincense of adoration (incense is until now used for worship, for reverence, for adoration).
Finally their gift of gold… the gold of their love (gold the most precious of metals you give to your most loved one).
Twenty
centuries have gone-by since that first adoration of the Magi, and this long
procession of the our world still continues to make its way to Christ. Through
this feast of “The Epiphany of the Lord,” the Church proclaims the manifestation
of Jesus to all mankind of all times, with no distinction of race or nation.
“The Epiphany of the Lord,” is the feast of faith. It is a feast of our seeking
& recognizing Jesus, and coming to him and worshiping him at this Mass
with the gold of our love, the myrrh of our humility and the frankincense of
our adoration. It is also the feast of God's challenge to each one of us may
all one day sing together as the three wise men did (that’s why it’s three
times): “O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, O come let us adore
him… Christ the Lord.”
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