Happy New Year to everyone. Today we continue our meditations on the meaning of Christmas with Epiphany. The great event in Bethlehem cannot be contained in simply one day. Our thoughts and prayers turn toward the arrival of the three Magi.
The three gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh remain well-known throughout Christian culture. Each gift helps us understand the truth about Christmas. Gold is the sign of Christ’s kingship. Gold is a gift fit for a king. His kingship does not enfold as we would expect. His throne starts out as the stable; later the cross. And His rule is not limited to only parts of our lives. Christ the king means his rule is absolute. Unlike presidents, prime ministers, and congress, His unchanging judgments and teachings encompass every part of our lives. Frankincense is the sign of Christ’s divinity. At Holy Mass, we incense the Blessed Sacrament and the altar where Christ will become present in the Eucharist. The gift of frankincense means the Christ child is truly God come among us—the God of Heaven taken on a human face. The infant in the manger is not simply another child. Christmas is not simply a holiday about family and friends. Instead, the gifts of the Magi show us the truth of Christmas: God has come. Myrrh is the sign of Christ’s death on the cross. In the ancient world bodies were prepared for burial with the use of myrrh. The burial spice of myrrh means the child born on Christmas will one day enter the tomb. The gift of a burial spice means that Christ was born in order to die for our sins. The stable includes the Cross.
Furthermore, the Magi were learned men, the academics or scientists of their day. Their knowledge included the fundamentals of astronomy. Their surveying of the night sky is evocative of all forms of intellectual searching. They illustrate for us that science and religion are not in conflict. Instead, all science, culture, philosophy, art, literature finds its goal in the search for God. The Creator can be found by studying His Creation. Surprisingly, we find the Creator in a stable.
After meeting the Lord, the Magi depart by another way. Their encounter with the newborn Christ means they need to live differently. No one can encounter Jesus without being changed. In fact, that is a good criterion to judge the authenticity of our faith. After meeting the newborn Savior, the Magi no longer traverse the same path.
In what they bring, who they are and what they do the Magi tell us about Christmas. Their gifts tell us that Christ is God who initiates a new kind of kingdom where suffering is the path to Heaven. In who they are, they tell us that all people are meant to become members of the Church. In their actions they show us the proper response to the Christmas mystery: worship of God.