“But the Lord knows full well that
giving is a vital need for those in love, and he himself points out what he
desires from us. He does not care for riches, nor for the fruits or the beasts
of the earth, nor for the sea or the air, because they all belong to him. He
wants something intimate, which we have to give him freely: “My son, give me
your heart” (Prov 22:26). Do you see? God is not satisfied with sharing. He wants
it all. It’s not our things he wants. It is ourselves. It is only when we give
ourselves that we can offer other gifts to our Lord.” - St Josemaria Escriva
Gospel
Text: (MT 2:1-12)
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in
Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the
Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and
the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ
was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of
Judea,
for thus it has been written through
the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the
rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people
Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of
the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the
child.
When you have found him, bring me
word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king
they set out.
And behold, the star that they had
seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the
place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the
star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his
mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him
homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not
to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by
another way.
On the Feast of Christmas God came to
us and gifted us. On the Feast of the Epiphany, which we celebrate today, we
came to God and gifted God.
According to tradition, the three wise
men, were named Melchior, Balthazar and Gaspar. Each of them came from a
different culture: Melchior was Asian, Balthazar was Persian and Gaspar was
Ethopian, thus representing the three races known to the old world. These three
priest-kings and wisemen brought royal gifts to the divine infant: gold,
frankincense and myrrh.
The three men or Kings as they are
sometimes known as, left everything behind them – they left their country of
origin, their wealth, their families. They somehow knew that the star that
recently glowed in the sky foretold the birth of a mighty King, a special
person, someone destined to be great. And so they were willing to make the
perilous journey.
What can we see of this in our lives
today? Like the wise men we are on a journey as well. And if we are to have
happy, fulfilled lives, we have to know the end of that journey. We have to see
the star that tells us that our God is at the end of that journey waiting for
us, and maybe not in the way we even imagine it. If we keep that end in sight,
we can put up with the perilous journey that we take through life, the ups and
downs, the suffering and sickness, and even the sins that we sometimes sink
into.
How do we keep going? What sustains us
through all the bad parts of life?
It is knowing what the end will be and
how we can give God the gift of ourselves – our love, our praise, our
sufferings.
No matter who we are, or where we
come from, or what we do: each of us has a treasure to offer. The magi were just the first. They aren’t
the last…………………….!
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