MEDITACIÓN I. Los Magos ofrendaron mirra a Nuestro Señor para honrar su humanidad. Jesús es Hombre, y lo es por amor nuestro, porque por amor nuestro tomó un cuerpo semejante al nuestro. Amémoslo, pues, y ofrendémosle nuestro cuerpo. Este cuerpo es vuestro, ¡oh Jesús mío!, disponed de él como os plazca, sano o enfermo, vivo o muerto. ¡Qué feliz sería si pudiese sufrir con Vos para reinar un día también con Vos! Me habéis rescatado todo entero a fin de poseerme todo entero (San Agustín). II. Jesús es hombre, mas también es Rey. Por eso se le ofrenda oro. Es el dueño de nuestros bienes, Él nos los dio; debemos servirnos de ellos para honrarlo, para engalanar sus altares, para socorrer a los pobres. Ve a Jesús en sus pobres, con la fe de los Magos que, contemplando en el pesebre a un niño pobre y abandonado, lo reconocieron como a su Rey y a su Dios. Si eres pobre, ofrece a Jesús tu pobreza; esta ofrenda le será más agradable que todos los tesoros de la tierra. III. Los Magos ofrecieron incienso a Jesús, y reconocieron así su Divinidad. El incienso que tú le debes presentar es la oración que eleva a tu alma hasta Dios. Humíllate ante este Soberano, ofrécele todas las potencias de tu alma, adóralo, témelo. Acuérdate sobre todo que los Magos volvieron por otro camino; cambia de vida a ejemplo suyo, y después de haberte dado a Jesucristo, no te des más al mundo. Por el cambio de ruta entendemos el cambio de vida (Eusebio). |
The season of Christmas is extends until next Sunday. It is not a one-day affair on December 25th. How can it be? The birth of Christ was a long time coming. How long? At the very first moment of the universe, the chain reaction of events and wonders of creation all pointed towards, and in preparation, for the God. The architect of the world enters his creation. Nature herself takes notice. She responds to the presence of God. It was a star that announced the birth of Christ. An eclipse of the sun and earthquake proclaimed his death. Light and darkness, natures own language of theology and spirituality. As humanity cries out to its messiah for healing so too does all of nature groaning for salvation.
So when we celebrate today the Epiphany - the event that "show forth" God's plan of salvation for the whole world, we try to take in the bigger picture, the implications, the universality of the Christ event for the whole world. The mysterious magi, the visitor to Bethlehem from the Orient - we call them the "wise men from the East", or the three Kings - who they actually where, what lands did they really come from - that is not too important.
What their arrival on the scene of the birth of Jesus revels is the countless multitudes of peoples, nations and cultures searching for God. “Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament.” CCC 528
Which path leads us to Christ? It is never the road of presumption. St. John Chrysostom comments that the chief priests and scribes knew the Hebrew Scriptures inside out, even concerning the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem but they are unmoved, and the birth of Jesus seems uninteresting to them (Gospel of Mathew, Homily 6.4). And St. Gregory the Great reminds us that Herod represents all those, who with false devotion, seek Christ without actually finding him (Forty Gospel Homilies 10.2).
Today's celebration of the arrival of the Magi, demonstrate that the journey, and where our life's journey ultimately takes us to, can never truly be predictable. In a society where we are so used to being in control of our destinations, setting our goals and accomplishing the tasks we set out to do, this important celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord can remind us that we must also be humble before mystery and learn to step back in wonder and awe when we sense that there is something greater than ourselves. We are not the center of the universe. My dear friends, in our celebration of the Mass, we enter into mystery - a mystery that cannot be contained by our human understanding or knowledge.
When the wise men, who represent all humanity, encounter Christ, they did not arrive with a complete revelation as to the plan of God for them or the world even though their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh represented - gold for a king, incense for the worship of God and the bitter herb myrrh, a reminder of suffering and sacrifice.
They not doubt left Bethlehem, not with disappointment that all their own questions were not answered, but more likely, with a sense of wonder and amazement that all is not what meets the eye. Christian Faith does not provide quick answers and remedies, or scientific proofs or explanations. Rather, it offers the believer a sense of true mystery and beauty, which, because we cannot control it, can be as painful as it is mysterious.
In this sacred mystery we celebrate here each Sunday we approach Christ through the veil of the Eucharist, hidden behind what we perceive from the outside as bread and wine.
We arrive at the house where Christ waits for us, but we must not do so empty-handed but bearing our own gifts. When we accept and encounter the unfathomable mystery of his life, death and resurrection, we can not return by the same road we arrive – for we approach God in all humility, can never look at the world in the same way again.
