Happy New Year and Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. We see the wise men bringing gifts to Jesus. I remember a story about the Blessed Mother Mary sharing a dream she had with St. Joseph: “I had a dream, Joseph. I don't understand it, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our Son. The people in my dream had been preparing for about six weeks. They had decorated the house and bought new clothes. They'd gone shopping many times and bought many elaborate gifts. It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren't for our Son. They wrapped them in beautiful paper and stacked them under a tree. Yes, a tree, Joseph, right inside their homes! They'd decorated the tree with sparkling ornaments. There was a figure like an angel on the top of the tree. Everyone was laughing and happy. They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our Son. I don't think they even knew him. They never mentioned his name. I had the strangest feeling that, if our Jesus had gone to this celebration, he would have been intruding. How sad for someone not to be wanted at his birthday party! I'm glad it was only a dream. How terrible, Joseph, if it had been real!”
I believe that we haven’t forgotten Jesus this Christmas. Today the wise men bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus and pay their homage. Gold because Jesus is king, frankincense because Jesus is divine and myrrh prefiguring his Passion. What do we have to give him? Can we spend some time with baby Jesus? Baby Jesus, we do not have gold, frankincense, and myrrh to provide you with, but we can give you our love. Let our love be your manger. For a moment, let us love baby Jesus.
Baby Jesus, even while you were only a baby, you experienced both acceptance from the wise men and rejection from Herod. The wise men and Herod had two opposing attitudes, searching for God and being close to God. Baby Jesus, we see that the wise men blessed in their search for you by finding you. We are searching for you, too; we want to come ever closer to you. Help us to draw ever closer to you and if we are close to you like Herod, help us to be open so that we can find you. Let us ask Jesus to assist us in drawing closer to him.
The magi were blessed. They received the guidance of a star. In the darkness of this world, we receive help on our journey to God, the beauty of nature, the Word of God in Sacred Scripture, Spirit-filled witnessing and preaching, the faith of others and our faith. For a moment, let us thank God for giving us stars to lead us to him.
Lord, in our moments of darkness without a star, or in times we stray from you, help us not to give up but to keep searching, hoping, and praying because that would be the best way forward. Give us the grace not to give up on you or our faith. We love you, Jesus.