Wise Ones, Then and Now
The Visit of the Magi to the Christ Child is one of the most beloved scenes in the Gospels. Were there three of them? Or four? Or five? St Matthew does not specify the number. However, tradition favors three since there were three gifts mentioned, viz., gold, frankincense and myrrh. Also, what’s a “Magi”?
The gifts represent the identity of the Christ Child, the Emmanuel (God with us), the Word made flesh Who dwelt among us, the Prince of Peace. The gold represents His royalty since He was a descendent of King David. The frankincense represents His divinity. The myrrh (comparable to after-shave lotion) represents His humanity.
Symbols abound in the beautiful story. The Gospel tells us that the visitors from the East were astrologers (magoi). The star hints that the very structure of the universe is affected by the birth of this Child. The biblical antecedents of the gifts appear in the psalms in which we sing about that Kings who brought gifts to the Davidic King. The fact that the child is born at the end of the 42nd generation (a multiple of seven) from Abraham is no accident. God’s plan was fulfilled at God’s pre-appointed time. Not mentioned in the reading but part of the tradition for over a thousand years is the depiction of one of the visitors as Black. Fr Andrew Greeley says that the Gospel was “equal opportunity” and ahead of its time. The point is that the visitors were the vanguard of billions of Gentiles (non-Jews) who come to worship Jesus, the Christ Child. Beautiful biblical symbolism points to all of us who enter a new “Year of the Lord” this January. We are the Gentiles now worshiping Jesus the Prince of Peace.
If, indeed, we worship the Prince of Peace, what changes for us? First, our concept of the Earth is different. Several years ago, astronaut, Michael Collins, spoke from Apollo IX, “I really believe that if the leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance, their outlook would be fundamentally changed. I think the view from 100,000 miles could be invaluable in getting people to work out joint solutions by causing them to realize that the planet we share unites us in a way far more basic and far more important than difference in skin, color, religion or economic systems. The earth appears fragile above all else.” Several years later, a Saudi Arabian prince was launched to the manned space station. His comment was, “When I first went aloft, I saw my country. Then, next, I saw my continent. Then next, I saw the whole world.”. Pope Benedict spoke, “the individual human family has an impact on the global family; the global family has an impact on the individual family.” Tell your kids.
In our Catholic (“wholistic” is a modern day synonym for “Catholic”) paradigm, today’s Catholics echo the call. Peter Maurin, the French associate and mentor of the Servant of God, Dorothy Day, wrote during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, “Our job as Catholics is to make the world an easier place for people to be good.” Catholic theologian, economist, EF Schuhmacher spoke of the Great Convergence. Building on Mohandas Gandhi, if the entire world practiced an eye for an eye ethic, then, eventually all would be blind. Schuhmacher believed that sooner or later, people of reason, even those who did not believe that Jesus was Lord, would come to see that what He teaches in the Gospel, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, was the only way that humanity would survive.
Over twenty-five years ago, the American bishops (now chaired by Archbishop Dolan) offered three attitudinal changes that we can try to make in the New Year in Christ Jesus. 1) Ask for the Help in realizing that we are living in a new moment in world history. Think about, among other priorities, the problems of energy conservation and global warming and their impact on your children. 2) Ask for the Help to be consistent in defending life wherever anybody, anything, any institution usurps God’s right to take away the gift that only God can live. As Cardinal O’Connor taught us, “Be pro-life on every issue!”. Think of its impact on your children’s world in the future. 3) Ask for the Help to practice disarmament in our hearts, in our words and in our actions. As St John the Baptist implied, “Before the world or nations can change, individuals and families have to change.” (It’s trickle up.)
Epiphany, 2011AD, is a time to think of how seriously we take the message of the One Whose Birth was heralded by the Star. Wise men and women still try to follow in Christ Jesus the Star and the Vision it proclaims. Do we really buy it? 010211AD jfq
