Bishop Glen John Provost
Bishop of Lake Charles
The Epiphany of the Lord
January 5, 2014
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
“The star that they had seen at its rising preceded them.” Matthew 2:9
From before the days of Odysseus, the journey has tenaciously held its place in man’s imagination. Unlike a trip that begins and ends on specific dates, a journey implies that there is a quest and that the voyage will continue until the object of the journey is found. A journey implies that time doesn’t matter for the voyager and that the goal of the journey is worth the effort. To journey means that for as long as it takes the traveler will wander in pursuit of his goal. Whether it is Columbus setting out to sea or Marco Polo following the Silk Road, the journey will involve sacrifice, adventure, and ultimately a valuable reward. While the journey of the Magi shares this in common with other journeys, the Magi are different in one major way.
The Magi come to Bethlehem in a journey that seems to be a vocation. The journey seems to be their calling. We hear of them from no other source except the Gospel. The Magi are curious men of learning. Even though they are not Jews, they have read the great prophets of the Chosen People. Perhaps they had read the prophecy: “All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord” (Isaiah 60:6). Maybe the Magi had reflected on the psalm that reads, “May the kings of Arabia and Seba offer gifts; may all kings bow before him, all nations serve him” (Psalm 72:10-11). Whatever it was, they knew that a light had been prophesied in Isaiah. “Your light has come,” Isaiah writes, “the glory of the Lord shines upon you” (Isaiah 60:1). For this reason, the Magi explain their journey saying, “We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage” (Matthew 2:2).
Their journey will lead them to the true king. For him they bring kingly gifts, three precious commodities in the ancient world. A king will certainly need gold. A king in the ancient world also led his people in prayer to God. Therefore, he will need the frankincense that sends smoke heavenward. Finally, the most curious gift of the three, myrrh will perfume the presence of the king to distinguish him. Implied also, however, is the king’s death, because myrrh as a fragrance was used in preparing a body for burial. The gifts are signs of what the king will do. He will reign, he will offer prayerful sacrifice, and he will die.
The Magi vanish from the Gospel as quickly as the dream that warns them not to return to Herod. What have the Magi learned? T. S. Eliot wrote a poem about the Magi reflecting on this point. The Magi leave something of themselves behind. The gifts they brought were merely symbolic. What they left behind were not only the gifts but also themselves. Because of this abandonment of self, they were never to be the same again.
The Christian life is a journey. On this Epiphany we are all Magi. We have come to the stable of Bethlehem. What gifts have we brought? Perhaps we have brought nothing but ourselves, our sins, our weaknesses. What more can God expect from us or from the Magi? What good are gold, frankincense, and myrrh, when we have not given of ourselves?
In our indulgent world, a disturbing thing is happening. Our world is trying to create a culture without God. I call it disturbing because no other culture in the history of the world has ever tried to live without a sense of the divine or religion. Absent of God, we become more and more secular with all this implies—materialism, disrespect for human life, endless division and dissent, and an effort to destroy the beauty of creation. Certainly these challenges have always existed, but without faith in God they bring us to despair and disillusionment. In this regard, the Magi have a great deal to teach us. Their lesson is that faith transforms us.
They came from afar, led by a light, from a different culture to find faith. They would never be the same again because of this faith. They gave the finest gifts they had to offer and in the end offered themselves. They emptied themselves out and found faith. With this faith they embraced the Christ child and all that He offered them—the fulfillment of dreams, the end of searching, and the true gift of faith. The answer to this quest, they knew, was to be found nowhere else and certainly not in themselves. One could say they found the paradigm that would reorient their lives. It is that faith that transforms life, just as it transformed the Magi. They were convinced the ancient words of Isaiah were fulfilled:
“Then you shall be radiant at what you see,
your heart shall throb and overflow,
for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you,
the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.”
Isaiah 60:5