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. (Matthew 2:8-12 New American Bible translation)
How did this Gospel speak to me this time? As I read it before mass this past Sunday what literally jumped out at me was “they prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures…..” For some reason I imagined freedom, like doors bursting open and at the same time I imagined overflowing treasure chests. Then it hit me, the treasures available to us if we TRUST and BELIEVE. The first thing that came to mind was the idea that all we need to do is acknowledge Christ (pay him homage) and submit (prostrate) ourselves to His will in order to be blessed with every good gift from God. I likened the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the virtues of faith, hope and love – true treasures. In other words, when we open ourselves up to receive the love of Christ, when we pay Him homage by publicly acknowledging Him (in word and deed), our own spiritual treasures will be “opened” (increased). How awesome is that! I definitely know this to be true. I recognize in my own life the increase that has manifested. The more I acknowledge Him, the more I praise and worship, the more I heed His call, the more treasures flow – not only are treasures opened, they are overflowing, abundant.
As I continued to read the passage I was also struck by “go and search diligently for the child, when you have found him bring me word that I too may go and do him homage.” How manipulative and conniving Herod was – he encouraged the magi to find Christ and made them believe he wanted to find Christ too. Sound familiar? I immediately thought of the challenges we Christians face day in and day out. The closer we get to God and the more we worship Christ, the more we come across people, challenges and temptations that force us to choose between the “easy road” (sin) or the “high road”(righteousness). What I found interesting in this passage is that the magi “departed for their country by another way” because they were “warned in a dream” not to return to Herod! That’s powerful and we have that power too – it’s called intuition! Our “intuition” is God speaking to us. We’ve all experienced it at one time or another – that “something”, that “feeling”, that “sense”. Take a moment to reflect on past experiences, instances where you’ve “listened” to your gut. Did it pay off? Did it spare you heartache and pain? What about when you ignored your intuition? How did things work out for you? What I gleaned from this part of the Gospel passage is this: “Herod” still exists today in many forms, but we need not be discouraged. We need to follow the example of the magi – follow our intuition, God’s voice guiding us along the path of righteousness and AWAY from Herod, away from sin! God bless you! Happy Three Kings Day!
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