The Magi

There is a wonderful cartoon series in the paper entitled, “Family Circus”. In the cartoon one time, the little girl sits her baby brother on her lap and tells him the story of Christmas. It goes something like this: "Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by eight (8) tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary . . . Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes . . . The three (3) wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little Drummer Boy and Scrooge helped Joseph trim the tree . . . In the meantime, Frosty the Snowman saw this star . . . ." Thus concludes the reading from the Family Circus! …Much has been written in regards to the Christmas story and in particular with the Magi. One definition is that they are the class of Zoroastrian priests in ancient Media and Persia, reputed to possess supernatural powers. But the most popular belief is that the magi were the wise men, generally assumed to be three in number, who paid homage to the infant Jesus. Today is the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany means manifestation. Epiphany for us is the Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi. Oftentimes, kings of old would make an epiphany or appearance to their people.

Dan Brown, a well-known biblical scholar, accents some interesting historical developments in regards to the Magi. These can be found in his book, The Birth of the Messiah. Here is one of them. There is a famous sixth-century mosaic in the Church of St. Apollinaris at Ravenna, in Italy that adds to the legend of the Magi. This legend reads: “The magi were the ones who gave gifts to the Lord. The first is said to have been Melchior, an old man with white hair and a long beard…who offered gold to the Lord as to a king. The second, Gaspar by name, young and beardless and ruddy complexioned…honored him as God by his gift of incense, an oblation worthy of divinity. The third, black-skinned and heavily bearded, named Balthazar…by his gift of myrrh testified to the Son of Man who was to die.” Alongside the symbolism which related the gifts to different aspects of Jesus, gold for a king, incense for a God, myrrh for a suffering redeemer, there developed a symbolism relating them to different aspects of Christian response: gold symbolizing virtue, incense symbolizing prayer, and myrrh, for suffering. Regardless of how one views the Magi, they have certainly added to the gifts of our faith life in the Messiah, Jesus. As we come to the conclusion of our Christmas season next week with the Baptism of the Lord, we can continue to take the richness of these stories to enhance and deepen our faith.

Msgr. Mike