Living as Prophets of Love

 

Deacon Dave · Living as Prophets of Love

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, January 30, 2022. Readings: 1 Cor. 13:1-13; Gospel of St. Luke 4:21-30. Theme: Living as Prophets of Love 

Very often in our liturgy the gospels take up where we left off on the prior Sunday. And such is the case today, as we drop in on the tail end of a story which we began last week. Recall for a moment that last Sunday we heard about Jesus attending worship services in his hometown of Nazareth. He had read a prophecy from Scripture about the coming of a great prophet who would show forth God’s power and presence. And then, while all his neighbors and relatives were looking on, Jesus informed them that He was that long-hoped-for prophet called and chosen by God. 

In today’s continuation of the story, we see that at first the people were impressed. But then they began to recall their experiences with Jesus and how ordinary he was. This was the son of Mary, who as a child played with their kids and went to synagogue school with them. This was Joseph’s boy, who learned the family trade and earned his living as one of the local craftsmen. He was so much like them that he turned out to be too much for them to accept as someone special and sent by God. And so they refused to believe. They turned on Him on that day in Nazareth, and Jesus got not only rejection but also a death threat from the very people with whom He lived, worked and socialized. 

I think we can all relate in one way or another to what Jesus experienced. When we try to live the gospel, to truly live our Catholic faith and have it make a difference in our lifestyle, some of our family and friends might react a bit like Jesus’ townsfolk. Our good intentions can be misinterpreted or we might be misunderstood. People might think that we believe we are better than them, when in reality what we are saying by embracing our Christianity is that we are sinners very much in need of God’s grace like everyone else. It's also very possible that we might be rejected by some of those who know us best. That certainly happened to Jesus. But that didn’t deter him from carrying out his mission as a prophet. It didn’t deter him from doing what he was meant to do. And it shouldn’t stop us from carrying out our mission as prophets, either. 

When we were baptized and then later confirmed, we each were anointed with sacred chrism oil and this anointing consecrated us as prophets with Jesus. It’s important to understand that calling ourselves prophets isn’t just some noble thought or a motivational idea. Both the New Testament and the ancient teaching of the Church tell us that it's a solid fact! To be consecrated means to be called and chosen. We Christians are consecrated to go out into the world as prophets of the good news that God is love and that this love became flesh and blood reality in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. 

So that might make us wonder what does it mean to do this, what does it look like to live as prophets of God who is love? Well, first of all we need to know that being a prophet doesn’t mean foretelling the future as most of us might think. That can, indeed, be part of a prophet’s mission but first of all and most of all, a prophet is someone who communicates God’s Word to others. Now, this can be done both with words and by example, but as all know talk can be cheap and actions speak louder than words, so it is most of all by the way we live and act that we will fulfill our prophetic mission as Christians. And so this is where our second reading today comes to the rescue, so to speak, and shows us what being a prophet of love should look like in everyday life. 

While this reading from 1 Corinthians 13 is hands down the most popular Scripture used at weddings, that's not what St. Paul had in mind when he wrote it. Rather, he lays out very clearly for us what it means, what it looks like, to live as a Christian, as a prophet of love in a world that is very self-centered. It means being patient, kind, humble, forgiving, encouraging, uplifting, and hopeful. This is how we are to reflect God to others. This is how we are supposed to treat everyone no matter how they treat us, friend or enemy. You see, the idea is that by witnessing our behavior, people should be able to get a glimpse of what God is like and then want to draw closer to him themselves. This is how we help to grow the Kingdom of God, heart by heart, person to person. 

I was on a retreat once, years ago, and the retreat director used this exact reading from 1 Corinthians 13 in giving us a simple spiritual exercise to do. He told us to go back to our rooms and slowly, mindfully, re-read the passage several times, substituting our first names for the word “love” in the reading. By doing this we can see if it is describing us or not…we can take note of how close or how far off the mark we are from living as Christians, that is, as prophets of love. It was a very powerful and enlightening, spiritual experience for me. I urge you to go home and try this yourselves. 

Of course, none of us is going to come away from this personal inspection with a perfect score, but that’s why we have the wonderful sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion. Jesus gave them to us precisely for the purpose of gradually growing in love. Confession helps us to identify where we tend to be most selfish and gives us grace to overcome what we acknowledge and lay before him. The Eucharist is all about the giving of ourselves to others in love just as Christ gave himself for us. The truly Eucharistic person will find in the frequent and mindful reception of Christ’s Body and Blood the grace, strength and supernatural ability needed to love as Jesus loves, cause we can't just do it on our own. 

Now, people might still misunderstand us, they might still misinterpret us and some may still even reject us, but at least we will know that we are being faithful to the call and mission we have received to live as prophets of love. And that, really, is what will matter most to us as we approach our appointed time to leave this world for the next. We will be able to do so with a serene conscience, knowing that we have done our best to live in the most excellent way, the way of love, which as St. Paul tells us, is the greatest life we could have hoped to have lived on planet Earth.

Most Excellent Theophilus...

 

Deacon Dave · Most Excellent Theophilus...

Homily for Word of God Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. The Gospel of St. Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21. Theme: Most Excellent Theophilus... 

Today is Word of God Sunday. Pope Francis instituted this observance several years ago as a reminder that God has spoken to us through the mouth of his Son, Jesus Christ. And this Word of God, written down in Scripture, is so vital to us that we spread it out over time and read segments of it every day in our liturgy. In 2022, the Sunday gospel readings will come mostly from the Gospel of St. Luke, and so, I think it might be helpful for us to review what we mean by the word “gospel” and to learn a little bit about the man chosen to compose it. And of course hopefully figure out what all this might mean for you and me today. 

The literal meaning of the word “gospel” is good news. In the ancient world there were no means of mass communication, so horse-riders or runners would be sent out to deliver important messages to the villages. And once they arrived they would shout out, “I have gospel…I have good news!” In a similar way, after Pentecost when the first Christians went out as missionaries, they were like those runners who burst into the villages shouting, “I have gospel…I have good news!” Of course, the people would eagerly ask what it was and so the apostles would reply with something like: “The good news is that God himself has become human in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, died and buried but who has risen up from the dead! He has done away with both the penalty of sin and the finality of death by offering those who wish it a way to spiritual freedom and the gift of eternal life.” 

The Apostles shared this good news with all who would listen and the Word of God spread rather rapidly throughout the empire. But many wondered what would happen once the apostles had left this world? And so, it became vital for them to set down in writing the words of Jesus and the events they had personally experienced. And so, this brings us to the second meaning of the word “gospel”: a written record of what Jesus said and did when He lived on earth as seen and heard by those who knew Him. As you know by now, we have four editions of this written-down Gospel by the evangelists (which means “gospel writers”) Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 

Matthew and John were companions of Jesus from the time he was baptized in the Jordan River until the day he returned to Heaven. They were members of his band of brothers, the Twelve Apostles. Mark was a very young man, perhaps even a child, when he and his mother became disciples of Jesus. All three of these evangelists were Jewish, born and raised in Israel. But Luke is different from them in many ways. And so is his approach to composing the written gospel. He was not Jewish but was a Gentile, born in Syria. And so he saw things from a different perspective. He was also a well-educated physician and not a fisherman or tax collector like the others. So he had a solid educational-medical background that influenced the writing of his gospel stories. Because he came from a Greek and not Jewish culture, Luke was attracted to stories and persons in Jesus’ life that show his compassion for the outsider and the outcast, for the poor and the sick, for women and children. These were all categories of people who were typically frowned upon in proper Jewish society. 

And most interestingly, unlike the other evangelists, Luke had a wealthy benefactor. A man named Theophilus commissioned Luke’s gospel-writing project and most likely funded it. This sponsor wanted assurance that all he had heard and been told about Jesus of Nazareth was true. And he was willing to pay for this certainty! We hear about this relationship between Theopilus and Luke in the opening verses of today’s gospel. And I think that’s a good reflection point for us in asking how the Good News by St. Luke has meaning for us today. 

You see, I truly believe that at some point in our lives each one of us is like Most Excellent Theophilus. That is, we are attracted to the person and message of Jesus Christ, we see its goodness and its beauty, but we also see that it will ask quite a bit of us. It will launch us off to a lifetime of change and growth in our relationship with God and with others. It will require stability in our commitment to Christ, obedience to his Word, and an ongoing conversion of our hearts. And so, like Theophilus, we want to know, we need to know, that what we have heard and learned and believe about Jesus Christ is trustworthy and true. 

This is why it’s vitally important for us to realize that the gospels honestly hand on to us what Jesus really said and did when He lived on earth. They are not creative fairytales of faith or fabricated religious fables. They are the memoirs, so to speak, of the personal experiences of the apostles, who sealed the truth of their testimony by the shedding of their blood for Christ. When we read Luke’s gospel, we are delving into the work of an investigative reporter who spent a great deal of time and energy researching everything that he had heard about Jesus of Nazareth. He interviewed the eye witnesses, including the Blessed Mother, and collected their stories. He was thus also able to compare and contrast many experiences to judge their trustworthiness. And he learned that the greatest thing they all experrienced was the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead! Though he had been tortured, crucified and buried they encountered him alive again and spent 40 days eating with, talking to and learning from him. The Resurrection was the ultimate sign and absolute proof of who Jesus really was and it confirmed the truth of his teachings as well. 

Luke’s gospel helps us to learn about Jesus, but what we do with that knowledge is up to each one of us. We have heard the good news and have been offered the way to spiritual freedom, the path to eternal life. Are we going to accept the offer? Are we going to truly commit ourselves, our lives, to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Are we going to embrace his gospel and give it meaning, give it flesh and bone in our lives? These are the questions our Holy Father Pope Francis would like us to ask ourselves and reflect upon as we observe this Sunday of the Word of God.

That All May Be One

 

Deacon Dave · That All May Be One

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jan. 16, 2022. The Gospel of St. John 2:1-11. Theme: That All May Be One

On January 18 the Catholic Church, in conjunction with other Christian denominations, will observe the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It will end on Jan. 25, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the great Apostle of Church Unity. This special time of prayer was begun in New York in 1907 by an Episcopalian priest who soon after became Catholic. Even though this Week of Prayer for Unity has been happening for 114 years, it is sadly overlooked by so many in our Church today, even by those who are in pastoral leadership. I say “sadly” because the division of the Body of Christ into thousands of different denominations is a terrible scandal to the world. How can we give credible witness to being the Body of Christ on earth and serving the same Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God, as St. Paul writes in today’s second reading, when in reality we are a broken and divided Christianity? 

There are those who say that it really doesn’t matter which Christian church you belong to as long as you believe in and follow Jesus. Now, that is a good thing, but is that really totally true? Think about it. The Son of God left the glory and power of Heaven to become flesh and live among us. He chose to do this so that he could teach us his Gospel which is truth and light leading us out of confusion and darkness. He became man to forgive our sins and to give us the Holy Spirit to form us into one family of God the Father. Before leaving our world he established a community to be his voice proclaiming the gospel and continuing his mission on planet Earth until the end of time. Do we dare to think that Our Lord bothered to do all this so that we can then just pick and choose what we like or don’t like about him or his teachings? Or that we might have a better idea of how to build a church that is better than the one he established? 

The plain objective facts of history clearly show us that Jesus Christ established a community of disciples, and before returning to Heaven, placed it under the care of the Apostles with Peter as their leader. History also shows us that there was only one such Christian community for 1,000 years and it has been called the Catholic Church since about the year 110 AD. And so there was never any need to find various adjectives to differentiate between Christians or their communities. They were all members of the Catholic Church and so the words “Christian” and “Church” referred only to one entity: the Catholic Church founded by Jesus and centered in Rome where its earthly leader lived. 

But by the 11th century, many Christians in the Eastern Roman Empire, today’s lands of Russia, Turkey and Greece, broke away from the leadership of the pope as the successor of St. Peter. Simply put, they did not like the way the pope was exercising his authority and they wanted to be shepherded by just their own bishops. Today we call the descendants of these Eastern Christians the Orthodox Church. They kept the teachings of Jesus, the celebration of all seven sacraments, and devotion to Mary and the saints, and, except for the issue of unity with the Pope, they are much like us in many ways and we consider them to still be part of the one Church established by Christ. However, their movement away from the leadership of the pope began a crack in the worldwide Church which, over time, would spread and result in further fracturing of the Body of Christ on earth. 

If we fast forward a few centuries we see this fissure of disunity crossing over into Europe, where it reaches a breaking point in the actions of a Catholic priest named Martin Luther. Originally reacting to legitimate abuses and valid complaints about Church leadership, Luther began his protests within the Catholic Church but sadly ended up outside of it. He chose to seek the much-needed reform in the Church under his own authority and in opposition to the pope. And so he became known as the Father of the Protestant Reformation, with its legacy of giving birth to thousands of different churches throughout the world, each one interpreting the teachings of Christ as they see fit. 

What happened to the one Church of Jesus Christ founded upon the rock of St. Peter? All of these fractures in the Church began with one common denominator: the weakening of and then walking away from loyal and respectful obedience to the pope, who is the Christ-given father of unity in the Church. This is how it always begins. Sometimes the wound is serious but not fatal, such as the Orthodox Christians who still remain a part of the apostolic Church started by Christ. And other times it is gaping and bleeds profusely, such as in many of the Protestant denominations that have discarded almost all of the Lord’s teachings and sacraments. But in either case it hurts and infects the whole Body. 

We see this danger of division happening even today among those who speak disrespectfully of Pope Francis and who question his fidelity to Christ. These contemporary dissenters to unity seem to be following in the footsteps of the Orthodox in the 11th century or of Luther in the 16th, who claimed to know better than the pope what Jesus would or would not want for his Church. They seem to grant to themselves a divinely appointed role of leadership such as they will not grant to the pope. Now, there have indeed been popes in history who did not reflect Christ, who did not inspire allegiance or did not deserve loyalty. But they were still the leaders of the Church, still the successors of St. Peter even if not admirable ones. They still were owed obedience as the legitimate authority under Christ. We have to recall that even St. Peter himself momentarily denied Christ, yet this did not make the Risen Christ declare Peter’s leadership to be null and void. As a matter of fact it was at that time that Jesus confirmed the overall leadership of Peter telling him to “feed my lambs and tend my sheep.” (John 21:15-17) 

So for our own spiritual well-being, we should ignore those who speak ill of the Holy Father. Stay away from them! Do not listen to them! Instead, we must jealously protect our union with Christ and cherish in our hearts the treasure of our own personal communion with his Church. We would do well to ask such people, to ask these dissenters - as well as ourselves - some vitally important questions. Did Jesus preach one Gospel, establish one Church, command one Baptism, and institute one Eucharist or not? And if he did, who in the world are we to challenge his plan? Who are we to ignore this heritage? And do we believe that Jesus said to Peter, “You are rock and on this rock I will build my church; strengthen your brethren; feed my lambs, tend my sheep”? (Mt 16:17-19; Lk 22:32; Jn 21:15-17) And if he did say these things to Peter, then who are we to disrespect and ignore the earthly shepherd of the Church that Christ has appointed? 

I think we can safely say that the family of Christ on earth in the 21st century is deeply wounded and dysfunctional. We desperately stand in need of help. And in a family, who is the one to whom all usually turn for comfort, understanding and assistance? I would say it's the mother, who always wants to see her children united and happy. So how wonderful and how providential it is that just as we approach this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, our gospel today calls us to turn to the Mother of Jesus. She is, after all, Mother of the Church, Mother of Christ and thus the Mother of all Christians. So, let’s ask her to pray for healing in the wounded Body of Christ on earth. Let’s go to her with the request to turn the water of our division into the joyful wine of family unity. Let’s ask Mary to help us make a reality the prayer for unity which Jesus spoke on the night before He died: “Father may they be one in us, just as you and I are one, so that there will be just one flock under one shepherd, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17:21)

A traditional illustration of St. Peter the Apostle, first Pope of the Catholic Church.  he hold keys to remind us that Jesus said he would give Peter the "keys to the kingdom" (which is Bible-speak for giving someone authority).  In the upper right corner is a depiction of the Risen Lord confirming Peter in his role as earthly shepherd of the Church.  In the bottom right corner the rooster reminds us of Peter's denial of Christ, which should us realize that popes are human and can make bad choices, but they still retain authority and Jesus can still work through them to lead, teach and shepherd the Church on earth.

Getting on With the Rest of the Story...

 

Deacon David Previtali · Getting on With the Rest of the Story

Homily for the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022. Gospel of St. Luke 3:15-22. Theme: Getting On With the Rest of the Story 

Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord brings our Christmas Season officially to an end. It’s time now for us to move on from Bethlehem, like the shepherds who didn’t linger at the stable. They had seen and heard the angels praising God and announcing the Messiah’s birth. They had gone in haste to see and adore the prophesied Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger. Full of hope for the future and with joy in their hearts they returned to their ordinary lives in the fields. 

Like them we, too, have had the Birth of Christ the Lord announced to us. And like them we, too, have come to see him in the manger, and to adore him truly present at our Christmas Eucharist. And like those shepherds, we are hopefully leaving our experience of Bethelehm, that is, our Christmas-time festivities, as people who have been touched and changed. We are hopefully not the exact same people who first came before the manger of Christ just a short time ago. 

And so today’s liturgy ushers us out of Bethlehem, and moves us forward in time to the banks of the Jordan River. Jesus now comes to us as an adult, being about 30 years old. He has spent most of his life as a resident of the obscure village of Nazareth where he grew up like everyone else and who looked like everyone else. He earned his living working as a laborer, a craftsman, until the day when he knew his public mission was to begin. We encounter him at that point of his life in today’s story as we see him approaching his cousin, St. John the Baptist, whom many thought might be the Messiah. The Gospel informs us that these people were “full of expectation”. In other words, they could sense that there was a feeling of change in the air, a sense that God was about to do something wonderful in their lives. And they were not mistaken. They just picked the wrong man for the job. They thought it might be John the Baptist. But they were about to meet the Real Deal in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. 

To understand what’s really going on at the Jordan River, it’s important to remember that Jesus was not baptized because he had any sins to be washed away. Even though he shared fully in our fallen human nature he remained ever-faithful to God and had nothing for which to repent. Jesus insisted on being baptized in order to show us by example that baptism, that is the turning away from our sins and living life with God, is our first step to receiving his gift of salvation. The Baptism of Jesus, then, is both a sign and a promise that what happened to Jesus at his baptism is also what happened to each one of us at ours. It shows us that Baptism opens up Heaven to us, it fills us with the Holy Spirit, and makes us beloved children of God. 

The first thing we hear about after Jesus comes up out of the water is that heaven was opened. And this is precisely what Baptism does for us. It re-opens the way to Heaven which was closed to us by the original sin of Adam and Eve. Recall that the first humans were given the choice of living in obedience to their Creator or of going it on their own terms. They freely chose to turn their backs on their Creator and this rupture in the relationship was passed on to all their descendants, that is, to all of us humans. But Jesus came to undo what they had done. He came to reunite, to reconcile us with God. He gives each one of us a chance to choose God and Heaven for ourselves. And the first step in making this choice is baptism. 

The next marvelous thing we see at the Jordan River is the Holy Spirit coming down upon Jesus under the appearance of a dove. Now, we might wonder why God chose to appear in the form of a dove? Well, because the dove is a biblical symbol of peace and innocence. By the waters of this sacrament, we are made innocent through the forgiveness of sin and we make our peace, so to speak, with God. The justification we receive from Baptism puts us in a right relationship with God as our Father, our Savior and our Sanctifier. This innocence and peace remain within us as long as we choose to live the promises of our baptism, that is, to reject sin and Satan, to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and to live what He teaches us through the Bible and his Church. 

Finally, the gospel tells us that God the Father’s voice was audibly heard declaring Jesus to be His Beloved Son in whom He was well pleased. And this is exactly what God the Father says about each one of us, about you and about me! We have become spiritually one with Jesus in Baptism and so through him, with him and in him, we become God’s beloved children in whom He finds delight! The Scriptures assure us that God delights over you, delights over me, delights over each one of us personally. And, you see, it’s our conscious awareness of this total love that God has for each one of us that moves us from the inside out. It inspires us to want to live in a way that delights Him in return. 

So often, too often, we get it backwards and think we have to earn God’s love. We go by the experiences of our human relationships and so we think that we have to be good, we have to prove our worthiness for God to love us. But it’s not that way with God at all. He loves us freely, totally and unconditionally simply because we are his. From all eternity he foresaw each one of us - knowing full well the good and the not so good within us - and he so fell in love with what he saw that he called each one of us into existence at the proper time. And as if that wasn’t already enough, he then sent his very own beloved Son into the world as our Savior so that we could be freed from sin, have flesh and blood proof of his love, and choose to live with him forever. 

If we compare the life of Christ to a book, I t think we could say that staying at Christmas would be like never getting past the first chapter of that book. Never getting caught up in its dramatic plot of interesting characters, miraculous cures, and powerful teachings. Never reaching the exciting apex of its conclusion with the stunning events of Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday. So you see, the Baptism of Jesus follows upon the heels of Christmas and Epiphany because it sets us up for the rest of the story. Through the liturgy where the Gospel is read, we will learn week by week more and more about the marvelous and awesome things that God has done and still does for us through the Christmas Gift that is Jesus Christ.

Presenting our Own Magi Gifts to the Lord

 

Deacon David Previtali · Presenting our Own Magi Gifts to the Lord

Homily for the Solemnity of the Epiphany, January 2, 2022. Gospel - Mt. 2:1-12. Theme: Presenting Our Own Magi Gifts to the Lord 

Today we celebrate the Epiphany, a Christmastime feast that is second only to the Birth of Jesus. Epiphany, is a Greek word meaning “manifestation” or "revelation". It's a moment of sudden enlightenment, an illumination of truth, an experience of having an insight into the utter reality about something or someone. Today’s Gospel presents us with the Magi, astrologers from foreign lands, who were given an epiphany, a revelation, an enlightenment, an illumination, an insight into the reality about who the Newborn King really was. 

Through their investigation of the ancient Hebrew prophecies, the Magi discovered clues as to the identity of the Child of the Bethlehem Star. Their study of the Scriptures had informed them that this child would be specially connected with God, he would come from the Royal Family of King David, and be hailed as the Lord’s Messiah, the Lord's Anointed One. With trust in the Scriptures and fueled by determination, they took off on a long journey to Israel. They also took with them the Epiphany gifts that are so familiar to us: gold for royalty; incense for divinity; and myrrh for anointing. 

However, the Magi’s journey to pay homage to the Newborn King will remain only ink on a page, only an alluring Christmastime story found in the Gospels, if it doesn’t come to life by inspiring us to live what it teaches. We must do more than simply recall and retell the story. It should move us to see and acknowledge Christ’s identity and bow down to him as King, God and Messiah of our lives. It should move us to offer him our own gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but each in our own way for they are meant to be expressions of our own personal relationship with Christ. With this in mind, let's take a different look at those gifts... 

The first gift the Magi gave to Jesus was gold. Gold is a precious treasure of great worth that people hold on to for security because of its enduring value. What can we give to Christ that is of immense value to us, something that is precious to us like gold and that we do not easily give away? I believe it’s our heart, our innermost self, that which we keep so carefully guarded. We only open our hearts up to someone who has proven their love for us, to someone whom we know will not reject us. Jesus is indeed that person for you and for me. He has put aside the power and glory of his divinity to become a little Child destined to offer himself in sacrifice to prove the depths of his love for us. He has earned our trust and so we can give him the gift of our hearts, of ourselves, as our Magi gift of precious gold. 

The second gift of the Magi was frankincense. Incense is used by every culture for prayer and to worship God. The ascending smoke of incense along with its pleasant aroma symbolizes the rising up of our prayers to the Lord, from whom all good things come. The Wise Men recognized that in some mysterious way Christ was God-come-in-the-flesh and so they bowed down before him. For us today, this reality of God-come-in-the-flesh is found in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. With the reverence of the Magi we can offer Christ the frankincense of our worship, the rising up of our prayers, especially when we come before him at Mass. Just as the Magi fell prostrate before the Holy Child on Mary’s lap, so we can kneel before Him on the altar and in the tabernacle. Our Eucharistic worship, the adoration of God-in-the-flesh through this sacrament, can be our version of the Magi gift of frankincense. 

Lastly, we come to the third gift of myrrh, a spice-ointment used for anointing the deceased. This gift transcends time for a moment and takes us to the saving death of the Lord. You see, the name “Jesus” means Savior and the title of “Christ” means the Anointed One. So this third gift reveals that the Jesus is Lord and Savior, who began his mission of healing and renewing human nature by his holy birth. We were also anointed by God. It is so much a part of our religious identity are that we are called “Christian” because this very name means “the anointed ones”. We were anointed at Baptism and Confirmation to bring Christ and his Gospel to others so that they, too, might accept his gift of salvation. And so discipleship, that is, the living out of the Gospel in following Jesus, can be our expression of the Magi gift of myrrh placed before the Holy Child. 

So you see, it’s possible for us to give life to the story of the Magi on planet Earth today. Like them, we can seek Jesus out in the Scriptures and invest whatever time and energy it takes to experience an epiphany of the Lord in our lives. With their same reverence and homage, we can bow down before him to offer the gifts of our hearts, of our worship and of our discipleship. And then like the Magi who changed plans and took a different route home to protect the Newborn King, we may also need to make a change of plans, we might need to reevaluate our lives and find a new way of thinking, a new way of loving, a new way of living that honors Jesus Christ as King, God and Anointed Savior of our lives.