This morning I found myself thinking about kings. Not surprising, since it's Epiphany Sunday. We sang "We Three Kings," and Andrew explained the galette des rois to the children. One of our readings was about King Herod trying to protect his throne by finding the young Messiah. But what especially struck me this morning was how undeserving the child-king Jesus was of those gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Perhaps because I've been feeling undeserving lately of all the gifts I've received, but it struck me that young Jesus hadn't done anything to merit the gifts he was brought. They were truly just "gifts."
Andrew's sermon seemed so relevant this morning. The wonder and awe, the mystery of the miraculous, that is what's it's all about. There are so many things that we don't understand with our mind, that we can only feel in our soul. I don't know why I've been blessed with so many good things: a happy home, health, God's great gift of condescension to mankind... But I do know I can accept them, and keep my eyes open to the wonder and awe of it all.
Maureen.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
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I hadn't thought of that, Maureen, but it's remarkable, isn't it, how the gifts of the magi are a precedent for the gifts Christ Himself offers us: undeserved and unwarranted, but offered out of love.
ReplyDeleteI found myself thinking about how the visit of the magi from distant parts unknown, from an untold foreign religion, is only one of the first ways in which Jesus' ministry reaches beyond the boundaries of religion and culture. Called "King of the Jews", His salvation is for all humankind. We first see that universal message in the travel of those Eastern mystics.
I found myself thinking even further into Jesus' ministry and how, over and over, the people who are 'outside' are the ones most receptive to His message or to whom His message is revealed. Women, gentiles, sinners...and we begin with the Magi. So much symbolism in the stories of our Saviour: it's wonderful to pick them apart and learn new truths, new messages of Good News every liturgical year.