Gifts for He Who Was Gifted to Us

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.

They traveled a long way following a star.  The Magians were a priestly caste that came from Persia. They were known for studying the stars and trying to predict based on their movement what would be happening in their world. While they were not particularly good at predicting things, they were good at studying the sky. When they had seen the new star arise they interpreted it that it meant that there was to be a new king of the Jews.  If a new king was born, they would go to him and bring gifts.  It would have been interesting being with them during this journey, sitting around the campfire at night and listening to their conversation.  They were very well-educated men, as close to scientists as you could get in that era. After many days of travel, they arrived in Jerusalem, the capital of the Israelite people, under the "protection" of Rome, of course.  They were seeking a new-born king. Now, where does one go to find a new-born king?  Why one would go to the place where a king would call home, a palace.  And so, they arrived at Herod's palace and as diplomats from a land far away, they were granted an audience with the king.  

What can we say about King Herod?  Well, he was born a Jew and yet he was very supportive of the Romans who granted him the title of king.  He was not known for his poetry and songwriting ability, but rather, he was known to be a despot and provided his own job security by cow-towing to the Romans and slaughtering anyone whom he thought might be after his job, this included family.  It was a common saying among the Romans that it was safer to be Herod's pig than to be Herod's son. When he greeted his visitors and they asked him where the newborn king of the Jews was, I would imagine that Herod started boiling inside.  He asked his guests to let him know where the newborn king was so he could worship as well. Worship? 

The three (number of wise men assumed from tradition, the Gospels are silent on how many) men made their way to Bethlehem, whose name means "House of Bread" and found the child and the parents in a stable and laid in a manger, the trough used for feeding the animals.  They must have been mystified since they had just come from the magnificent palace of Herod who seemed to know so little about this newborn king.  Inside their hearts, they knew that they were looking at a special baby.  Remember, while our pictures and tableaus of the birth of Jesus have people bumping halos as they walked about, in fact, the child and family were quite ordinary.  We know this too because if there had been something special about Mary and Joseph, a room would have been found for them in one of the inns.  So, the wise men gazed upon the child and as He was a king they followed oriental custom and presented Him gifts. 

They presented Him with gold, for gold is the gift that a king would appreciate the most.  With gold, you could outfit an army, or furnish your palace. Gold is what a king had a lot of. The gold symbolizes the kingship of Christ. 

Next, they presented Him frankincense, a fragrant substance collected from the bark of trees.  This symbolized the priesthood of Jesus. The prayers of Jesus would rise like incense up to the Father. 

Finally, they presented Him with myrhh.  Myrhh is not a traditional gift given to babies.  It is kind of an oily liquid frankincense, very fragrant, very costly, and it was used in the preparation of a corpse for burial. Just the perfect thing to give a newborn baby!  Today, the closest thing we have to compare with myrhh is embalming fluid.  So this gift was very unusual, to say the least.  It symbolized the saving death that Jesus was to undergo for us.

After presenting the gifts, they probably spoke with the proud parents for a brief time and then made their way back to their camp where they discussed the day's events.  In the morning they would go to Herod and tell him exactly where to find the newborn King of the Jews so that he could worship too.  They turned in for the night and each of them was told in a dream to not visit Herod again, so they left using another route that would allow them to bypass Jerusalem.  This breach of protocol failed to please Herod, and after the Holy Family was warned in a dream to leave, and actually left for Egypt, Herod committed infanticide in that little town of Bethlehem to hopefully protect his reign. And so, it begins.

Give the gift of prayer to a deceased loved one who may be in Purgatory today.  They are depending on those still alive to help them.  Please do not abandon them. 

Living The Life

COL 3:12-17

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 
bearing with one another and forgiving one another, 
if one has a grievance against another; 
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love, 
that is the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, 
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, 

as in all wisdom, you teach and admonish one another, 

singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs 

with gratitude in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, 

do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Family, like it or not, we all have one.  It was God's intention to populate the world with them.  I believe that the idea behind them was that each of us would have a small group of people that we could always rely on to be there for us and show us the love that we needed to feel fully and totally human.  For many years this concept seemed to be working very well.  The idea is sound as is the principles behind it.  Today, in our modern world, we seem to place less importance on the family and the results are easy to see in our homes.  For example, when I was growing up in the sixties and seventies, when dinner time came around we were expected to be there and we gathered around the dinner table and shared our meal together.  It was not consumed in front of the television.  Eating and watching television was, at that time, in my family, mutually exclusive activities. We sat around the table and as we ate we shared our day, we told stories, we laughed.  When we were done, mom or dad would excuse us from the table so we could go back to being kids again. This is just one example of how the family unit is to support its members.   There are others. We all did chores to keep the family happy, mine was taking out the garbage every day.  My sisters set the table and did small chores to help mom out.  I mowed the grass when my father asked me to do it, although he had a thing for grass mowing and he really did prefer to do it himself. 

I can imagine the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph all working together in the family home. Joseph teaching Jesus all he could about the woodworking business and Mary helping Jesus with his lessons. They are the prototype for what a family is to be.  Most families today would have to work some to rise to their level. 

I don't have a family of my own anymore.  My two sisters and one brother, for some reason, do not want me to be a part of their life and so I have stepped away from them so as to allow them to be happy without considering me. I still love them and I pray for them all of the time and my heart is saddened because I do not know what I have done to turn them against me.  Even though I share my wife's extended family and they are all good and friendly people, it is not the same as having a group of people that you know so intimately because you grew up with them. I miss that connection. 

So, if up today you have not realized how fortunate you are to have a person or group of people that you can call family, think of them today.  Sure, there can be no more annoying people on this earth, but come what may, you know you love them.  On this feast of the Holy Family, think about your extended family and if you can, reach out to them and let them know how warmly you love them.  If this is not possible, then you need to pray for their well-being and prosperity.  Because like it or not we all have a family that was given to us by God and one way or another, we have to love them for who they are.   God bless you on this feast day and I look forward to welcoming you to a new year tomorrow. 

Do you know someone in Purgatory?  Not sure?  Then pray for them anyway.  If they are in Purgatory the prayers will help them and if not they will go to some other poor soul who needs it.  No prayer is ever wasted when it is directed to help the poor souls.  Besides, as they are today, someday you might also be! 

According to tradition, St. Gertrude the Great was told by Our Lord that the following prayer, each time she piously recited it, would release 1,000 souls (or a vast number) from their suffering in purgatory:

“Eternal Father,
I offer You the most precious blood
of thy Divine Son, Jesus,
in union with the Masses said
throughout the world today,
for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
for sinners everywhere,
for sinners in the universal Church,
for those in my own home,
and in my family. Amen.”

A Storm In Bethlehem

Gospel MT 2:13-18

When the magi had departed, behold,                                                          

the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,      
"Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him."
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,  Out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.


At the time of the birth of Jesus, Bethlehem was a small and very insignificant town. The name means House of Bread and Jesus was born in a stable and his crib was the manger, the place where the animals would go to get their food. We think of the place as silent, innocent, a great place to be born and raised.  Then enters king Herod, an evil despot whose whole mission in life was to keep his job as king.  You can imagine the rage that built up in him when he realized that the magi were not coming back to tell him where to find the so-called new King of the Jews.  But, he had a solution.  He did not know who, but he did know where.  He dispatched his soldiers and told them to kill every boy-child two years of age and younger.  Herod felt that this would surely end the reign of this upstart who had designs upon his throne.  And so it happened as he commanded.  We are not sure how many boys were killed that day but we know that the child that would one day die for our sins upon a cross was able to escape to Egypt. 

These boys were the first martyrs for they were victims of a persecution against Christ. These children died in place of the Christ child and in doing so saved His life. Herod was satisfied with the blood spilled in that little town and was sure that his reign was safe.  Of course, his rule was never in any danger from the Gentle Child.  Jesus did not come to rule a physical kingdom but rather He came to rule our hearts.  Our hearts must ache when we think of the blood spilled over the ages in the name of Christ. He did not come that we might shed blood in His name, no,  He came that we all may be one as He and the Father are one and learn to live as one people with one God and Father above and heaven as our inheritance. He prayed for this unity at the Last Supper. 

What we learn from the slaughter of the innocents is that we should always be ready to defend and explain our faith and we should do this without thinking of the consequences.  In this world today there are many like Herod who do not want the truth of the Gospel spread and like Herod, they will reach into their bag of tricks and do what they can to stifle the growth of the kingdom.  But we walk into the future, whatever it may hold, secure in the knowledge that God has already won the ultimate victory.  

Lent - Risking It All

Today, believe it or not, marks nine months from Christmas!  It is also the day we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation.  This is an exciting feast day for all Christians, although many of those in Protestant denominations fail to see the full significance of it. The Angel Gabriel came to a young girl in a small, out of the way, insignificant town, and told her that she had found favor with the Lord. He uses these words, "Hail Mary, full of grace..."  With these words, the angel announced that Mary was full of grace.  When something is full, you cannot fit any more into it. The angel goes on to announce that Mary will be the mother of the Messiah. For her part, Mary, full of grace, with her heart fully turned to God, accepts.  Her "Yes" is the beginning of the life of Jesus on earth. No sooner had she given her consent, when inside of her Jesus began to take on human nature. 

Today we do not grasp the danger she put herself in. Today, our morals are more, shall we say relaxed.  In our world, nothing is thought of pregnancy before marriage.  I am not saying this to judge anyone, it is just a fact. In the time of the Messiah, there was a long courtship period when the couple was said to be betrothed to one another, in effect they were man and wife in the eyes of the law. This period would be used by the husband to prepare a home for his bride. The man and woman had the rights to sleep together but the normal thing was to wait until the wedding. 

From the moment of Mary's "Yes," she was pregnant. What did she do? She left to visit Elizabeth and stayed there three months, coming back three months along in her pregnancy.  She told Joseph and he must have almost died because the one he loved appeared to have been unfaithful. He could go to the priests and denounce her or he could pay to have her transported elsewhere to have her child. If he told the priests there would have been a quick examination of Mary and when found to be pregnant she would have been condemned to death by stoning.  Joseph was a man full of love for Mary and he resolved to have her sent away to have the child. He later was filled in by God in a dream and he took her into his home and they were man and wife.  Both of them risked everything but they also took God at His word and the story of our salvation and God's infinite love for his wayward children moved forward. 

Each of us is here on earth because there is a mission that we have to complete. This mission cannot be done by another.  We may be asked to take a risk for the Kingdom. The question is simply; "Are you ready?"  So many of our brothers and sisters have been asked to shed blood for the faith in the middle east where Christianity took up root and prospered from the earliest time. These modern-day martyrs risked their all in the name of God and His Son, Jesus.

So, like Mary and Joseph, are you ready to turn your world upside down if God asks you to do something?  Do you want to remain safe and secure or are you a risk taker for the Kingdom?