“They Saw the Child”
by Rev. Paul Berghout (@FatherPB)
Piety
Rise up in
splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon
you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but
upon you, the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk
by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Isaiah 60:1-3
You have heard of
the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for your benefit, namely,
that the mystery was made known to me by revelation. Ephesians 3:2-3
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.
Matthew 2:9B-11B
Study
A customer called
the customer service line to complain about a power outage after a big storm,
then stopped raging long enough to ask, “How will I know when my lights are
back on?”
The customer service
agent remained silent for a second, debating about the best way to answer such
an obvious, even ridiculous question.
“How will you
know when your lights are back on?”
Finally, she just
said, “Um, it’ll be brighter than it is now.” The customer hung up on her.
In Isaiah 60, we heard
that darkness covers the earth but then “Your light has come, the glory of the
Lord shines upon you…"
This First Reading
dates from 520 BC, during the return of Israel from the Babylonian exile. The
people are somewhat disillusioned because their jubilant expectations have not
come to pass. So, the Prophet Isaiah begins by using the grammatical past
perfect tense to say that “your light HAS come.”
The past perfect
used in this way is known as “tenses of vision” or the “prophetic perfect.”
Isaiah is assuring us that the message proclaimed will surely come to pass. Am
I living my life in such a way that all the things my faith teaches me will
surely come to pass?
Travel writer Hugh
Morris has an interesting story about the Luxor Sky Beam, the strongest in the
world, on top of the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. It’s a geographic
waypoint for pilots, a backup for GPS and flight instruments when pilots must
look out of their windows.
Do we recognize the
light of Christ symbolized in Christmas lights? The Magi knew the Messiah King
by the light of a star while Herod missed it completely. A babe in a manger.
God stripped away all his power and pyrotechnics and made His message as low-tech
and straightforward as possible so we couldn’t miss the meaning: Jesus is God
made.
When King Herod
heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. It distressed
Herod so much he convened a special meeting of his religious advisors to find out
who this child was.
It forced Herod to
turn to Scripture, where he found that the greatness of Bethlehem will far
outweigh its small size because of the great king who will arise there.
Seeing the star made
the Magi overjoyed.
Joy is a sure sign
of salvation (see Matthew 13:44, Matthew 28:8) – joy envelopes them as they see
once again the star going before them.
Notice the star lead
them to the Bible. Rabbinic literature and Christian faith know more than
astrology knows because Herod’s advisors said, “it is so written,” which means
“the inspired text says” or “for thus it has been written through the prophet.”
So, the Old Testament takes a negative view of astrology and today looking at a
horoscope would be a sin against the First Commandment, which tells us to love
God and trust in Divine Providence instead of trying to get power from
astrology.
The Magi saw the
child with Mary, his mother. No mention of Joseph because Joseph is not Jesus’
biological father, although he was the protector of Jesus and Mary, and hugely
influential. The Christmas scriptures demonstrate that wherever Mary is, there
is the real Jesus.
The Magi worship
Jesus, “They prostrated themselves and did him homage.”
The Church teaches
there are three forms of praise – latria, hyperdulia, and dulia. “Latria”
refers to adoration and worship and is reserved for God alone. Latria means a
reverence directed only to the Holy Trinity. Latria carries an emphasis on the
internal form of worship, rather than external ceremonies.
Repeat after me: Catholics
do not worship Mary.
Catholics do not
worship Mary.
Catholics do not
worship Mary.
“Dulia” is the honor and recognition which we accord
to the saints. “Hyperdulia” is dulia to the superlative degree. We
reserve this level of adoration for Mary alone.
Action
Where is the newborn
King of the Jews? How can I help others to encounter Christ? In the
Eucharist—Bethlehem means House of Bread-- a bit of consecrated bread. “This
will be a sign for you.”
The Magi opened
their treasures. What do I treasure? How
do I share my gifts with those in need?
Speaking of
treasures, Verbum Domini 87 mentions several methods for a faith-filled
and fruitful approach to sacred Scripture. It pays the most significant
attention to Lectio Divina, which is genuinely “capable of opening up to
the faithful the treasures of God’s word, but also of bringing about an
encounter with Christ, the living word of God.”
Reading the Bible on
your own is crucial if you want the real daily treasure.
As the preface for
Epiphany says – “you made us new by the glory of his immortal nature.” And the Liturgy of the Hours in this season
frequently says, “You will see his glory within you… shone anew upon the eyes
of our mind!” which echoes John 11:40 when Jesus said, "Did I not tell you
that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
Lastly, of the Magi,
it says, “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, [the Magi]
departed for their country by another way.
Whom can I rely on
to warn me away from danger and sin? Who gives me an example of following God’s
way?
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