Matt 2: 7-11 - The Three Wise Men

Matthew 2: 7-11 - The Three Wise Men

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Comment

The Magi came from the East. How did they know about Christ? Probably from the prophecy of Daniel concerning the seventy weeks of years; they counted the revolution of the stars. In any case, they knew, and bought gold because he was king, incense because he was a priest, but also myrrh. That’s the way he was buried, with a hundred pounds of spices and myrrh. What would our mothers have thought if the neighbours bought in embalming fluid when we were born? Everywhere there was the shadow of suffering.

The Cave of Humility
Exiled from the earth, our Lord is born under the earth, for the stable was a cave. He was the first caveman of recorded history, and there he shook the earth to its very foundations. Because he’s born in a cave, all who wish to see him must bend, must stoop, and the stoop is the mark of humility. The proud refuse to stoop. Therefore they miss divinity. Those, however, who are willing to risk bending their egos to go into that cave, find that they are not in a cave at all; but they are in a universe where sits a babe on his mother’s lap, the babe who made the world.

Source: Through the Year with Fulton Sheen