Where is the newborn King

We are like the Magi. All through our life, we search for God. Well, we might not be as learned and wise. We might not know the science of astrology. But we are tempted to think we’ve got something over them and that is, we are Christians; The Magi were Gentiles. They were not among the "chosen people", or Jews. In those days, yes, Judaism was the religion, something to be proud of. The princes of Juda despised the Gentiles and would never get an inch of their way. As they are of the true God, the Jews wouldn’t have anything to do with them unbelievers. The Jews – a people chosen to prepare the Kingdom of the promised Messiah, to wait for Him, to welcome Him, as they expected He would descend from the firmament with pomp and grandeur, with the blare of trumpets, and the flourish of pageantry.

Now it’s Christianity we are proud of. Outside of our religion are the idolaters, unbelievers, pagans. We wouldn’t have anything to do with them; neither would we get an inch of their way. But listen to what A. Camps, O.F.M. has to say: ". . . We are no longer in a position to deny the salvific value of the different ways and paths the Creator has offered to all of us. All human beings have been created in the image of God and they are His children. There is a need for translating this insight into practice by stressing what we have in common and by joining forces. However, one cannot continue to evangelize motivated by the conviction that for example all non-Christian religions are idolatry or that only Christians go to heaven. In this respect we need a new evangelization."

Strange and mysterious are the ways of God that these Magi believed to be learned kings were the ones engaged in the study of Messiahnism. To these Gentile Kings of God revealed the mystery of the virgin birth of a Baby Who is King, Who is going to save His people. God chose a Star to shine along their way while it beckoned to them to set out on that holy journey in search of God Whom they found a lovable babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Henceforth wherever the story of the Magi is told, the action of the Star that led them to the feet of the newborn King would always be the symbol of faith leading to the discovery of Jesus, the Savior. The story of the Magi finds its deepest meaning in man’s continuous search for God in human form.

Where is the newborn King? Now we know the answer from the stable where the mystery of the first Christmas happened, the mystery which we now celebrate as Epiphany, the manifestation of the Son of God to all men represented by the Magi. Man’s continuous search for God goes on. As the Magi discovered the newborn king in the utter poverty on the manger in Bethlehem, in the chastity of the virginal motherhood of Mary and Jesus’ foster-father Joseph, in their humble obedience to the Will of God even in the face of the most puzzling circumstance. We also find Him in the lowliest of hearts, selfless, stripped of its pride. We find Him in the pure of heart for only the pure of heart see God. We find Him among the poor, those who hunger and thirst for holiness, those who suffer persecution for justice’s sake. We find God in the faces of the sick, the suffering, the broken-hearted, those who have nobody to comfort them in their loneliness. We find God in the aged, the blind and the disabled. In a word, we find God in poverty, chastity and obedience. We find God in ourselves if we are willing to accept our own poverty, so we can accept the gift of each other in our lives – the gift which is most precious to us which we give back to Him in offering. Like the Magi, we offer the traditional homage to a King – the gold of our talents, the incense of our achievements, the myrrh of our humanity. And like the Magi, we find the newborn King as we fall on our knees in adoration.

Epiphany of the Lord, Mt. 2:1-12