The Epiphany of The Lord – The 3 Magi Visit The Infant Jesus in Bethlehem
Feast day January 6
Today we commemorate and celebrate the day on which the 3 magi or 3 kings traveled from the Orient, following a star to Bethlehem to give homage to the newborn king. Sacred Scripture tells us that the 3 kings brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to honor Our Lord.
Church Fathers tell us that these gifts have symbolic meaning in addition to the expression of honor. The gold symbolized Our Lord’s earthly rule as a king. The frankincense symbolized His divinity as the incense would rise to heaven in prayer, acknowledging Him as God. The myrrh symbolized that one day he would die. Myrrh was used for the anointing of Jesus’ body after His death.
The observance of the feast of the Epiphany was first recorded by Ammianus Marcellinus, a fourth-century Roman historian. It was also the significance of this feast day is God being manifested as a human child, that is, the mystery of the incarnation.
Reflection: We commemorate the event in history in which Our Lord Jesus was acknowledged as king and God and first presented with precious gifts. Thus, it is a day in which we all contemplate that we also are to give our gifts to Our Lord. Christ has given us the most precious gifts of life, grace, and eternal salvation. What gifts will we give Him? He asks us to give him our lives, our families, our relationships, our fear, our joy, our trust, our acceptance of His Will, and most of all our love. What a wonderful way to honor the Infant Jesus in prayer before a beautiful Infant of Prague statue.