Today’s Solemnity of The Epiphany of the Lord (traditionally celebrated January 6) takes me back 51 years, back to when I was a young scientist embarking on a career in scientific diplomacy. While working in Germany, I had the opportunity to travel to its capital (at that time), Cologne (Köln). There, on the banks of the Rhine River, was the magnificent Kölner Dom—the Cologne Cathedral. Traveling through Europe, almost every church you visited was the home of great relics of saints that either lived in the area or were “appropriated” from other villages to attract pilgrims and tourists. The Kölner Dom is home to the relics of the Magi, about whom we read in today’s Gospel.
I remember wondering, walking through this impressive Cathedral and stopping to pray before the large, golden reliquary containing their mortal remains, who exactly were the Magi? In Catholic tradition, we often hear them referred to as the “three kings.” (“We Three Kings” is a popular Christmas carol which only reinforces the association.) But history isn’t clear who exactly they were. In his book, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, Pope Benedict XVI says that “In the relevant sources, the concept of Magi (mágoi) encompasses a wide range of meanings, from the wholly positive to the wholly negative”.
Benedict recounts a myriad of possibilities: that they were members, perhaps, of the Persian priestly class; practitioners of another religious sect; or perhaps they were astrologers; or philosophers; or, as the name suggests, they might even have been magicians or diviners (a role condemned in the Scriptures). While their exact identity and occupation is obscured by history and legend, other details of their lives we know with certainty. They were non-Jewish foreigners (Gentiles) from the east, seeking after something they saw or heard, about what was taking place in the land of Israel.
More interesting perhaps than the question of who they were, is—why would they be so interested in pursuing some prophecy about a new king in a foreign land? If they were not Jewish, and not part of the people of Israel longing for a savior—why would signs in the sky move them to travel such a long distance to see what awaited them at Bethlehem? And why did THEY see the signs, but the people living in Israel did not? In today’s Gospel (Matthew 2:1-12), King Herod was “greatly troubled” that the Magi had seen these signs, but none of his people had. “None of this would have prompted [the Magi] to set off on a journey, unless they were people of inner unrest, people of hope, people on the lookout for the true start of salvation,” Benedict writes. I want to propose that these three qualities of the Magi—people of inner unrest, people of hope, and people on the lookout for the true start of salvation—are qualities that we might want to cultivate in our own lives!
People of inner unrest. In our culture, we tend to prize inner peace and finding balance. What would it mean to celebrate and even cultivate restlessness of heart as a virtue? For all those who lie awake at night wondering, “is there more to life than this?” For those who hunger for more—who find themselves disturbed by the status quo— know that this disposition is a grace.
People of hope. As we begin a new year, we are naturally filled with expectation for new beginnings, new possibilities. We are hopeful. But as we know, as the year drags on, circumstances and events wear us down. What would it look like to be a people of hope? To keep alive—not a naïve dismissal of the reality of the world around us—but a real sense of wonder and of possibility? An openness to goodness often despite circumstances?
People on the lookout for the true start of salvation. We know that The Wise Men (as they are also called) were in some way religious. Why else would they be attracted to the message of salvation from a foreign God? The Magi invite us to be humble enough to admit that there might be something greater beyond what we currently believe (or don’t believe). God is always greater than the box we put God in! The parents of Jennifer Fulwiler, former atheist now popular Catholic writer and speaker, always told her: “Pursue truth, no matter where it leads.”
We too are invited to pursue Truth, and to open ourselves more fully to the possibility that the Truth we are seeking just might be found in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. What would it look like to open myself more fully to investigate the possibility that in Jesus lies all that I am looking for in life?
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!