And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ~Matthew 2:10
Thus grace inspired the Magi to bring presents to Him Whom
they sought. It should be the same for us. "Let us who hear the story of
the offering of the Magi," says St. Ambrose, "learn how
to open our treasures and present like offerings." Each time that we draw
near to Christ, let us, like the Magi, bring Him presents, but presents that
are magnificent, that are, like theirs, worthy of Him to Whom we offer them.
You may perhaps say: we have neither gold, nor frankincense,
nor myrrh. That is true; but we have what is better, we have much more precious
treasures, the only ones, moreover, that Christ, our Saviour and our King,
expects from us.
Do we not offer gold to Christ when by a life full of love
and fidelity to His commands, we proclaim that He is the King of our hearts?
Do we not present frankincense when we believe in His
Divinity, and confess it by our adoration and prayers?
In uniting our humiliations, our sufferings, our sorrow and
tears to His, do we not bring Him myrrh?
And if, of ourselves, we are destitute of these things, let
us ask Our Lord to enrich us with the treasures that are pleasing to Him; He
possesses them in order to give them to us.
This is what Christ Jesus Himself made known to St.
Mechtilde, one feast of the Epiphany, after she had received Communion. "Behold," said He, "I give thee gold, that is to say My Divine love;
frankincense, that is all My holiness and devotion; finally myrrh, which is the
bitterness of My Passion. I give them to thee to such an extent that thou
mayest offer them as gifts to Me, as if they were thine own property."
~from Christ in His Mysteries by Dom Columba Marmion, O.S.B.
O Divine Child of Bethlehem, help me never to forget that I would have nothing to give You but that You have first given Yourself to me. Amen.
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