The magi in the gospel story today thought they were giving this child some priceless material gifts -- gold fit for a king, incense for his worship of God, and myrrh for his proper burial -- but as it turns out, it was the child Jesus who gave them the best gift of all, and that is the supernatural gift of faith and the keys that would unlock heaven’s gate for the whole Gentile world. Just think… God used the astrological skills of unsuspecting pagans to draw the whole world, us included, to Christ. The story of the astrologers, the wise men from the East, teaches us many lessons… among them, that Christ is a savior for everybody in the world, regardless of how they worship; that Christ has a way of drawing people to himself like a magnet, even when they don’t realize it; and that the light of faith always leads us to Christ and his grace, many times in surprising ways.
May our celebration of the Eucharist on Epiphany Sunday help us all to detect Christ’s surprising presence in our lives and to go wherever he draws us!