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Keeping Watch: Day 36

SUNDAY, JAN 7

Mt 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.

 

Grace: I ask for the grace to know Jesus in a deeper way that I may abundantly love and follow him.

These magi! They have been listening and observing for years. O God, they watched for you in the stars, they inquired among people, they searched for your ways and in searching they were rewarded.

When they found you Jesus, they offered homage, bent down; face to the ground offered you their nothingness. They stretched out before you, a posture of surrender to a greater king. How could they see it? How could they see the great power of a new-born baby?

They opened their treasure to bring you gifts fit only for a priest and king. A gift of gold, signifying illumination, love, compassion, courage—the gold of your kingship. A gift of frankincense, a beautiful scent that releases pain, brings healing—your priesthood. A gift of myrrh, which is used for embalming, perhaps even for wrapping your broken, bleeding body.

These magi! They listened again… “having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.” Jesus, I want to be like the magi, listening, observing and surrendering to you.

 

For Reflection and Prayer:

A life of prayer is a journey. Am I willing to listen, observe and worship, confident that one day I will see God?

Our world loves greatness. Am I willing to embrace the greatness of the least among us? Giving myself is the most generous gift of all.

Which gifts will I give to God this coming New Year?

 

If you would like to continue your contemplation of this theme, you could meditate on this poem:

 

The Journey of the Magi

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

-T.S. Elliot

The Contributor:

Renata Furst teaches scripture and spirituality at Oblate School of Theology. She accompanies others through the journey of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in daily life. She shares this gift to train spiritual directors to accompany others through this same journey.

Learn more about  Magis Ignatian Spirituality Programs


Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner

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