EPIPHANY 2019
YEAR OF THE
YOUTH
JANUARY 6,
2019
Jesus, I trust in you!
Today is literally the 12th
day of Christmas. This year, January 6 is the 1st Sunday of the
month. We get to celebrate this year Epiphany as the 12th day of
Christmas, as the carol says it should be. The magi who saw the star rising in
the east, went to Bethlehem to pay homage to the new-born king of the Jews.
They offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They offered gold because the
child is the King of the Jews. They offered frankincense because he is God. Up
until this point, we understand the propriety of the gifts. But one strange
thing that they offered is myrrh. Myrrh is oil which Jews use to anoint the
dead. In their effort to delay the decomposition of a corpse, they anoint it
with myrrh. As a gift to a new born king, myrrh seemed inappropriate because it
speaks of death which is way beyond the concern of those who rejoice over the
birth of a baby.
And yet, the myrrh speaks of the
very mission of God incarnate. It prophesies the death of Jesus which is the
very purpose why he came down and appeared to us here on earth. It speaks of
the uniqueness of Jesus as both King and God.
The magi disturbed Jerusalem with
their question: “Where is the new born King of the Jews? We have seen his star
at its rising and have come to pay him homage.” They called Jesus “King of the
Jews”. In this same manner, Pontius Pilate prepared a sign to be affixed on the
Cross of Jesus. The sign would read: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
Where is the King of the Jews? He is up there hanging on the Cross for us. This
makes Jesus unique as King. Subjects usually are prepared to die for their
king. But Jesus is the King who dies for us his subjects.
One of the reasons why Jesus was
condemned to die was because he called God his Father. In doing so, he made
himself equal to God. Jesus claimed that he is divine. He knew that such a
claim would lead him to death but he said, “If I do not say this, I will be a
liar.” Worshippers kill a victim to offer their gods. But Jesus offered himself
upon the wood of the Cross as a sacrifice in atonement for our sins. He who is
God, is both priest and victim.
Jesus is King who dies for his
subjects. Jesus is God who offers himself as a sacrifice. This fact that our
King and God would be crucified and die on the Cross baffles the very logic of
the world. It is so absurd that even our president could not understand it:
“Paano ka makakaconcentrate kung yung Diyos mo ay nakapako sa krus…P I…ako
diyos mo…ipapako mo? Ako…sasabihin ko: lightning, sunugin mo silang lahat!” The
myrrh does not seem to blend with the gold and frankincense. But that is the
logic of man. It is the logic of the world which to God is mere foolishness.
To the Jews, the Cross is a
stumbling block. To the Gentiles, the Cross is an absurdity. But to those who
are being saved, the Cross is the wisdom and the power of God. The myrrh
dignifies the gold and glorifies the frankincense. Christ on the Cross is a
King like no other. Christ on the Cross is God who has no equal. The reason why
all of us belong to him is because he bought us at the price of his blood. We
were redeemed by his death and resurrection. Therefore, in the persons of the
magi, let us kneel before his cradle bed and pay him homage. Let us offer him
the shining gold of our faith and charity. Let us offer him the frankincense of
our humble worship. But most of all, let us offer him the myrrh of our
self-abnegation. Let us die to ourselves for him who loved us and gave up his
life for us.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to the
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