The Gospel according to St. Matthew, ii. 1–12
"When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, behold, there came Wise Men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to adore Him. And King Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the Scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet: And thou Bethlehem the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the Captain that shall rule My people Israel. Then Herod, privately calling the Wise Men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them; and sending them into Bethlehem said: Go and diligently inquire after the Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him. Who having heard the king, went their way; and behold the star which they had seen in the East went before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 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. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country."
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will meditate tomorrow upon the vocation of the Magi, and we will consider: 1st, the gratuity of this vocation; 2nd, the marvellous effects of this vocation. We will then make the resolution: 1st, often to thank God, during the day, by frequent outbursts of love for our vocation to the faith in the person of the Magi; 2nd, to lead a better life worthy of our holy vocation. We will retain as our spiritual nosegay the words of Our Lord: “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you” (John xv. 16).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us transport ourselves in spirit to the stable of Bethlehem, and let us there admire the Infant Jesus, impelled by His love to communicate to the Gentiles the blessing of His coming. A little after His birth, He sends a star to the Magi to call them to Him; He sees in them the first-fruits and the vanguard of the whole of the Gentiles who will come in their train and participate in the grace of redemption; each one of us is present to His thoughts and to His love. Let us thank Him for so much goodness; let us thank Him for such love.
FIRST POINT
Gratuity of the Vocation of the Magi.
Happy were the Magi to have been the first to be initiated into the great secret of God respecting the vocation of the Gentiles, that is to say, of every one of us. It was the belief at that time that Judea alone enjoyed the privilege of the promises made to the Messias; by means of the vocation of the Magi it was manifest that all the nations had a share in it (Eph. iii. 4–6). Then commenced to shine forth the meaning of the magnificent announcement, which promised the empire of the world to Jerusalem, that is to say, to the Church, of which this city was the type, and which invited her to look upon all her children hastening to her from Madia and Epha. Then we might say with the Church of Paris, “Bethlehem becomes today the cradle of the new-born Church” (Hymn of the Epiphany). But whence came this happiness to the Magi? It was not from their own merits; for without faith there is no merit; besides we do not know that they had done anything more than millions of other Gentiles. Their happiness, then, had its source in the gratuitous choice of God, who, in calling them, consulted only His love and not their merits (Rom. ix. 16). And it is thus that He always conducts Himself at the present day with respect to ourselves. Why were we not born in paganism, in heresy, in schism, in a family possessing no religion or morals, of which there are so many, and where we should have been lost? It is to the gratuitous mercy of God that we are debtors. Wherefore, more than others, have we received a Christian education, more efficacious succors of grace, more light and more faith, more good counsels and good examples? O wholly gratuitous predilection of our God! can we ever thank Thee enough, love Thee sufficiently? Blessed be God, who in Jesus Christ has predestined us to be His children by a decree of His own good pleasure, in order that the praise and the glory of it may be given entirely to His grace (Eph. i. 3, et seq.). Yes, my God, we confess it, if we are not lost we owe it to Thy mercy (Lam. iii. 22). “By the grace of God I am what I am” (I. Cor. xv. 10). May I be able to add with Thy Apostle: His grace in me hath not been void, but I have labored more abundantly than all they (Ibid.).
SECOND POINT
Marvellous Effects of the Vocation of the Magi.
The Magi, before the appearance of the star, lived in the darkness of paganism, and probably their life left much to be desired. But as soon as they had seen the star, and had listened to the grace which called them, they were converted, they left all, in order to belong entirely to Jesus Christ, and gave themselves up to grace in order to follow it with simplicity and courage. From that moment they were no longer men belonging to this world, but men who were wholly heavenly; they lived and died as saints, so that during eighteen centuries the Church has rendered them public worship, and honors them with the title of saints. The cathedral at Cologne preserves their bodies with reverence, and the faithful love to go and pray before their venerable remains. Wherefore do we not correspond as they did to our holy vocation? Wherefore are we so attached to this world? Wherefore not leave it, at least in affection, despising what it esteems, esteeming what it despises, hating what it loves, and loving what it hates? Wherefore, after so many solicitations addressed to us by grace, do we still listen to the lukewarmness which keeps us back, to the caprice which is full of change, to idleness which will not allow itself to be disturbed, and to self-love which idolizes itself? May the beautiful example of the Magi wake us at last and make us enter upon a better life.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.