Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Kings or Magi represent pagans who are open and searching for the truth. Two words describe their way of life very well: they saw and they came! And they came quickly, not to get anything for themselves; they came only to adore the Child. Probably the journey took many months or even years. It is a sign of a Christian’s spiritual life which takes many years to find Christ and to adore him. When they found him, they venerated him as a King. They prostrated themselves; they bent down to the ground, which people don’t do today. To see my mom yesterday without life lying in bed, I could only kneel down, cry, kiss her and pray. She passed from this world to the next one yesterday morning at six. Her suffering is over. Praise the Lord. I pray she is already with him. I ask your prayers for her soul; offer a Mass or a rosary or whatever!
The Child was born in poverty and weakness but the constellations speak of his glory and splendor. It is something a petty king refuses to see and acknowledge. All the heavens proclaim who he is. All creation announces Christ; it cannot cease to do so. Every snowflake is unique, unrepeatable, like every person, somehow reflecting the image of God.
There is nothing passive about the Kings. They take on an exhausting journey without fear. The Scribes on the other hand cannot go but a few miles over to Bethlehem to see what the Kings announced. Let us not get tired of looking for God, brothers and sisters; he doesn’t impose himself on us, but always waits for us.
Herod doesn’t look up to see the glory of God. He is only concerned with his petty kingdom. He calls Jesus the Christ, but does not accept him for himself. Why should you be threatened by a man who was four feet and four inches tall? How could Bethlehem rival Jerusalem? There is no contest, and yet he is always suspicious and anxious about his kingdom.
Herod accepts the message that the Kings tell him about a star, but he cannot marvel at it; he only pretends to go and worship. Does our knowledge of God lead us to worship him, to bow down before him? This is the only thing that really matters.
The star is as much a character as the Kings, as Herod, as the Child, as Mary. It bears witness to Christ; it announces him. Mary says nothing, not even a pious word. She nurtures, protects and holds her son, and invites us to do the same.
The Kings go home in another way, of course. They are different now; they have met the Lord. The same happens to each one of us when we personally encounter Christ.