Gifts of the Magi (Epiphany C)

Christmas gift-giving in the early centuries was originally done on the Feast of Epiphany understandably on account of the Magi’s presentation of gifts to the infant Jesus as we hear in the Gospel reading today.  With our present practice though, all the exchanging of gifts have been done by now and what’s left probably are the piles and litters of gift wrappers and boxes in our rooms (or in my room particularly).

But we can still take this Feast of Epiphany as an opportunity to make sense of our experience of gift-giving on Christmas.  Is there still sense to it?

The Lettermen’s “What Can I Give You this Christmas?” is one of my favourite Christmas songs. Some lines stand out for me as meaningful:

What can I give you this Christmas?
Not a thing that I’ve seen will do
So I’ll give you my heart and my own true love
That will last the whole year through.

I resonate not so much with the Lettermen’s genre as with the song’s expression of the existential ache common to us all to give no less our heart when we love.  Love compels us to give. One cannot love without giving. Giving is an act of love. Gifts then are signs of love, symbols of our hearts.  Oftentimes, however, we find the Christmas exchange of gifts a mere routine for merry-making, an activity to fill in the Christmas parties we have organized.  So that after all the parties, the real gift-giving happens in a less conspicuous way when we approach the people we truly care for and hand them what represents our love for them or when we quietly reach out  in charity to those who are less fortunate.

In today’s gospel (Mt. 2:1-12), the wise men from the east inspire our practice of gift-giving.  After travelling far and wide in search of the Lord, the Magi, led by a brightly shining star, found the infant Jesus 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” (v. 11).

Again, gifts are symbols of love.  In this particular event, the gifts of the Magi highlighted the great irony in the history of salvation:  The pagan people, represented by the wise men from the east, had come to express their love to Jesus and to receive the Messiah while the chosen people of Israel who had been waiting for their promised saviour would eventually hate and reject him.

Gold is a gift befitting a king for gold stands as the king of metals. With this gift the Magi expressed their love and acceptance of Jesus as King. This was in stark contrast to the evil intent of Herod, Israel’s King, against the child whom he saw as threat to his kingship. The frankincense, moreover, is high quality incense, the aroma and smoke of which goes up heavenward and exudes divinity.  With this gift, the magi expressed their love and worship of Jesus as God.  The God of Israel became then the God of all nations.  The third gift, myrrh, is used as a perfume in the preparation of the dead for burial. This gift foreshadowed the passion and death of our Lord as human being. With this gift, the magi expressed their love and acceptance of the humanity of Jesus and his obedience unto death.

On this Feast of Epiphany then, we may do well to pose some reflective questions pertaining to our experience of gift-giving this Christmas:

What gift did I receive that I am most grateful for? Right now my place is still in shambles as I come back from Christmas break.  As I start to get rid of the litters of gift wrappers, ribbons, boxes and what not, I realize it is not for a particular gift which has come with the wrappings that I am most thankful.  It is the gift of friendship, of love and of family that has made the Christmas season not just merry but truly happy for me. For others, there may be some outstanding gifts that they can easily be grateful for.  In whatever case, this Feast of Epiphany invites us to relish our sense of gratitude and just be thankful.

What gift have I given that bears the sign of my heart? How have I given this Christmas? Have I given with love? Have I reached out to those who are in need? Our honest answer to this will allow us either to appreciate our own capacity to share and to be selfless or to be aware of our tendency to be close to ourselves and to our own needs.  Let Epiphany be a manifestation for us of our own capacity to give love or our need to grow more in it.

What gift have I given to Jesus who is the be-all-and-end-all of this season? Despite the widespread annual celebration of Christmas, our societies have given way to secularism. God and His precepts have been increasingly brushed aside from public affairs. There is even talk of renaming the Christmas tree into holiday tree to avoid the religious connotation of Christmas! While the present day Herods reject God, can we continue to stand by Jesus as our King, worship Him as our God, love Him and suffer with Him as one among us?

We may have crooned and belted out Christmas songs this season including my favorite, promising to give even our hearts as gift, but the real challenge is that on this Feast of the Epiphany we are called to offer to the Lord once more the gifts of the Magi.