“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.”
They entered into a poor house, seeing a poor maiden, with a Child in simple wrappings, and they fell down and adored Him. The Holy Spirit opened their hearts, so enlivened by faith, to such a tender presence. They found the King they sought, wrapped in the loving arms of Mary, and those who followed the little star find themselves before Infinite Love. Their treasures are of particular note here, for the gold befits a King, frankincense a God, and myrrh for one that has died. These Magi then give rise to the regality, divinity, and mystery of the life and death of Jesus Christ. These can also be representative in this way: Gold signifies wisdom, frankincense represents prayer, and myrrh penance. When these are kept for God alone, and offered to Him with adoration, it means that all three spring from a place of love. It is said of St. Anthony of the Desert that a man approached him, wondering that the stranger practiced much harsher asceticism that Anthony, yet Anthony was the more lauded. In reply, he said, “This is because I love God more than you do.” It is not in great learning, long prayers, or rigorous penances that make for an offering pleasing to the King, but in solemn adoration and the gift of yourself. The scent of love all can recognize, and in being obedient to the Catholic faith, “you have the unction from the Holy One, and know all things” (1 John 2:20). To love wisely and express it often far surpasses many books read and courses taken; “thy breasts”, that is, your acts of love from the heart, “are better than wine,” (Song 1:1), that is, doctrine. Praying from the heart, telling the Lord how much you love Him, then hearing His loving voice in return saying such things as, “How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou” (Song 4:1) is a beautiful prayer, and one of these eclipses many long hours said with a hard heart. Finally, love itself purifies from all iniquity, “A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts” (Song 1:12). This means that, with the love of God solemnly set, when you know that God loves you, and that you know you love Him, the desire for what is vain or sinful disappears, for sin arises from a place where your heart has not been loved properly. When this is mended by God’s perfect love, then you can make a true offering of the treasure that you are, with the wisdom of knowing how to love rather than in great learning; prayer from the heart that truly reaches to the beloved with affection, “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth” (Song 1:1); and the penance of a sinless life, which arises from a heart that knows it is loved. This, Theophila, o loved by God, is the treasure of a heart made beautiful by the love of God, who adorns His beloved with many spiritual riches: “We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver” (Song 1:10). There is no gift more pleasing to Jesus than your own heart, beautified by His love within it.