Praised be Jesus Christ! Now that Advent has begun it behooves us to think about Jesus’ imminent birth and how we can best prepare ourselves spiritually. Maybe you’re reading the Infancy Narrative in Saint Luke’s Gospel or you’ve decided to cut out social media so as to have more silence for recollection and prayer. Others are going to daily Mass more often and making sure they’ve made a good confession. I wonder if anyone is praying the “Christmas Novena” that was in the bulletin last weekend? The goal is to be spiritually prepared so as to enter more deeply into the mystery of Christmas and all that it means for us and the whole world. The Magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh – you know these were gifts that were usually given to honor a king or deity in the ancient world. A closer look reveals some deeper truths that can inspire us to take a step forward in our faith. For example, frankincense is “an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes , ” and symbolizes the potency of our prayers. Psalm 141 describes this beautifully: “ Let my prayer rise like incense before thee, (Psalm 141:2). The Eastern churches use incense with much greater regularity than we do and that makes its presence in our churches at Christmas and Easter all the more significant. Now the meaning of incense is sometimes misunderstood. I’ll never forget the story of the little school girl who came into church and smelled incense. She immediately turned to her friend and said, “ Do you smell that? Somebody died! ” Yes, incense is used frequently at funerals and fittingly reminds us of the separation of the soul from the body at death. For many people, the smell of incense is jarring and sometimes causes serious coughing fits. Personally, I think the vast quantities of incense that I’ve inhaled over the years has both maintained my health and improved my voice! In all seriousness, incense is meant to not only give praise to God, but to physically alert us to His Presence among us. The whole point of Christmas is the marriage that takes place between Heaven and earth. “ He Whom the World could not contain, Love imprisons here ” is the best inscription I’ve ever seen on a Tabernacle and it reminds us that at Christmas “ The Word became flesh and dwells among us ,” (John 1:14). We now call God “Emmanuel” because He truly is “God with us.” And while God’s Presence is mysterious and somewhat hidden, the use of incense reminds us that “Bidden or unbidden, God is present here.” For example, in the Mass Jesus is present in four ways: 1) preeminently in the Eucharist, 2) in the Word of God, 3) in the priest, who is in persona Christi capitis , and 4) in the people, who are members of the Body of Christ. The gift of incense from the Magi implied their belief that Jesus was destined to be a king and this was something that God Himself had revealed to them. What impresses us about the Magi is that they were so seized by the truth of Jesus’ birth that they willingly left the comfort of their daily lives to set out on an incredibly dangerous journey. They teach us that God deserves our best, but that reaching Him will cost us something. One of the first gifts we can give God is our presence at His sacrifice on the altar, in other words by attending Mass. Yes, it can be an inconvenience and we might have other things we’d rather be doing. Advent means He’s coming and we’re invited to meet Him every Sunday in the Mass. As G.K. Chesterton once pointed out, “ The Mass is long and boring, unless you really love God .” Maybe this Advent we can begin to love Him as the Magi did, even to the point of inconvenience and suffering. May God bless our efforts to prepare for His Son’s birth with deep faith, hope, and love!
Your friend in Christ,
Father Martin
Your friend in Christ,
Father Martin
RSS Feed
