We Three Kings of Orient Are. I love Christmas carols – they tell the story of the Birth of Jesus and they are also prayers. As we sing, the lyrics enable us to lift our hearts and voices to the Lord. This carol tells the story of the Epiphany of our Lord. The Epiphany is a beautiful feast; it calls us to meditate on the revelation of Jesus – the Son of God - to the Gentiles. That is you and me! I found myself really focusing on the crèche in our chapel today, seeing the little statues of the Magi in adoration before the manger, trying to put myself with them there, asking the Lord to give me the grace to worship and adore this little child who is God!
Father Peter John Cameron, OP, in his book, Jesus, Present Before Me, (St. Anthony Messenger Press, p. 98) suggests that “the star over the stable was the first sanctuary lamp. By its light, angels, shepherds and kings were drawn to Bethlehem…to adore God-With-Us.” I like to think that the sanctuary light in our chapel – in our churches - draws us too to Jesus, resting in our tabernacles. He is, if you will, “God-always-with-us.”
It seems to me that the Magi travelled at night because the star would not have been visible in daylight. In our darkest moments perhaps we too could follow that light in our churches and kneel before the Lord, bringing him our needs and also our gifts. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Three_Kings)
No comments:
Post a Comment