Kings

              Today, we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany. This is the day we celebrate the visitation of the three Magi, or Wisemen, bearing gifts to our newborn Savior. We all know of the lavish gifts these Three Wisemen, or as some refer to them, Three Kings, brought to the King of the Jews. We all would love to be able to give such great gifts but being normal everyday people, our access to gold, frankincense, and myrrh is quite limited.

Could we even afford such gifts? What kind of gifts should we bring? We are not kings. Or are we?

At our Baptism we were anointed priest, prophet, and king. So, in the eyes of Jesus, who completely adores and loves us, we are also royalty. As royalty, any gift we may offer Our Lord would also be coming from a king. But still, we have the issue of the value of what our gift would be. What we need to realize is that the value of a gift is not specified by the person who gives it but by the person who receives it. Our Lord values love and kindness above all other things. We may not be able to give the gift of gold to Christ, but we can give the gift of love to him by loving each other. Small little acts of kindness we can offer each other every day would please Jesus more than anything. Opening the door for someone at Wawa. Letting a car in front of us in traffic. Offering encouragement to someone who is down or even just offering a smile. A small note to your husband or wife letting him or her know that you love them. Lending a helping hand when someone needs it. These are all incredibly valuable gifts.

Saint Therese knew this very well. In fact, she called it the “Little Way”. She knew and felt Jesus’ total love for her, but knew due to her age and position she would never be able to give back in grandiose ways. She found ways to give back and show Christ love with little acts of love, one at a time. Over time all, these little acts add up to be those grandiose gifts that come from a king or queen. May we all be able to follow the Little Flower’s example and continuing our own little gift giving throughout all the seasons of the year.

May Jesus live in our hearts forever.
Deacon Chris