Home Daily Meditation Matthew 2,1-12

Matthew 2,1-12

by Fr. Michael Della Penna
Matthew 2, 1-12

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 2,1-12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:
‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'”
Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house they saw the child 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.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

Peace to all my brothers and sisters listening in today.

Searching. Faith and Humility. Distrust and Pride

  1. Searching- I’d like to begin with a question: Is the Bible the story of humanity’s search for God or Gods search for humanity? A lot of people might say Both- but more accurately- its Gods search for us-Why?

    The Catechism tells us, “The desire for God is written in the human heart” Only in God will we “find the truth and happiness we never stop searching for” God has placed that desire for Him in our heart and we never stop searching for Him. The story of the magi then- which seems like a story of three men in search of God is really a story about Gods search for all humanity- God calls all of us. And that’s why we celebrate the Epiphany today- It is God’s manifestation or revelation of Himself to all nations that -Christ really is the living Son of God, and the savior of all. We Christians believe the logos or word was made flesh and became man and through Him God revealed the fullness of everything was in Christ: He is the reason or meaning of everything- He is the center of history, meaning, life, happiness, and so only he can fulfill the deepest longings of our heart and satisify the deepest ache of our soul. CS Lewis famously wrote “All that we call human history—(money, poverty, ambition, war, classes, empires, slavery–[is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” Isn’t that true.
  2. Faith and humilty; The magi teach us these two virtues in our aid us and help us in our journey to find God,

    FAITH– The magi not only believed in God- they trusted him- that’s the real meaning of the word, it’s a personal relationship of trust- and so they were willing to risk everything, leaving all they knew, to find Him, They were real True- seekers of God-You cannot discover new shores unless you are willing to lose sight of the old.

    And they had HUMILITY- from the Latin word humus- it simply means we are nothing without God- humus means dust and so we have to understand God is God and we are not.
  3. Distrust and pride- Faith and humility were the exact opposite qualities that Herod was missing. Although -He did believe in God, he didnt trust Him, He thought God would take away his power, possessions, and prestige and so he wanted to kill him -and in his pride, he worshipped only himself

    Without faith and humility we can be exactly like Herod and feel threatened by the TRUE GOD—Fearing Him as a rival–To our power and security. Herod- Refused to be led— But We shouldn’t be surprised. Do know what the very first war was fought about? It was caused by Mistrust and Pride-it was about Who to worship. One angel said non serviam- (I will not serve) his name- Lucifer- who refused to bow before God, and wanted to worship himself. That’s why St Michael- shouted his battle cry -who is like God- El in Hebrew means God and Micha means who is like. Let’s be reminded we are not God, we are His beloved children who are called to trust him and worship him.

May God bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

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