I have noticed something about birthdays. It seems that for most people, the older you get the less you really want to make a big deal about your birthday. Of course when you're very little, you might not even realize that it is your birthday. But not very long after that, you get into that age range where your birthday is a very big deal. You want to have the big party and you want to invite as many people as you can, and, if you're like me when I was a kid, you want each one to be bearing gifts.
I remember a birthday that I had when I was is fourth or fifth grade. I wanted to have a blowout of a party and I think I ended up inviting all the boys in my classroom and a few others in my grade. I think it was about a dozen or so. I wish I could say that my desire for a big party was driven by pure motives; that I wanted my friends to just have fun on this day and to share in the joys that I felt. Alas, but as is typical of our fallen human state, my motives were much more selfish. I wanted to be the popular kid. I wanted this party to blow my popularity scale at the school through the roof. I also wanted to be showered with gifts. I wanted to have the dilemma of not knowing where I was going to put all of these toys. Both of these lofty goals required, no, they demanded, that I invite as many people as I could to ensure my success.
In the end, the party was fun, but I didn't become any more popular. The toys and gifts were great, but they didn't bring the happiness that I thought they would. I realized that really, I preferred to have a smaller party where I invited my closest friends and I could actually enjoy their company and friendship. After that, I kept my parties much smaller. I still wished I could be the popular kid at school, but I enjoyed celebrating a special day with my closest friends most of all. Even today, I prefer a simple get-together with a few friends or family members, rather than a huge blow-out when it comes to celebrations.
Today's Feast of the Epiphany reminds us of the story of the Three Wise Men who traveled from the East, following a star the lead them to Bethlehem. One thing that I like to reflect on during the Christmas season is contrast of today's story from the Gospel according to St. Matthew and the Nativity Story from St. Luke's account. Luke tells us about the shepherds who heard about the birth from an angel and went to see Him on that first Christmas night. Take a moment to consider these two groups of visitors. The shepherds are local people; presumably Jewish in ancestry and in their religion. They are poor. They may have brought all their worldly possessions with them when they came to the stable, and they probably weren't carrying any huge containers either. They live off of the land and the conditions of their faces, hands, and feet probably reflected the harsh environment there. They would have smelled just like the sheep that they were in charge of, and maybe even worse.
The Magi, on the other hand, were very rich. They had to have been rich to have made the perilous journey from the East and to afford such fine gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They were obviously well educated for their day: they were very likely astronomers because they knew that the star was significant and knew to follow it. They also knew that it meant the birth of a Jewish king, even though they themselves were not Jewish. The fact that they are not Jewish is also quite significant. Scholars figure the Magi's country of origin to be Persia, in modern day Iran. One of the Magi is often depicted in artwork with darker features, suggesting he comes from Africa, though he may have been living in Persia when he began this journey.
So, when you look at both of the accounts of the Nativity, you find both Jews and Gentiles visiting the baby; both locals and those who had to travel a great distance. You have both rich and poor; those who can offer expensive gifts and those who have just enough to feed their families. This is significant because it is symbolic of the fact that all peoples are invited to come forward to see this child with their own eyes. All are invited to come before the manger and to kneel in adoration. WE are all invited to know Christ better.
This brings us to yet another important fact. Why aren’t our churches full to overflowing? Shouldn’t there be more here since all are invited?
Going back to my original image, imagine if we invited many people from many different groups of people that we have interacted with in our day to day lives. Maybe this is one of those birthday parties growing up, or maybe even a significant occasion that happens as an adult. Now imagine if only a small group of those people show up. And I’m not just talking about people unable to show up because of cold or snowy weather. What if people just didn’t show up? How heartbroken would we be, especially if this happened when we were kids and having everyone there would be our biggest worry?
God wants all of us to be here, to celebrate His birthday, and we are still celebrating for another week yet. He does not want us for selfish reasons, like when I wanted all my classmates at my party. He wants us because of love of us. We are asked to respond. All of us here are responding, obviously, but what about the others? What about our friends and family who are not going? We can’t make those others go, but can we do more to invite? Maybe in this New Year, one of our resolutions should be to invite those around us to come. Let us invite others to come in adoration.
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