The hymn produced by Hopkins is a dramatization of today’s gospel. It tells how the kings followed that “star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright” which led them to the new king ‘Born on Bethlehem’s plain.”

The gospel does not indicate how many kings traveled to Bethlehem, or even that they were kings. Their number is assumed on the basis of their three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A stanza of the hymn is devoted to each king, the gift he carries with him, and what that gift reveals about Christ, not the infant only, but also the man.

When sung in unison by a congregation, this hymn puts us unmistakably as participants in the sacred story. It does not begin “Those three kings,” but “We three kings.” You and I find ourselves on the road to Bethlehem, dressed in royal attire, and our hands hold presents for the new monarch whose birth is foretold in the night sky. It is we kings who carry to the stable our gold and frankincense and myrrh. This gospel story does not tell only what happened once, but it tells what happens, or can happen, in our lives here and now.

Perhaps no bright star beams above, portent of some tremendous event; perhaps we need not muddy our boots by long travel across “field and fountain, moor and mountain”; yet still, ours is a royal dignity for we are created in God’s image.

What gifts do we royal ones have for this Christ? Gold and frankincense and myrrh.

• Gold—fit for a king.

• Frankincense—whose fragrance rises to God.

• Myrrh—a resin used to embalm the dead.

These are the gifts we offer, not to the infant Christ only, but to the adult Christ as well; not just to the baby born at Bethlehem, but to the Risen One who reigns among us.

We give Christ our gold when we realize that our lives are not our own private possessions. We give our gold when we know we are not here to pursue only our own pleasures or our own objectives, but that we are here to do what Christ wants us to do with the resources he has given to us.

We give Christ frankincense when we make our lives a prayer offered in response to him. We give frankincense when we try to pray even as we breathe–in season and out of season, in good times and bad. This incense we offer through prayer may be only a few poor granules, yet it is an offering that pleases the Lord of heaven and earth.

We give Christ myrrh when we join him in his sufferings for the life of the world. We give myrrh when we do not suffer hopelessly, but offer up our pain in union with his. The choice is not ours whether to suffer, but how we will suffer; whether ours will be meaningless pain, driving us down toward hell, or pain that brings new life, that lifts us up to heaven.

We are royal persons, made in God’s image, kings from the Orient, bearing gifts to Christ of gold and frankincense and myrrh. These gifts reveal him as lord of our lives, as God most high, as death’s conqueror. These gifts reveal us as people obedient to Christ, who pray even as they breathe, who die with Christ and are raised with him.

This is so different than the message of our society which tries to convince us that there are no limits in the world. We can master the universe by buying all that we need. But we can't buy lasting happiness. We are limited because the world is imperfect and we are imperfect. St. Augustine saw all this clearly when after trying everything the world had to offer he wrote, "Our hearts are made for you, O Lord and shall not rest until they rest in you."

The wise men took a step of faith and were drawn to the Lord. They gave him gifts to recognize who he is and the role he plays in the lives of all believers. Gold is the gift for the King. Jesus is the only one we can allow to direct our lives. Frankincense is the sign of the priest. Jesus is the great high priest who bridges the gap between God and man. Myrrh is the perfume used to anoint the dead. Jesus is the sacrificial lamb whose death restored our lives.

Once the wise men approached the Lord, they were overjoyed. They had found true happiness in seeing Jesus for now their own lives were complete. Their happiness was due not as much to what they did as due to the fact that they were given the privilege of sharing the life of Christ. Herod would remain rich and powerful, but spiritually poor because he oppressed the presence of the Lord. The chief priests and the scribes would remain in the Temple debating passages of the Law, but refusing to recognize the fulfillment of the Law in the Christ child. But the wise men were transformed by the presence that makes all life complete.

Our lives can only be complete, meaningful and fulfilled, if we are guided by the Spirit of God. We can only be truly happy, happy with the happiness that does not end after the presents are unwrapped or the football game is won, we can only be truly happy if we share the life of the Spirit. And we can only receive the Spirit if we allow ourselves to be drawn by the Light of Christ.

The word Epiphany means a manifestation or a showing of the presence of the Lord. Herod was so close to where Jesus was born, but in his heart he was very far away. The Magi were far away, but were open to seeking God in their hearts and had the joy of seeing Jesus in person.

May we be drawn by the presence of Christ in our world. May we see his presence in everyone we meet and reflect his presence in us back to them. In all things may we recognize that only Christ can draw us beyond the limits this world imposes to the life where the Spirit makes all life complete.

We journey with Christ from his birth to his death, from the wood of the manger to the wood of the cross, from the stable’s darkness to the tomb’s darkness, from the light of a midnight star to the light of resurrection morning.

Gold and frankincense and myrrh, but myrrh is not the final gift. The final gift is one given to us: our resurrection with Christ, our new life in him and a never-ending joy past all telling.

“Glorious now behold him arise, King and God and Sacrifice; heaven sings alleluia: alleluia the earth replies.”

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