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The Maji have been described as kings, astrologers, professors, Persian priests, and I have even heard them described as lawyers. Fr James Martin, says New Testament scholar Fr Daniel Harrington indicates that Maji is the most appropriate term and they were probably some type of Persian priest. Due to the lack of detail in the Gospel, to there is some discrepancy is an understatement. There is a saying that if the three Maji were women, they would have asked for directions, cleaned the stable, brought a casserole and did other chores. I am not sure how they could ask for directions, since the Maji did not know who they were really looking for. The star was their compass. The thing is most people tend to think of gold, frankincense and myrrh as odd gifts. However, Frankincense and myrrh are important essential oils and could be used for healing--calming and soothing purposes--which Mary may well have found useful after having given birth in less than acceptable circumstances. Further, the gold may have been helpful as they had to journey to Egypt, which, quite frankly, may involve bribes to get to Egypt and back for whatever time they spent there.
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Matthew's Gospel account mentions following a star, but the director of the Vatican Observatory says too little information is provided to account for what type of celestial event this could have been. It could have been a supernova, a comet, or a conjuncture (where two planets align). It could have been a Helios, a calculated day time astronomical event. Yet, does the star really matter to the overall story being told in the Gospel? As the priest who gave a homily at mass this past weekend noted the larger message is that Christ came for all. He went on to say that on the day of his birth, shepherds visited him, and they were Jewish. After the birth, Christ is visited by the Maji, who were not Jewish. Hence, the message coming from the Gospel is that Jesus came for all persons, not just Jews, but Gentiles (non-Jews), too.
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| Dec 2023 alignment of star, moon and planet Some have referred to this conjuncture as the Star of Bethlehem Source: Forbes |
Fr Harrington says "the historicity of these episodes is an open question that probably can never be definitively decided.” Fr Martin, in a Facebook post, agreed with the homilist at my mass last Saturday evening. Martin provides further evidence when he says to "Remember that Matthew’s Gospel ends with the command of the Risen Christ to “make disciples of all the Gentiles” (28:19). Fr Martin, however takes this point even further when he writes:
The Maji's path to belief and, more specifically, to belief in the newborn King, to whom they would pay homage and offer gifts, was “a long journey.” So is ours. It can take us a long time to come to a place of peace about our faith. For some people, it’s easy, but for most of us it’s a lifelong quest. And I sometimes think of those camels—“galled, sore-footed, refractory”—as an image of our church. The church carries us to faith, but it’s sometimes a bumpy ride.
But in the end, as the Magi discovered, the journey is worth it—worth everything we can give to it. It is something that, as the Book of Isaiah tells us, will make us “radiant” once we discover it. Because the end of the journey is not a destination but a person: Jesus Christ.
In the Western World we desire everything to be properly bundled and authenticated. Yet, the Gospels are stories set to better our us, our community and our human condition. The story of the Epiphany is not about the gifts brought, but that Christ welcomed all, and about a faith journey. Desiring authentication of all parts of the Epiphany story can take away from that larger message.
“Let us ask the Virgin Mary to help us so that, imitating the shepherds and the Magi, we are able to recognize Jesus close by, in the poor, in the Eucharist, in the abandoned, in our brother, in our sister.”--Pope Francis, 6 Jan 2025
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