Msgr. James Reuf was an important part of my journey to the priesthood. When I was a college student at Ohio State, he was the pastor of my parish, Holy Name. Msgr. Reuf was definitely a curmudgeon and had a pretty gruff exterior, but over time, beneath this facade I found a priestly heart filled with love. One moment that particularly stands out happened during the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Every year during this Mass, we especially recall the events of the Last Supper, where Jesus set aside the Apostles as the priests of the New Covenant and gave the Church the Eucharist. One of the Holy Thursday traditions at this Mass is called the Mandatum Rite, where the priest imitates what Jesus did at the Last Supper in washing the Apostles’ feet. The priest takes off his outer vestments, kneels and washes the feet of a group of his parishioners.
That particular year, Msgr. Reuf had recently had not one, but both of his knees replaced. His doctors told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to do any kneeling, but do you think he listened to them? Of course not! So during that Holy Thursday Mass, despite doctor’s orders, Msgr. Reuf had two servers lower him to the floor by each shoulder so that he could wash the feet of his people. Watching this profoundly moved me. Seeing my pastor humble himself in order to serve his people revealed to me the heart of the priesthood, whereby men lay themselves down in order to bring Jesus to people. I will never forget that day.
This beautiful act of humility is on my heart this Sunday, because today we have a chance to see the humility of the wise men who traveled from distant lands just to pay their homage to Jesus. In a profound way, the wise men show us what it means to be disciples of Jesus.
We do not know much about the wise men, but today’s Gospel tells us that they came from the East in search of a newborn king they expected to find through their study of the heavens. We know they brought with them three precious and costly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, which would have been worth a considerable amount at that time. It would be comparable to three rich people showing up in our modern day with gifts of a hundred carat diamond, a Bugatti, and an original Michelangelo painting. Their gifts were the kind reserved only for the highest kings.
We can also see the hand of God at work in the gifts the kings brought, because each of them speaks to the deeper identity and mission of the infant Jesus. Whether or not the magi fully realized it, their gifts were perfect for this newborn king of the Jews. Gold reminds us that Jesus indeed was a king, and not just any worldly king, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the one prophesied for centuries who would reign forever, whose kingdom would have no end, according to the Angel Gabriel. So gold was a very fitting gift. Then there was the frankincense. This very costly resin was burned in places of worship like the Temple in Jerusalem. So this gift pointed to the fact that Jesus was not just an earthly king, but the King of Heaven, God-with-us who has been worshiped in Churches all over the world now for centuries, who has had many millions of tons of incense burned in His name, the smoke reminding us of our prayers and praise rising up to Jesus as He sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father. Finally, there is the gift of myrrh, another costly resin that was associated with the burial rites of people at that time. Remember that when Jesus was buried, the women were bringing spices with which to anoint His body when they discovered His empty tomb. Myrrh reminds us that Jesus is the King who doesn’t conquer in the usual way, but whose victory is won by His death, as He offered Himself in love to pay the price for all of our sins.
The wise men come with their costly and meaningful gifts and before they even present them, what do they do? They present themselves! They prostrate themselves before the infant Jesus, as we just heard in the Gospel. This is a profound moment. Prostration is when you lay flat on the floor. It is an act of total submission, of putting yourself completely at the service of another. For this reason, when a man is ordained a priest, he lays prostrate on the floor for a period of time during the Mass as a symbol of complete surrender of himself to Jesus. I laid prostrate on the floor of St. Paul Church in Westerville at my ordination Mass.
This profound act of humility by the wise men is such a great example to each of us. Their outward actions show us the disposition of their hearts. These are men whose wisdom isn’t a worldly wisdom that puffs up, but a Godly wisdom which inspires them to look up. They are willing to put themselves at the service of God before all else. This is in stark contrast to King Herod, whose earthly pride has blinded him to the Wisdom of God. Herod wants to kill this newborn king because all he can think of is the threat to his earthly power. Since the magi allow the wisdom of Heaven to guide them, in the end they foil Herod’s plot by avoiding him on their return trip.
The lesson we can learn from the magi is the importance of humbling ourselves before Jesus. It is all too easy for us to approach Jesus with puffed up pride. We can have the spiritual attitude of Herod, whereby Jesus and the life He invites me to is just a threat to my ability to do what I want, to be the king or queen of the little kingdom which is my life. Pride leads us to sideline Jesus in our lives in favor of lesser things that we have decided are more important. But when we follow the Magi, our way becomes clear. We are constantly led to prostrate ourselves before our King, in all aspects of our lives to offer ourselves and our gifts for His service. We look for opportunities to put ourselves at His service with our jobs, our free time, our schools, our families and our friends.
Humility is the virtue which enables us to do this. Msgr. Reuf demonstrated it on that Holy Thursday as he bent low to serve his people. The Magi showed it to us all those centuries ago in prostrating themselves before the infant Jesus. Let us pray that we would follow their example in constantly laying ourselves down before the Lord.
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for inspiring the Magi to offer us such a beautiful example of generous humility in the presence of Jesus, our King. Lord Jesus, give us the humility to serve you faithfully in all aspects of our lives. Holy Spirit, root out any pride that would keep us from humbly laying ourselves down before the throne of Jesus. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our King. Amen. +