The language is epic, the imagery apocalyptic, the action dramatic. There is ominous danger from a tyrannical and insanely jealous king, a king who even slaughters innocent babies. There are worldly rulers of great power, wisdom, and wealth. There is a great escape, a long journey back to the land of the pyramids, that land where the waters of the Great River push back the boundaries of the death-dealing desert in order that humans might live. The hero-child, the God-Man baby is saved in order to grow in wisdom, strength and knowledge, in order to push back the boundaries of arid human living, and even death itself, that we might live in eternal life.
Light struggles against darkness. Discovery follows wandering and searching. Truth vanquishes deception. Good prevails over evil. A heavenly guiding star shines in darkness, a darkness that does not overcome God's light entering the void and darkness of chaos. We are reminded that in the Book of Genesis God's first act of creation was to create light.
There are those who say that light and life happened as the result of blind chance, as a result of some blind and chaotic development of an Evolutionary Force. But how, we ask, can something come from nothing? How can evolution create light out of darkness?
All of these are, for us, signs of a cosmic creative intelligence; they are manifestations, epiphanies, of God's creative sharing of His love and life with us.
The Magi are nobles; noble human beings possessed of great earthly power, wealth and wisdom trekking for the truth. The epic Star Trek series of movies finds its origins in this biblical narrative. And finding what they seek, the Magi fall down to give homage, like Dr. Spock, to the heavenly Source of Life, the Son of the Most High. They bring gold to honor his kingship and dominion; they bring frankincense to acknowledge his Divine Being; they bring myrrh, the ointment used for burial, to prophesy His death. Gold, frankincense and myrrh were priceless and precious substances there in the East, treasures of the utmost value in the life and times of people who lived there back in those days.
Immediately the Darth Vader of the day, King Herod, Satan's agent, jumps into action. Evil is the first to be alert to the encroaching presence of goodness. Just try to present, try to manifest, goodness and watch what happens around you. Accusations of being "holier than thou", of being a hypocritical Christian, of being a mindless Catholic quickly surface. You will be mocked, ridiculed, shunned and cast out of the world's inner and elite circles as soon as you attempt to be an epiphany of God's purity and goodness. Evil is the first to jump into action when goodness approaches and manifests itself.
Why do history's Herods fear the child? Why do we fear the child within us? Is it because a child lays claim to our time, our energy, our caring concern, our commitment? Commitment requires the closing off of other options. And as the Evil One knows full well, as the serpent whispers into our ears, to be like God, to be god-like we must keep all of our options open. To be omnipotent means to have all possible options immediately available. The presence of a child is so very limiting. And so is love.
Or can it be the fear of loving that's rebelling against the child? Children require love. If love is a threat then the baby must be eliminated. This Herod knew full well. No wonder that even in our world today, not just back then when Jesus was born, children are at risk.
A self-indulgent culture needs to reduce the claims of children. It needs to eliminate the insistent calls of love. It needs to marginalize the demands of commitment. In a culture that exalts living together for pleasure without the restrictions of commitment, marriage itself must be put to flight, exiled to Egypt. The Holy Family must be put to flight, marginalized as undocumented aliens in a foreign land.
Narcissism, instant-gratification, sensuality without limits, and the withholding of promises and commitments, these are the Sacraments of the Father of Lies, the Great Deceiver, the Seducer of Souls. Euphemisms are his literary form - so that death is cosmetically covered and called "termination of life", killing is made to be "merciful", only beautiful children are called "wanted", and the suffering and dying are called upon to voluntarily step aside for the sleek who want more out of their limited lives.
The Herodian consciousness isn't something remote and distant, something that came and went 2,000 years ago. Oh, no. The Herodian consciousness is quite alive and well, and very much active right here in our time and in our city. All forms of innocence are to be slaughtered before they gain much life and strength, and all angelic messages are to be either trivialized or ignored.
It is good, therefore, to ponder the meaning of the very last words in today's Gospel narrative: "...and having received a message in a dream, they returned home by another route."
Will we?