The Gift- giving is synonymous with the Christmas

The Gift- giving is synonymous with the Christmas.

Fr Cedric Prakash SJ

Season! The giving of gifts during Christmas time, certainly originated from the fact, that when the shepherds ran in haste to worship Jesus, they took with them the best of their flock to present to the new-born King. The little shepherd boy had nothing to offer Jesus; just the music he could play on his drum: that was his gift! The Bible makes no mention of all this (media today, of course, rarely reports the good done by the poor and simple folk. The high point of gift-giving comes with the gifts offered by the Magi (the three Kings): gold, frankincense and myrrh. All these gifts were rich in symbolism: gold of kingship on earth; frankincense as symbol of God; and myrrh to remind one of death, of mortality. In feast of the Epiphany, God reveals himself as the Messiah to the entire world, via the Magi; the Magi, in turn, reveal that Jesus is the Messiah, born in a stable for all of mankind!

The gifts of the Magi, must be seen in four interrelated dimensions. These transcend the materiality of the gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh! They are time-tested and needed very much today too. They are all about the Messiah and the way by which one can actually reach him. The gifts are Messiah, Availability, Generosity, Inclusiveness: together they form the acronym MAGI! One needs to look into some details of each of these words Messiah

Much has been said about the Magi. There are various interpretations, views and opinions about them. Some traditions refer to them as Kings, others as wisemen and still others as astrologers and even as magicians.

Some say they were three – representing the three major continents at the time of Jesus; others say there were twelve, symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel.

Some give them names Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar. The online version of Encyclopaedia Britannica states: “According to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia or sometimes Ethiopia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India”.

Whatever, the many opinions, there is unanimity in one thing: these were men who were in relentless pursuit of he the truth and they were sure that this truth would be brought to the world by the Messiah: the one who would r be the Saviour of the world. So, for years, they pondered er and studied the ancient texts, the manuscripts and the scrolls, they looked up to the skies and gazed at the stars. is

They searched and searched, till they were finally rewarded. They saw the Star which would guide them and lead them to Bethlehem, where the Messiah was born. On the way, because of their own arrogance and over-confidence, they lost sight of the star! They land up in the palace of Herod and fall victim to his manipulative and murderous designs. But, having realized Herod’s treachery, they find the star again and finally arrive at the stable. There they encounter the Messiah they have

sought all their lifetime, and they worship him!

Availability

The Magi are men who are available: to find the truth, to walk the talk, to be there for others and ultimately to reveal the fact of the birth of the Messiah to the whole of humanity. The best way to understand this availability is through that immortal story, first written in 1895 by Henry Van Dyke. Titled ‘The Other Wise Man it is an addition and expansion of the account of the Biblical Magi, It tells about a ‘fourth’ wise man a priest of the Magi named Artaban, one of the Medes from Persia.

Like the other Magi, he sees signs in the heavens proclaiming that a King had been born among the Jews.

Like the other three, he sets out to see the new-born ruler, carrying treasures to give as gifts to the child – a sapphire, a ruby, and a ‘pearl of great price’. He stops however, along the way to help a dying man, which makes him late to meet with the caravan of the other three wise men. Because he missed the caravan, and he can’t cross the desert with only a horse, he is forced to sell one of his treasures in order to buy the camels and supplies necessary for the trip. He then commences his journey but arrives in Bethlehem too late to see the child, whose parents have fled to Egypt. He saves the life of a child at the price of another of his treasures. He then

travels to Egypt and to many other countries, searching for Jesus for many years and performing acts of charts along the way. After 33 Years, Artaban is still a pilgrim, and seeker after light. Artaban arrives in Jerusalem just in time for the crucifixion of Jesus. He spends his last treasure, the pearl, to ransom a young woman from being sold into slavery. Yes, human trafficking existed in the time of Jesus too! He is then struck in the head by falling roof tile and is about to die, having failed in his quest to find Jesus, but having done much good through charitable works. A voice tells him “Truly I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of my sisters or brothers, you did it to me!” (Matthew 25:40) He finally dies knowing fully well that he was available to the others’ in whom he saw Jesus! This fourth wise man had truly found his King and Messiah!

Generosity

Giving without counting the cost, was another trait of the Magi. They gave the Messiah the most precious gifts they could at that time: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Surely, they would have gifted the Holy Family with some of their camels to make the arduous flight to Egypt!

With these material gifts, there is also the self-giving!

They give of themselves totally and unreservedly. They shed all traces of their self centeredness. Centuries before St Ignatius of Loyola they would have internalised and actualised that Prayer for Generosity,

“Lord, teach me to be generous, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to look for any reward, save that of knowing that I do your holy will” One cannot but remind oneself of that short story “The Gift of the Magi’ by the master story-teller O. Henry. He tells the story of a newly married couple, deeply in love with each other! They both want to give the other very meaningful gifts for Christmas – which they were sure the other would Cherish! Sadly, the couple is constrained by their meagre budget, so each gives up something they treasure in order to afford a gift for the other. “The Gift of the Magi Shows that selfless, generous love is more important than appearances. In this short story, each character gives up that which he or she treasures the most. Jim gives up his watch, which makes him look important in front of others so that he can buy Delia a brooch for her hair; Delia sells her beautiful hair, which makes her the envy of other women to buy a chain for Jim’s precious watch!

Inclusiveness

The Magi is all about inclusiveness! God revealing himself as the Messiah, the Saviour to all of mankind excluding none! That’s what Christianity is all about inclusiveness! The Magi as they embrace the Holy Family, as they adore the Messiah – give the entire world a very powerful message: God is for all; every single human is called to salvation. When the Magi see the Star, they know it is a call and they respond, because they know they will encounter the Messiah! Earlier this year, the on the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January 2022) Pope

Francis had expressed a similar sentiment in a very contextual homily. He said, “the Magi then defy Herod.

They teach us that we need a courageous faith, one that

is unafraid to challenge the sinister logic of power, and become seeds of justice and fraternity in societies where

in our day, modern Herod’s continue to sow death and

slaughter the poor and innocent, amid general indifference. Finally, the Magi return “by another way”

(M2:12). They challenge us to take new paths. Here we

see the creativity of the Spirit who always brings out new things. That is also one of the tasks of the Synod we are currently undertaking: to journey together and to listen to one another, so that the Spirit can suggest to us new

ways and paths to bring the Gospel to the hearts of those who are distant, indifferent or without hope, yet continue to seek what the Magi found: “a great joy” (Mt 2: 10). We must always move forwards”.

So, as we enter the Christmas Season and thank our heavenly Father for gifting us his Son as our Messiah, let us celebrate the Magi too! We need to examine ourselves seriously by asking, “Do I/we seek and encounter God, the Messiah, like the Magi? Particularly in the small, simple ordinary things of daily life? How available am I to the others? those who need of my time, my talents, an urgent help? Do others see me as selfish, concerned only about my well-being? How generous am I? Do I give and not count the cost? Or do I tell everyone How much’ I have given to others? Does my generosity belong to the

‘widow’s mite”? Or is my generosity confined to giving of

my old clothes, my left-overs, the things I do not need?

Above all, am I inclusive? Who are my friends? Are they the poor and the marginalized? The Adivasis and the Dalits? The other minorities like the Muslims?” Indeed, there are several questions one needs to reflect upon, if one were truly to journey with the Magi – if we want to encounter the Messiah, through Availability, Generosity and Inclusiveness!

In 1927, T. S. Eliot in an incisive poem ‘Journey of the Magi writes, “And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory: All this was a long time ago, I remember, And I would do it again, but set down This set down This: were we led all that way for Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly, We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, But had thought they were different; this Birth was Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death. We returned to our places, these

Kingdoms, But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, With an alien people clutching their gods. I should be glad of another death”

Courtesy FR. AGNEL’S CALL | December 2022