St. Ignatius of Loyola encourages a form of prayer with which we visualize Gospel
scene and even enter into them. Christian imagination has been doing this with today’s
Gospel, Matthew 2:1-12, for a long time. By the fourteenth century, in Northern
European art, the Wise Men were frequently depicted as coming from the three known
continents. The youngest, Balthasar was African, who brought the gift of myrrh.
Melchior, who brought the gift of frankincense, was middle-aged and European. Caspar
was an elder and an Asian, who brought the gift of gold. The Epiphany was the
manifestation of Christ to all ages and peoples.
Why were these “Wise Men” making this journey? Their explanation to King Herod was
that they were seeking the “newborn king of the Jews.” They had seen “His star in its
rising and have come to do Him homage” (Mt 2:2).
They understood this remarkable star to be the announcement of the birth of a new king
of the Jews. So they set out! They may have intended to bring everything they might
need, even gifts. Nevertheless, they do not have is a map or a GPS. They do not know
the actual destination, except that the new king has been born. All they have to guide
them is a star.
The Collect of the Mass today compares the star that led the Wise Men with our
experience of faith in seeking Christ: “O God, who on this day revealed your Only
Begotten Son to the nations by the guidance of a star, grant in Your mercy, that we who
already know You by faith, may be brought to behold the beauty of Your sublime
glory…”
Their journey models our journeys, as St. Thomas Aquinas points out:
Those Wise Men are the first-fruits of the nations and prefigure in themselves our
condition. For they presuppose something, namely, the birth of Christ, and they
look for something, namely, the place. We, indeed, have Christ by faith, but we
look for something by hope: for we shall see Him face to face: ‘We walk by faith,
not by sight’ (2 Cor 5:7)” (Commentary on Matthew).
According to Thomas, the importance of faith in following Jesus explains why the Wise
Men did not have “evident signs”:
“This would have lessened the merit of faith, which He came to offer us as a way to
righteousness: ‘The justice of God by faith in Jesus Christ’ (Rom 3:22). For if, when
Christ was born, His birth had been made to all by evident signs, the very nature of faith
would have been destroyed, since faith is the ‘evidence of things that appear not’ (Heb
11:1)” (3a. 36, 1).

Thomas adds: “His first coming was for the salvation of all, which is by faith that is of
things not seen. Therefore it was fitting that His first coming should be hidden” (3a. 36,
1, ad 3).
The journey of the Wise Men reminds us that faith is our way to go to Christ. We may
not see where we are going, but, as Thomas has recalls Paul’s words: “We walk by
faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7).
Traveling in a foreign country is stressful and inconvenient, particularly finding suitable
lodging and food. We might assume that the Wise Men became discouraged and were
tempted to turn back, especially when the star dimmed.
Thomas Aquinas points out that, although the star was visible in the day, at an
important moment in the trip, it disappeared: “For it appeared not only at night, but also
at midday: and no star can do this, not even the moon… it was visible at one time and
hidden at another” (3a. 36, 7).
At times, in our lives, everything seems to fall into place but there are times when some
very important parts of our lives are not clear. Similar to the Wise Men, we may not be
sure if we are going in the right direction.
The Wise Men expected to find the newly-born King in Jerusalem. At their arrival in the
holy city, the star disappeared. They, naively, assumed that the ruling king, Herod,
would be able to help them.
Herod has his own reasons for being interested in their story. He quickly surmises that
this “new born king” will actually be the longed-for Messiah (Christ). He consults the
priests and the scribes, “where the Christ was to be born.”
The chief priests and scribes conclude that the child will be born in Bethlehem, using a
combination of Micah 5:1 and 2 Samuel 5:2. They speak of Him as a “ruler who will
shepherd my people Israel” (Mt 2:6). John’s Gospel (which does not explicitly say that
Jesus was born in Bethlehem) provides us with an indication that the Messiah was
expected to be of David’s line and born in Bethlehem. John reports that the people in
the crowd argue, “Does not scripture say that the Messiah will be of David’s family and
come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” (Jn 7:42).
Thomas Aquinas reflects that natural signs could only lead the Wise Men so far: “We
are instructed that we, who are believers, should not seek signs, as those did who,
seeing the star, rejoiced exceedingly; but we ought to be content with the doctrines of
the prophets, because signs are given for unbelievers” (Commentary on Matthew).
Even when they found the Child, challenges to their faith were not over. There were
many reasons why they could have doubted that this Child was the one whom they
were seeking:

As to externals, he did not speak, he seems helpless, and so on. If one asks
about the mother, the answer is that she looked like the wife of a worker. I say
this, because, if they had been looking for an earthly king, they would have been
shocked at what they saw. But seeing lowly things and considering the loftiest,
they were moved to admiration and adored him (Commentary on Matthew).
Thomas explains the Wise Men’s joy, “because they now knew great things about God,
namely, that God was in the flesh and was most merciful… They were moved with
admiration” (Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew).
Thomas affirms that the Wise Men perceived the real identity of the Child: “They
showed the child reverence by adoring and offering and obeying… therefore, they fell
down and worshipped him, as God concealed in man” (Commentary on the Gospel of
St. Matthew).
In His birth, Christ manifested His humanity. It was for others to recognize His divinity,
as Thomas notes:
Christ’s birth was made known in such a way that proof of His Godhead should
not prejudice faith in His human nature. Christ presented a likeness to human
weakness and yet by means of God’s creatures, He showed the power of the
Godhead in Himself (3a. 36, 4).
Thomas maintains that the Holy Spirit moved the Wise Men to adore the Child: “The
Wise Men, inspired by the Holy Spirit, did wisely in paying homage to Christ” (3a. 36, 8
ad 1). We also can ask the Spirit to turn our journeys into worship of Christ, which is the
end of our journeys as well. God manifested His Son in most humble ways. The Wise
Men were given the grace to go beyond the apparent to the true presence of the Son of
God.
Denis Vincent Wiseman, O.P.