Homily for the Solemnity of the Epiphany

One of the classic hymns for today’s celebration is We Three Kings of Orient

Are. It’s quite a clever hymn, because it’s simple enough to learn it from

primary school, yet it packs in theological teaching going back centuries, about

the meaning of the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not going to sing the hymn or give you a

theological lecture on the Christological and soteriological meaning of the three

gifts. Instead, a short reflection on something Pope Francis said about the three

gifts instead.

The first gift is gold. I looked up the price of gold yesterday, and it was trading

at £3,294.01 per oz, which is quite a lot. If you’re more familiar with the

metric system, one ounce is 28.35g. Now sugar is often sold in 1kg bags. So

the equivalent weight of gold would be worth £116,190.83 which is quite a lot

indeed.

Pope Francis said that the three gifts of the Magi, or Wise Men, show us how

we should serve God. The fact that they gave Him gold, rather than holding

onto it themselves, teaches us that the way we live our lives should show that

nothing and no one is more precious than He is.

The second gift is frankincense, which is a form of incense. For those of you

who have handled incense, you will know that it has a slight smell, but the full

aroma isn’t released until you heat it up in a thurible. On its own, it doesn’t do

much and doesn’t go anywhere. It’s only when we offer our lives to Christ that

they can be an aroma pleasing to God and to those around us, and it’s only with

Christ that our lives can rise to heaven.

The third gift is myrrh. The hymn We Three Kings associates it with death and

burial, but it seems it has also been used in the past as a balm for healing, a bit

like the Good Samaritan pouring oil and wine on the wounds of the man left

half-dead on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. An important component of

our lives as Christians is service to our brothers and sisters. Who are those who

are bruised and wounded in need of our help? In my previous parish, one

obvious category was the homeless, and we used to provide a cooked meal for

them on a Sunday, as well as collecting for the Foodbank, and later running

something of an informal foodbank from the presbytery. In Thame the needs

are different and perhaps more hidden. But some of the needs will be the

same. Those in need of our company and friendship. Those who need

assistance with practical tasks. And there will be other needs as well. How can

we be the helping hands of Christ? We might even support other projects a bit

further away, such as in Oxford. In this way we can be a healing balm, a gift of

myrrh, to Christ, suffering in those in need.

So, to recap: gold reminds us that nothing and no one is more precious to us

than the Lord. Frankincense shows us that, just as incense does nothing

without the heat of the thurible, only in union with Christ can our lives be a

pleasing aroma and only with Christ can we rise to heaven. Myrrh – a soothing

balm. How can we be a balm to our society, caring for those around us?

Gold, frankincense and myrrh – three gifts, and three important ways of serving

the Lord.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk