Sunday, the 8th of January 2006 marked the end of the Christmas season. This day is known as the Epiphany or Feast of the Three Kings. In homilies on this day’s masses, priests consistently discussed the role of the three kings (Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar) who, known to have been guided by the star that shone on Bethlehem where Jesus was said to be born, travelled on camels to bring gifts to the Son of God.
Many thinkers have sought explanations on the ‘legend’ of the Three Kings. I say ‘legend’ because no entry in the Bible has actually touched with explicitness the authenticity of these so-called three wise men, save Matthew’s second chapter, verses 1-12.
Since we have by now come to the conclusion of the long Christmas celebration, it will certainly not hurt if we make a little post-holiday reflection.
I find it unfortunate that Christians have continually marked Christmas in various unfitting notions. Aside from the sickening commercialism that exploits the seasonal generosity of the public, distorted concepts on the true meaning and significance of Christmas persistently overcome many of us.
Primarily, the symbolism of the three kings (albeit they maybe merely legendary) falls short of realization. To my mind, Melchor, Gazpar and Balthazar were perchance the most important characters in the drama of Jesus’ birth. They were of different races – white, dark brown and black. They travelled far just to see the King of Kings. They were kings, yet they went all the way to pay respect to God’s only begotten son. This act by the three magi apparently showed that despite their stature as royals, they humbled themselves and recognized that there was One who was supreme in authority and power. When they arrived in Bethlehem, they knelt, vowed their heads and offered to the infant Jesus their gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense which were warmly received.
The visit of the three wise men was significant in the light that nobody could be more venerated more than Jesus himself. When the three kings came and knelt before the infant Jesus, they accepted that they were nothing but ordinary mortals and that there was Someone far more superior than any one of them. Their act of presenting their gifts to Jesus categorically remind us we must likewise offer everything that we own and all that we are before God. And as the three of them were of different skin colors, this yet again causes us to think that we are all equal before the eyes of God regardless of color, creed and sex.
There is not a strong proof that indeed there were three kings who visited Jesus in His birth stable. But for all it is worth, the story behind these three offers our minds something to reflect on and somewhat direct us to a more evocative reflection on what Christmas celebration should in fact be.
But let us not boggle our minds in trying to dig deeper into the symbolisms and underlying implications of the three magi in Jesus’ birth. Taking clue from a more simple and sensible view, it can be noted that: as the three kings travelled far and wide to follow the ‘Star’ in search of Jesus, we are reminded of the need to go and seek God in everything that we do in life; as the three kings offered their gifts to Jesus, we become aware that we have to do the same act of offering ourselves– our possessions, our trials, our successes, joys and sorrows.. . and everything that we are to God; and as the three kings were of diverse races and colors, we reflect that God does not look at our skin tone…. for before His eyes, we all belong to only one race – the human race. * * * *
In his column in last issue of People’s Digest, veteran media practitioner Rhee Fer Hortaleza (Rhee - ‘veteran’ does not mean ‘old’.. but ‘someone with reputable experience’ okay?… : > ) titled his article… “Rachel who?”.
Rhee was clearly referring to Rachel Arenas, 29 year old gorgeous daughter of socialite and philanthropist Rosemarie ‘Baby’ Arenas, who recently came to the province to announce her intention of seeking the congressional seat in the third district of Pangasinan.
The first question that crossed my mind when I heard of Rachel’s intention was… why in this province? Rachel is a Makati-bred lass and is undoubtedly maturing like her mother who is an ageless beauty and social icon. Educated in Ateneo de Manila University, one of the leading universities for the elite in this country, and has just attained her Master’s degree at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachussets, U.S.A., Rachel is no doubt a very capable and bright young woman of her generation. Yet the question nags: why seek public office in the province?
We will delve on this query in the next post…
(“There is no dark side of the moon, really… actually, it is all dark…” – Pink Floyd)