The story of the Eastern Kings who followed the miraculous star until it led them to the Infant Jesus in Bethlehem, is one of continued interest and charm. Rehearsed as it is each year in the many churches of Christendom, the narrative loses nothing of its beauty; nor does the example of the Magi, our forefathers in the faith, ever fail to point a salutary moral to those of us who consider it well. The lesson most ordinarily drawn from the Gospel of the Epiphany, wherein the narrative is embalmed, is that, in the faith of the Magi we have a perfect model of what our own faith should be in the various circumstances and trials of life. While this application of the tale of the Wise Men is as salutary as it is evident, their example teaches another lesson equally instructive and perhaps still more necessary: that example shows us in very truth how we should seek God when we have the misfortune to lose Him through sin; how we should act when we have the happiness of finding Him; and, finally, how we should conduct ourselves after finding Him--after our conversion.

These Magi whom the miraculous star invited to approach the new-born King of the Jews were pagans, having no other gods than inanimate idols; they were wanderers, traveling far away from the road to salvation; they were poor sinners, wrapped in the shadows of death. Suddenly the merciful voice of God makes itself heard in the depths of their hearts, and just as suddenly they arise and earnestly seek the newly born. Earnestness in their search implies their prosecuting it promptly, and accordingly they make no delay.

"We have seen His star," they said; "and have come to adore Him." They allowed no interval between their seeing and their setting forth; that is, between seeing the truth and accepting it; between the knowledge of their duty and its fulfilment; between seeing good to be done and doing it. In their case faith becomes conviction, desire leads immediately to resolve, and purpose is forthwith reduced to practice. The grace of God touches them and triumphs at once. No need of its repeated attacks, of long hours or days of conflict, of frequent checks, before its victory is achieved; they have seen and have come.

How account for the promptitude, the haste one might almost say, of these Wise Men? Easily enough. They saw in the wonderful star the will of God, Who called them to Him. If at the first intimation of that sacred will they hasten to accomplish it, they merely proclaim the importance of the task of finding God. Not to obey His call immediately, would be to risk losing Him forever. As a matter of historical fact, would not this have been the result of the Magis delaying their journey? Supposing that they had waited several weeks, or even a few days only, before entrusting themselves to the guidance of the star, would they have found Jesus Christ? Vainly would they have sought Him in Jerusalem, in Bethlehem, or in the surrounding country, since He had taken His flight into Egypt, where He remained hidden and unknown. Had the search of the Magi, in a word, not been prompt, it would have proved futile. Does not the course of action of these Wise Men rebuke us, who habitually put off, postpone, and delay with unfailing stubbornness the execution of Gods orders?

We, too, have seen. God has shown us--not indeed by a star, but by a still more brilliant light--the duties which we should perform, the virtues to practice, and the vices to shun. How many of us have forthwith set about the performance, the practice and the shunning? We have seen, more clearly than the Wise Men observed their road, the path that we should follow, the law of God and that of His Church which we should obey; and how many of us have hastened at once to follow it? We have seen the tyranny of our passions, yet we fail to bridle them; proximate occasions of sin, and we do not shun them; scandals and injustice in our lives, and we do not repair them. "We have seen, in fine, those secret affections which divide our hearts between creatures and the Creator; the hidden pride that dominates our conduct, the jealousy and hatred that make of us their prey. We have also seen clearly and repeatedly the indifference and criminal apathy with which we treat the important affair of our salvation. Alas, for us, that our seeing has not been followed by that readiness to act which signalized the Eastern Kings! Instead of saying "We have come," we have contented ourselves with declaring We will come; will do what is right by and by; will reform our lives later on; will become converted all in good time.

And when will this by and by, this later on, this good time, this day of salvation, arrive? When we are more advanced in years, when our affairs are settled, when circumstances become more favorable-- in any case, before we die. Deceptive hope! Should we not rather fear that if we do not turn to God at once, if we abuse His divine grace any longer, we shall lose Him forever? Our future years will most likely be as sterile as have been our past ones; will be spent in vain longings and useless projects. Death will probably surprise us such as we habitually are-- filled with good intentions, yet the slave of criminal habits. We will seek God, but, in the words of the Apocalypse, we shall not find Him, and shall die in our sins.

The promptitude of the Magi in following the star was not more notable than was their generosity. Obedience to the divine call meant for them the abandonment of their states, separation from their families and friends, the undertaking of a journey of indefinite length, the braving of the most rigorous of the seasons, and infallible exposure to the derision of the world. None of these considerations availed to turn them from their design, any more than did the difficulties which they could not but anticipate from their ignorance of the way and of the language of the country to which they were probably bound; or their fears of Herod, who might view them as conspirators against his sovereignty. They dreaded neither creatures nor men. God had called them; they obeyed at once, fully and freely. "We have seen His star, and are come to adore Him."

 
If we attempt to establish a parallel between their conduct and our own, shall we not blush for our lack of their generous spirit? When God calls us, when His grace presses us to become converted, we understand well enough that we should emerge from our lukewarmness; should abandon our sins; should break through the circle of the criminal habits that hems us in; should quit scandalous assemblies; should terminate dangerous intimacies; should observe, in fine, the Commandments of God and of His Church. But, because it would cost us some little effort, some trifling exhibition of moral courage to do so, we prefer to remain in our indifference, victims of our wicked habits, slaves to the tyranny of sin, working sinful works.

All through their journey the Magi display the same firmness and constancy that marked their setting out. The apparent deadlock when they arrive in Jerusalem and can learn nothing of the new-born King Whom they are seeking, does not daunt nor even disconcert them. "God has called us," they said; He will find a way to bring us to Him. Let us continue our search." They do not, like us, lose their constancy at the first check or trial that confronts them; do not advance toward God today to retrace their steps tomorrow, do not seek their Saviour only when the skies are fair, only to abandon Him when the storm-clouds gather. When the star disappears and they find themselves without a guide, they at once make use of all the ordinary means which grace places at their disposal. After having asked for information from the common people, they address themselves to the great. They consult the priests and doctors of the law as to the country in which the Messias is to be born. They approach even the court of Herod to secure the fullest information.

Is this our method of procedure when, having lost God by our sins, we form the half-hearted desire of finding Him again? Or when, beholding ourselves drifting away from Him, we think of drawing closer to His protecting arms? In doubt, do we consult those who are competent to direct us? Do we have recourse to most certain and efficacious means-- prayer, good works, confession, and Communion? Do we make any earnest effort to correct our evil habits? Do we shun the proximate occasions of sin? "If not, all in vain do we protest that we wish to save our souls, to become converted, to avoid evil and to do good. Only by imitating the promptitude and the generous courage of the Wise Men can we succeed in finding the Saviour Whom we so sorely need to seek.

Not less instructive than the method in which the Magi sought the Messias was their action when they stood in His presence. The star stopped, not over a royal palace, but over a deserted stable-cave; and, upon entering, they discover a feeble Babe lying in a crib, evidently the victim of great poverty, as are the young Mother and the middle-aged foster-father, who are His only courtiers. They contemplate the newly-born Whom Herod dreads, Whom Heaven points out as their Messias. Have they not been deceived? No: their faith shows them a God made man; and in the guise of a helpless Infant they behold the omnipotence of the Creator.

They do not keep to themselves the sentiments with which the contemplation of the Infant fills them: they give exterior expression to those sentiments, throwing themselves at His feet and offering Him divine honors. And, falling down, says the Evangelist, "they adored Him." When in our churches and chapels, we contemplate this same God of Bethlehem hidden under the Eucharistie veil, do we always regard Him as the supreme Master of Heaven and earth? Do we, like the Wise Men, adore Him upon our altars, bend the knee with reverence before Him? Has human respect never prevented us from edifying our neighbor by giving external marks of our interior sentiments? And do we imitate the Magi in proffering to Our God the threefold tribute of our homage? Do we open our treasures and offer Him our gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh? The gold that He would have of us is a heart all inflamed with love-- an ardent charity manifested in our works. The frankincense that He desires to see burning at His feet is that of fervent prayer ascending to Heaven as an agreeable perfume. And the myrrh which He exacts of us is the mortification of our body, mind and heart, in the spirit of penance.

Finally, in the procedure of the Wise Men, on leaving Bethlehem we have a striking example of how we should conduct ourselves after having sought and found Our Lord in the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist. Having received an order from Heaven not to return to Herod, "they went back another way into their own country." They obeyed Gods will without hesitation, as promptly as they had yielded to the original inspiration that called them from their home. As for their promise given to Herod, or what that king and all Jerusalem would think of their breaking their word, they concern themselves not at all. God has spoken; that suffices. It is theirs only to obey.

To us, who possess God and His sanctifying grace, Heaven gives the same order: commands us to shun Herod, "who seeks the Child to destroy Him." Our Herod, as we all know, is the world anathematized by God; is all bad Christians, all enemies of God and our soul; all those who by their words and example endeavor to ravish us of our innocence; the companions who have led us into vice; the proximate occasions of our past transgressions.

Like the illustrious travelers whose example we have been considering, we too should constantly shun this Herod of sin, and follow a different road from that which we pursued in the days of our wandering far from God. We should no longer follow the inordinate desires of our hearts, no longer satisfy our passions, no longer pamper our senses; but rather accomplish everywhere and always the will of God.

Only by so doing--by taking another way, by substituting humility for pride, mortification for indulgence, prudence for reckless exposure to danger, fervor for tepidity--may we hope to reach our own country, the celestial kingdom which none but wise men will ever inhabit.