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Feast of the Epiphany, Cycle C
Terranova Hermitage
January 6, 2019
Birth and Death — A Single Mystery
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
T. S. Eliot
When I was in my college years – back in the early 1960s – one of the authors we read was T. S. Eliot.
Eliot was an English poet and dramatist. He died in 1965.
T. S. Eliot wrote a poem entitled The Journey of the Magi.Obviously, it focuses on the three Magi or wise men whom we hear about in today’s Gospel.
And, of course, they are portrayed right here in our nativity scene. I want to read just a few lines from this poem – The Journey of the Magi.
The poem is written as the reflection of one of these three Magi. It is one of the Magi speaking.
It may be a bit challenging at first, but just hang in there with me. We will quickly see what he is getting at.
The Journey of the Magi
Here are the verses from the poem – The Journey of the Magi.
“…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.”
Let me read these few verses just once more. And notice: this Magi is not speaking of Jesus’ death, but of a death or dying that weexperience.
“…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.”
Birth and Death for the Magi
This wise man or Magi, speaking for all three of them, is saying something very insightful.
They see the newborn Jesus, the Christ Child. They see the “Birth,” as this Magi puts it.
But they realize that they are also seeing a “Death.” It is the “Birth” of Jesus, but it is their own “Death” that they see.
And, it is not their physical death, but rather a spiritual dying. The idea is that seeing the Christ Child, seeing this “Birth” forces them to die to certain things in themselves.
This experience forces them to change, to go home different persons. Maybe that is the real significance of the statement at the end of the Gospel that they went home by another way.
So, the author T. S. Eliot is saying that our seeing and celebrating this “Birth” will probably also involve a “Death” for us. It should involve some spiritual dying to self.
Birth and Death for Us
For example, as we look at the Christ Child, maybe this “Birth” also means:
A “Death” to any indifference to human life, whether it is the life of the unborn or the life of children who do not have enough food or adequate health care;
Or perhaps a “Death” to some failure to be caring for an elderly parent who is feeling very lonely, or for a young adult who feels lost.
And, as we look at the Christ Child in relation to these three Magi who come from a different country and a different religious and cultural background, perhaps this “Birth” also means:
A “Death” to being closed to persons who are different from us and our way of living or thinking;
Or perhaps a “Death” to stereotyping migrants and refuges and those who journey to our country seeking survival or a decent life.
Conclusion
I have to say that this is a very different way for me to look at today’s Feast of the Epiphany.
It is very different for me to look at the experience of the Magi as seeing both “Birth” and “Death,” but, it rings true for me.
How could we see the birth of the Christ Child and not be changed?
How could we see this birth and not also go through some kind of spiritual dying to self?
