NOTES for Mat 2:1-12
What we have does not belong to us—or, more precisely, it becomes ours only when we understand that it comes from God. We can give another person only what is our own, but only what God has given us is truly ours. God’s gifts are at once what belongs to us most of all and least of all. This is one of the many paradoxes that do not actually increase our doubts, but only strengthen our faith.
Each of us is a magus. Each of us has something to bring to God. Yet sometimes what we consider gold, frankincense, and myrrh is dust to God, while what is dust to us is the very best gift to God. To understand that we have gifts and that there is Someone to whom we can give them, we need a star. And God sometimes kindles more than one star on our horizon. Our guiding star may be a friend who told us about Christ or simply believed in us and in our worth. A work of art or some event in our life, even a difficult one, may become a star. Then we bring our gifts, sometimes without even knowing how to give thanks for them and for the opportunity to give, and Christ is born in our heart.