Ave Maria Meditations
At His birth there came wisemen from the east to Jerusalem saying, “Where is he that is born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to adore him.” (Mt 2:2) At his trial: “And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked Him, saying: “Art Thou the king of the Jews? Jesus saith to him: ‘Thou sayest it.’” (Lk 23:3)
Tradition has named the wisemen with three melodious names: Balthazar, Melchior, and Casper. One of the kings is a black man, his offering is myrrh, for he carries the sorrow of the black people in his humble, adoring heart. At Bethlehem myrrh was brought to Him; and myrrh would be brought to anoint His body for burial.
Another king brought incense: frankincense that was poured into a sensor of gold and lit with a flame, filling the stable with an aromatic smell to mingle with the smell of hay and the ox’s breath of clover. Myrrh and frankincense were poured out for Him in Bethlehem; and spikenard and ointment were poured over His body for His burial.
There, in the stable at Bethlehem, began the lovely waste that is the extravagance of love, that is and always will be scandal to the loveless.
From Carol Houselander’s Wood of the Cradle, Wood of the Cross
