Catalysts

His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' -- Matthew 25:21 (RSV)

I've long been fascinated by the hidden, largely unknown people who have served as the catalyst for someone else's conversion. People like Ponticianus, who stopped in one day to visit with his friends Augustine and Alypius. In the course of their conversation, Ponticianus told them about the Egyptian monk Antony and how two of Ponticianus' friends who stumbled upon a book about Antony were inspired to immediately leave everything behind and become monks. Ponticianus then left, unaware that he had set off an earthquake of conversion in the soul of the future Saint Augustine, an earthquake whose aftershocks are felt to this day.

In our own time, I've been thinking a lot lately about a 13-week old unborn baby who was aborted on September 26, 2009. Like millions of babies before and since, the little baby futilely fought to escape the abortionist's instrument that ultimately took its life. The baby would have just been another statistic, except for the fact that someone, horrified, was watching its life and death struggle on an ultrasound monitor. It was a moment of conversion for Abby Johnson, and her life, and the lives of thousands of others whom she has touched, will never be the same.

Thank you, little baby, for fighting the good fight in your all-too-brief life. I can easily imagine Jesus welcoming you into Heaven with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Musings on Myrrh

My lover is for me a sachet of myrrh to rest in my bosom. -- Song of Songs 1:13 (NAB)

When people speak of the wise men's gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, I always hear them speak of the myrrh as something used for embalming, a symbol of the future suffering of the Messiah. I know that's true, but there's another use of myrrh that you rarely hear mentioned. 

In the Song of Songs, as well as the book of Esther and Psalm 45, myrrh is a sweet perfume associated with lovers, particularly when they are preparing for their wedding night. (When I've heard the embalming aspect of myrrh emphasized, I've often thought that the Bride in Song of Songs probably wasn't comparing her Beloved to a bag of formaldehyde!) Although you don't generally think of that when you hear the gifts of the wise men, it's an aspect of the multi-layered celebration of Epiphany. 

The Epiphany, or "Manifestation," of Jesus traditionally reflects three different events in His life, two of which occurred decades after the Christmas event: the Adoration of the Wise Men, His Baptism in the Jordan, and the Wedding at Cana. In the Liturgy of the Hours on Epiphany, the Antiphon for the Canticle of Zechariah during Morning Prayer beautifully ties together all three events:

"Today the Bridegroom claims his bride, the Church, since Christ has washed her sins away in Jordan's waters; the Magi hasten with their gifts to the royal wedding; and the wedding guests rejoice, for Christ has changed water into wine, alleluia."

So, in light of that antiphon, maybe it's not so far-fetched to think that the myrrh was not only a symbol of Jesus' future suffering, but also of His future wedding to His Bride, the Church, a Bride that was born from His Pierced Side on the Cross.