EPIPHANY AND THE EUCHARIST. As you may know, I have devoted my bulletin article column to the USA Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival document The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church. This 3-year revival should help us better understand and celebrate our Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. This is part 22 in my series; for past articles on this Revival, the whole document, and a free study guide, go to our parish website – stmaryrutherford.org.
ARTISTIC LICENSE. Unlike photographs, which are exact images of its subject (unless it is altered or ‘photoshopped’), artists who claim ‘artistic license’ enhance their works to emphasize its deeper meaning; or they alter their works to better tell the whole story. We see an example of this (above) in the 16th Century, Netherlandish artist, Hieronymus Bosch’s (1450-1516) oil painting, which is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, entitled ‘The Adoration of the Magi.’ Let me point out what his ‘artistic license’ depicts.
The central image of his work is a wooden table, over which our Blessed Mother holds the Christ Child as He reaches for one of the Magi’s gifts. Saint Joseph, standing in the background, reverently removes his cap to welcome his splendidly clad visitors, or scratches his head, perplexed by the mystery taking place before his very eyes. Two shy but curious shepherds peer over the shed’s back wall, as an ox, the animal used in religious sacrifice, and an ass, look on from the other side. Sadly, the image on the King’s beige and gold cape is not discernable in this poor copy of the painting; it depicts the Israelites gathering the manna or bread from heaven that rained down for them during their 40-year desert journey to the Promised Land. We find other Eucharistic themes in this painting.
As we sing in the beloved Christmas carol, ‘We Three Kings,’ the three gifts give us a clue to the Christ Child’s identity and role. Gold, the gift fit for a king, highlights His eternal kingship over the universe. Frankincense highlights His role as the Eternal High Priest who offered the greatest Sacrifice of all: Himself. Myrrh, the burial ointment, foretells His crucifixion and death for our salvation. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ is truly present so that we can receive Him at the Altar or Table of the Lord. For as we sing in the last verse of that carol: “Glorious now, behold Him arise, King and God and Sacrifice!”
Even the Magi’s question, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” (Matthew 2:2) has Eucharistic overtones. For as the saying goes, ‘Wise men (and women) still seek Him.’ And where will we find Him? “Not,” as we sing in ‘Once in David’s Royal City,’ “in that poor lowly stable, With the oxen standing by.” We can find Him in every place He said He would be: in the poor and needy, the sick and dying; in His holy word; in those who gather in His holy Name; those joined in Sacramental Matrimony and the Ordained; and, above all, in the Breaking of the Bread: His Real Presence in the Eucharist.
However, once we find Him, and even more so, once we receive Him in the Eucharist, we must heed the angel’s warning to the Magi: “They departed for their country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12) Our lives cannot be the same once we come in contact with – or consume – the Christ to whom the Magi were led by a ‘star’ – and others by the prophecies of old as detailed by the chief priests and scribes. These roles – of the ’star’ and of the chief priest and scribes’ – are now done by the Church and her teachings, her leaders and their ministry. And one major way she offers us the directions that can lead us to Jesus is through the holy Mass. Again, we are obligated to participate in Saturday evening or Sunday Mass to get that weekly dose of grace.
The revised Order of Penance, which governs Confession, is optional as of February 22, 2023 (Ash Wednesday) but mandatory after April 16, 2023 (Divine Mercy Sunday). So, I will devote my articles for the next few weeks to this revision. May the graces of this Christmastime continue to grow within us!
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS
EPIPHANY AND THE EUCHARIST. As you may know, I have devoted my bulletin article column to the USA Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival document The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church. This 3-year revival should help us better understand and celebrate our Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. This is part 22 in my series; for past articles on this Revival, the whole document, and a free study guide, go to our parish website – stmaryrutherford.org.
ARTISTIC LICENSE. Unlike photographs, which are exact images of its subject (unless it is altered or ‘photoshopped’), artists who claim ‘artistic license’ enhance their works to emphasize its deeper meaning; or they alter their works to better tell the whole story. We see an example of this (above) in the 16th Century, Netherlandish artist, Hieronymus Bosch’s (1450-1516) oil painting, which is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, entitled ‘The Adoration of the Magi.’ Let me point out what his ‘artistic license’ depicts.
The central image of his work is a wooden table, over which our Blessed Mother holds the Christ Child as He reaches for one of the Magi’s gifts. Saint Joseph, standing in the background, reverently removes his cap to welcome his splendidly clad visitors, or scratches his head, perplexed by the mystery taking place before his very eyes. Two shy but curious shepherds peer over the shed’s back wall, as an ox, the animal used in religious sacrifice, and an ass, look on from the other side. Sadly, the image on the King’s beige and gold cape is not discernable in this poor copy of the painting; it depicts the Israelites gathering the manna or bread from heaven that rained down for them during their 40-year desert journey to the Promised Land. We find other Eucharistic themes in this painting.
As we sing in the beloved Christmas carol, ‘We Three Kings,’ the three gifts give us a clue to the Christ Child’s identity and role. Gold, the gift fit for a king, highlights His eternal kingship over the universe. Frankincense highlights His role as the Eternal High Priest who offered the greatest Sacrifice of all: Himself. Myrrh, the burial ointment, foretells His crucifixion and death for our salvation. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ is truly present so that we can receive Him at the Altar or Table of the Lord. For as we sing in the last verse of that carol: “Glorious now, behold Him arise, King and God and Sacrifice!”
Even the Magi’s question, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” (Matthew 2:2) has Eucharistic overtones. For as the saying goes, ‘Wise men (and women) still seek Him.’ And where will we find Him? “Not,” as we sing in ‘Once in David’s Royal City,’ “in that poor lowly stable, With the oxen standing by.” We can find Him in every place He said He would be: in the poor and needy, the sick and dying; in His holy word; in those who gather in His holy Name; those joined in Sacramental Matrimony and the Ordained; and, above all, in the Breaking of the Bread: His Real Presence in the Eucharist.
However, once we find Him, and even more so, once we receive Him in the Eucharist, we must heed the angel’s warning to the Magi: “They departed for their country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12) Our lives cannot be the same once we come in contact with – or consume – the Christ to whom the Magi were led by a ‘star’ – and others by the prophecies of old as detailed by the chief priests and scribes. These roles – of the ’star’ and of the chief priest and scribes’ – are now done by the Church and her teachings, her leaders and their ministry. And one major way she offers us the directions that can lead us to Jesus is through the holy Mass. Again, we are obligated to participate in Saturday evening or Sunday Mass to get that weekly dose of grace.
The revised Order of Penance, which governs Confession, is optional as of February 22, 2023 (Ash Wednesday) but mandatory after April 16, 2023 (Divine Mercy Sunday). So, I will devote my articles for the next few weeks to this revision. May the graces of this Christmastime continue to grow within us!
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS