# Epiphany Gifts There’s always so many different angles of what to talk about the Epiphany is no exception. It’s wondrous how much God connects in and between events, people, and layers everything. Today I want to look at the importance of the gifts brought by the magi on the Epiphany. We know from scripture what gifts were brought and tradition even pairs those gifts with who brought it Melchior the gold, Caspar the frankincense, and Balthazar the myrrh. Before we look at reasons why God would have inspired these gentiles to bring these specific gifts I want to take a moment to look at them from a simple worldly view first. Gold, was as it is now a precious and expensive metal. Frankincense is a sweet smelling resin harvested from the Boswellia trees native to a limited area it was at the time of the Epiphany quite expensive at least as valuable as gold with some sources stating it may have even been more expensive by weight than gold. Myrrh, also a gum resin, from a different tree (the Commiphora) and just like frankincense the value at the time of Jesus birth was comparable or more so than gold. So the three magi traveled a long way bringing expensive gifts to a poor child and his parents. They were right to do so. What did their gifts mean besides being willing to open their finances to give to the foretold king? Gold, a classic sign of wealth. Melchior bringing gold as a gift is an honoring and sign of Jesus’ kingship. The frankincense, a resin that was used in the temple as a sweet smelling incense. We still use it in the Catholic Church in the praise of God and it’s connection with Caspar’s giving it as a gift. It was given to the little Jesus as a symbol of his divinity and that’s part of why it’s still used today. Finally the myrrh, brought by Balthazar, as I pointed out also a resin this was often used in burials. A bit of an odd gift to give to a child aside from it’s value. Yet, it’s a sign of Jesus humanity. So it is in the gifts these three men were inspired to bring that we see God pointing to the three aspects of Jesus. Jesus is man and the myrrh reminds us of the future death of the human body on the cross. The frankincense recalls that He is God and one with the Father, divine. While the gold points to the kingship not once but eternal over all creation. These reminders so beautiful, and expensive, were brought not by Jewish faithful, but gentiles in their own humility and faith. Beautiful! # Rosca de Reyes (3 Kings Cake) A traditionally Spanish “cake”, eaten on the Epiphany, in the shape of a crown that is often decorated on the top with nuts or fruit to mimic the jewels of a cake and also frequently has a special doll (oven safe) hidden inside (we didn’t do that in our example) that whoever finds has to host the Candlemas party. Our family recipe is modified due to tree-nut and egg allergies in the house and it uses a spin-off on a delicious pastry filling I’ve used for years. \*Note: it’s more accurate to weigh flour of every kind but since most people prefer cup measure and it’s sufficient for home baking I’ll provide both measures for that but don’t worry about weight it’ll still turn out a blessing\* ### Materials and Equipment **Ingredients** **Dough** - 2/3 Cup Milk - 6 Tbsp butter, unsalted, cold - 1/3 Cup granulated sugar - ½ Cup Applesauce (you can substitute 2 eggs if you want) - 3 ¼ Cup All purpose Flour (approx. 390grams) (plus some extra for rolling the dough) - 2 tsp Instant yeast **Filling** - One block (8oz) of cream cheese - 1 Cup – Confectioners Sugar - 2 Cups – Favorite Fruit Pie filling (you can use jam or jelly instead if you want) **Glaze** - ¼ Cup Heavy Cream **Equipment** - Oven 350F - Baking Tray - Rolling Pin - 1 or 2 cups or ramekins for shaping - bread knife, steak knife, or similar for scoring wet dough - bowls for mixing - (electric mixer is helpful but I didn’t use it) - microwave safe dish or pot to heat milk - bowl and saran-wrap or proving container of some kind - aluminum foil - oil or spray for “greasing” the proving bowl or container - meat or cooking thermometer (not required but helpful) ### Cooking 01. Heat the milk until it simmers either on the stovetop or in the microwave 02. Cut the butter into small cubes and place in a mixing bowl with the sugar and salt 03. pour the simmering milk over the cold butter, sugar and salt, then mix until the butter has melted and the temperature has come down to just lukewarm 04. add the flour, applesauce, and yeast 05. mix either manually or in a mixer until a soft smooth dough is achieved 06. Grease either an extra bowl or a proving container roll the dough into a ball and place in the container closing the top of the bowl with saran wrap or the lid to the proving container 07. leave the container in a warm place for the dough to prove until approximately doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours, set a timer for 1 hour and 15 minutes to get your cream cheese out to come up to room temperature a bit 08. when the timer goes off for 1 ¼ hours get the cream cheese out to warm up a little, which will help baking and make it easier to work with 09. when the dough has doubled in size from when you initially started it’s prove take it out of the bowl or container and place it on a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes 10. after resting uncover the dough and roll out into a 20 inch by 12 inch rectangle or rectangleoid shape, it doesn’t have to be perfect but at least 20 by 12 11. Now we’re going to take a moment to make the cream cheese portion of the filling mix the cream cheese and confectioners sugar in a bowl until well combined 12. then starting away from you spread a row of the cream cheese filling across the long edge of the dough then a row of the fruit pie filling repeat both rows making sure to leave space 13. now carefully roll the dough towards yourself starting with the far filled edge, if you’re familiar with rolling a cinnamon roll it’s the same action for this step, ending with the edge closest to yourself. 14. Work to pinch the edge together after it’s fully rolled 15. On a greased baking sheet gently lay down the now log like dough roll around a cup or ramekin to create a circular shape score the edges of the dough crown with bread knife or steak knife exposing the inside 16. cover again and let rise for 30 minutes while your oven warms to 350 Fahrenheit 17. after the rise remove the cover and brush the top with heavy cream, if you want to crown with the traditional fruit or nuts now’s the time to put those on, not pictured 18. shape some aluminum foil to fit the shape of the dough, this will save your hands and time later 19. remove any cups and or shaping aids 20. bake for 30-40 minutes covering with foil after the first 20 if you have a thermometer you’re aiming for an internal temperature of around 190, just below boiling so that the dough inside is cooked but has retained some of the moisture as the temp is still below that boiling temp, which would render a dry dough 21. let cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes before serving ## Jesus’ Natures in Our Lives The three wise men, magi, kings, no matter what you call them (like Saint Christopher what they show for us is more important than their name now) they did something important that we can learn from now. They recognized and highlighted the natures of Jesus. These same natures He talked about during time among us. As Christians we can as individuals can get stuck on a specific nature of Jesus. We can lock ourselves into only seeing His kingship, His humanity, His divinity, etc. This denies us the truth of Jesus being all of these things and what comes with each. Not only does it lock us out of a completeness of truth, and potential for a Christian heresy (see Arius and Arianism for example). Look at the Saints, they’ve all recognized this truth, Jesus isn’t just one thing, as we are each complex beings and are each unique reflections of God never to be repeated it’s no surprise that God is a beautifully layered complexity even in each facet of the Trinity. Let’s take some time to look at some of these parts of Jesus more specifically than His natures, the roles in each of our lives. **King.** Jesus Christ is King of Creation. This is the point that a lot of people I know get stuck on seeing as His only nature, even for potentially confusing it for seeing it as His divinity. Not saying that there aren’t similarities. They don’t see Jesus as the Word that went over the waters in Genesis that then became flesh as we know from the Gospels. His role in creation gets forgotten. They focus on they messages like those found in Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 25:31-46, and others when He talks about himself judging and casting out. **Love.** We need to love each member of the Holy Trinity with our entire heart individually. Fully loving the Father and the Spirit though we’ll talk about them later. We also need to love Jesus with our full heart and recognize His full love for us. I do want to talk a brief moment to address a falsity that I’ve heard that the Father is without Mercy and that resides solely in Jesus, Mercy being a facet of love. Jesus himself recalls for us that the Heavenly Father is Merciful to those who have wronged Him in Luke 6:27-36. This is repeated for us in the multitudes of the Love of Jesus. God is love including Jesus. We need to recognize that. We need to recognize that as Love full and complete he fits perfectly the definition we see in 1 Corinthians 13? Do we internalize that Jesus fulfills that? It’s true. Jesus loves YOU. Jesus loves each of us. That includes you. He loves you in the Sacraments. He loves you in Adoration. He loves you in prayer. He loves you. **Friend.** Yes, we should see Jesus as our friend. Just as the apostles did. They did see Him as teacher, master, and the Christ, yet they also saw in Him their friend. We need to see him as our friend too. It is seeing Jesus as our friend that we can fully trust our heart to Him and spend time in Adoration with ease and comfort. Then the seeking and following of God becomes not of fear or of a check box to tick off as just a task but something we do because we want to for our friend. It is only to a friend that we can fully empty our hearts the way we ought to Jesus. It is only to a friend that is king that we can serve out of love not fear. It is only to a friend that is the Word of God that we can truly listen and take in what He has to say. Yet we cannot see Jesus as just a friend. This would deny His divinity and his kingship. He is a friend. He is Merciful, yet as a friend He has feelings that we can hurt, yet he has the divine resilience if we seek repentance and graces. **God.** Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity. He is God. It may seem a bit odd at first glance that I’ve separated this from kingship. To some the judging is bound to the deific nature yet that’s also something kings do. Kings cannot bestow graces. Kings cannot be present across time and space at every Mass in the Eucharist. Kings cannot come back from the dead of their own power, nor can they ascend into Heaven, or come back again to end time as we know it. Kings cannot work miracles, nor work miracles through graces bestowed upon others, nor can they even bestow real Grace upon others. Jesus has, does, and will do all these things. He is God. Jesus is more than King, Love, Friend, and God yet He is these chiefly and we need to make sure we recognize each in Him. More than that we need to love each of these aspects of Jesus. We cannot love God too much and the more we turn our love towards Him the more we find we have by His grace.