After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, something wonderful happened in the sky. A very special star appeared.

Far away, in the East, there lived very wise men who studied the stars. They were called magi. When they saw that new, bright star, they knew it was no ordinary star. It was a sign from God: a new king had been born.

The magi decided to make a long journey to find this king and worship him. They prepared special gifts and set out, following the star.

The journey was very long. The magi crossed the desert on their camels, under the hot sun by day and the cold air by night. They slept beneath the open sky, and before closing their eyes they would look for the star one more time, just to be sure it was still there. They did not give up. The star guided them, and they followed it with joy.

After many days, they arrived in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. They thought a king could only have been born in the royal palace. So they began asking around the city:

When King Herod heard this question, he was deeply troubled. Herod was the king at that time, a wicked and selfish man, and he did not like hearing about another king at all. He was afraid of losing his throne.

Herod called the priests and the scribes and asked them where the Christ was to be born. They answered that it would be in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it was written by the prophet:

Then Herod called the magi in secret and wanted to know exactly when the star had appeared. Afterwards he said to them:

"Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. When you find him, come and tell me, so that I too may go and worship him."

But Herod was not telling the truth. He did not want to worship Jesus; he wanted to harm the child.

The magi left Jerusalem, and the star they had seen in the East went before them, moving across the sky. They followed it with great joy.

The star led them to Bethlehem, that little town the prophet had spoken of. And there it stopped, right over the place where the child Jesus was. When the magi saw the star standing still, their hearts filled with enormous joy.

The magi entered the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother. They knelt before him and worshiped him. Those wise, important men bowed down before a little baby, because they recognized that this child was the King of kings, the Son of God.

Then they opened their treasures and offered the child their gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

They were very special gifts, and each one had a meaning. Gold was a gift for kings, and Jesus is the King of kings. Frankincense was used in the worship of God, and Jesus is God. Myrrh was a perfume used for burying the dead, and Jesus would one day give his own life to save us.

The magi were happy to have found the new King. They were planning to return to Jerusalem and tell Herod where Jesus was, just as the king had asked.

But that night, God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. God knew that Herod wanted to harm Jesus. The magi obeyed and returned to their own land by another road, without passing through Jerusalem. And so God protected the child Jesus from Herod's wicked plans.

The magi came from faraway lands; they were not from the people of Israel, and even so they found the King they were seeking. This shows that Jesus came for all people, from every corner of the world. The journey was long and hard, but they did not give up halfway, and they gave Jesus the best they had.

The Feast of the Epiphany, also called Three Kings' Day, celebrates this visit. "Epiphany" means "manifestation": it was when Jesus was shown to the nations of the world. The magi followed the light of a star and found the Light of the world. We too can seek Jesus and give Him the most precious gift of all: our own hearts.