More than fifteen centuries before the birth of Jesus, Moses led the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land.  As they camped near the Jordan River across from Jericho, the Moabite king, an enemy of the Israelites, summoned a pagan prophet named Baalam and told him to curse the Israelites.  But instead, God spoke through Baalam and blessed His people Israel.  This is part of the prophecy that Baalam spoke:

The oracle of Balaam, son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is true,
The oracle of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
in rapture and with eyes unveiled.
I see him, though not now;
I observe him, though not near:
A star shall advance from Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise from Israel….
(Numbers 24: 15-17)

It was a star that led the three Magi, mysterious wise men from Persia, to Bethlehem where they saw a newborn King not in a palace but in a stable, not on a throne but in a manger, a trough for feeding animals.  Yet they bent down and worshipped Him.  At Christmas the Son of God was revealed to shepherds, representing the Jewish people.  On the day which we celebrate as the Epiphany, a name which means “appearance” or “manifestation,” the Son of God in the flesh was revealed to three non-Jewish Gentiles.  In this way, God revealed His desire to save all people through His Son.

The Magi offered Jesus three symbolic gifts: gold for a king, frankincense for God, and myrrh, a spice used to anoint the bodies of those who have died, a recognition of the humanity of this child.  As we begin a new calendar year and like the Magi recognize Jesus as our divine and human King, what will we offer Him?  The best gift we can make is ourselves.  As Jesus offered Himself to the Father for our salvation on the Cross, and as He offers Himself to us at every Holy Mass, so we can make a loving offering of ourselves to Him one day at a time in 2026.  A simple way to do this is to pray a Morning Offering Prayer at the beginning of each day.  Here is one from the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.