Foundation’s Magi Appeal is back

Every year, there seems to be a routine. We celebrate Thanksgiving, discuss Santa’s list, wonder how Santa is going to “make” everything on that list, do some Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping for family and friends, decorate the house, etc. Then, it seems like out of nowhere, Advent is here! We suddenly realize, Jesus is going to be born in about four weeks.

As we prepare for the birth of our Savior, the story of the Nativity says the Magi are on their way. But, there are many things people don’t realize about the Magi.

First, the English translation of the Bible from Greek teaches us the term “magi” gives us the probable knowledge of three men being priest-astrologers who understood the stars. More importantly, these Magi knew the coming Messiah would be marked by a star (Nm 24:17). Once seeing the star, they were to travel. Now, this travel wasn’t a simple around the block stop to a manger. One tradition states the three wise men were from different locations who, at one point, converged and traveled for hundreds of miles. They all knew of one thing: the birth of the Messiah was to come.

Since the seventh century, the Magi have been identified as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Each was to present a gift to Jesus the newborn Son of God. According to an old document by St. Bede, Caspar’s gift was frankincense, Melchior gave gold, and Balthasar offered myrrh. Each gift had its own meaning and relevance to Jesus Christ in a particular way. Frankincense a gift for a priest, gold is worthy of a king and myrrh is a burial ointment which testified to the Son of Man who was to die.

The gifts of the Magi have helped encourage the long tradition of giving during the Christmas season. Many offer our time, talents and treasures to ensure the faith for generations to come. We are blessed with a very active body of lay faithful in Western North Dakota. However, can we be greater stewards? Can we offer a gift this Christmas for our parish, seminarians, women who are discerning their vocation? Can we give a “perpetual” gift to ensure the continuation of faith for each person of our diocese into the future?

For the second year, we are excited to offer our Magi Appeal, presented by the Catholic Foundation of Western North Dakota. This year our goal is for the gifts to increase our seminarian endowment fund, the women’s vocations endowment fund, and individual parish endowment funds. This is an opportunity to give back to our Lord and Savior in a way of perpetuity, grace and celebration.

If you have questions about the Magi Appeal, please call. If you would like to donate to start ensuring the faith for our future generations, send donations to: The Catholic Foundation of Western North Dakota, PO Box 1175, Bismarck, ND 58502 or you can give online on our website www.cfwnd.org. Be sure to tell us which endowment fund you would like to support, especially if it’s a parish (name of the parish and town). Gifts of any size appreciated.

Thank you, and have a Merry Christmas!

Stevenson is the executive director of the Catholic Foundation of Western North Dakota which serves the faithful of the Diocese of Bismarck.