Fr. Jose Kaimlett The Fourth Wise Man
Besides the three wise men who wanted to adore the Child Jesus in the manger, there was a fourth also on the way. He wanted to present child with three gems. But he missed meeting with the other three at the rendezvous because his horse had come up lame.
Along the road he met a poor mother who was inconsolable as she told the story of the murder of the babies in Bethlehem, among whom was her own son. Filled with compassion the king gave her a brilliant red jewel he had intended to give to the Child Jesus.
After many long months the king reached Egypt only to find that the Child Jesus and his parents had gone back to their homeland. He spent years looking for the baby everywhere. Once on the outskirts of a big city he found a leper who was starving. So he gave him the second jewel, so he could support himself in future.
Even after thirty years of searching, his desire to find the king of the world did not wane; on the contrary it grew. But he also felt that his aging heart could no longer stand the trip that had taken him halfway around the world. He gave his last jewel to a naked freezing child so it could feed and clothe itself.
Suddenly for some unknown reason it got dark just after midday. The earth began to shake. Fearing that death was near, he thought, “Has my entire search been in vain?” Then a beam of heavenly light shone on him from a cross and he heard a voice say, “You have consoled me while I was weeping; rescued me when I was in danger of death; and clothed me when I was naked.”
“Lord, I? Where?”
“What you have done to the needy you have done to me personally.”
At that the fourth king willingly gave his life back to the king of the world, whom he had at last found.
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In the final test you will not asked how much you had learned or earned; how religiously upright your life had been; nor how successful you were in the enterprise of life. You will be asked just a very simple question:: “I was hungry; I was thirsty; I was naked; I was lonely: etc. What have you done for me?”
