A house in my neighborhood has a huge nativity scene in the front yard. There are steps leading up to the floor where the Holy family and other visitors are, and on those steps are two plastic figures of Santa and a snow man. Santa shows up at the manger quite often. Not too surprising, I suppose. In popular thought, both Santa and baby Jesus are part of warm, joyous, magical stories. That makes today's gospel reading a bit jarring for some. In Matthew's gospel, there is nothing warm or sweet about Jesus' birth, and the visit of the Wise Men (likely when Jesus is a year or more old) leads to an attempt by Herod to murder the Christ-child. For Matthew, the birth of Jesus sets up and conflict between the ways of human power and the ways of God.