It's the time of the year where we
think a lot about giving and receiving
presence.
I remember when I was a child putting
my shoes out in early December for St.
Nicholas to leave a small
gift in them. Just a week ago,
we had the shopping holidays,
black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The world with some excitement right
now is gearing up with lists in hand.
Everyone's scrambling to order last
minute Christmas presents and postal
workers, UPS and Amazon delivery.
People are getting ready for their
roles as Santa's big helpers.
Gifts make us happy.
I remember the Christmas Eve I got on my
buddy doll and the Christmas morning I
woke up to my power will's two
seat battery operated Jeep.
Those toys brought happiness and
joy to me when I was a child.
But great as those gifts were, the
joy they brought was only temporary.
Even though I think I still have
my buddy in a closet somewhere,
I'm not much of a holiday gift giver.
Maybe I'm just not organized enough.
I've had great examples of holiday
shoppers, my mom, my aunts,
even my wife, on a budget.
They always seem to be organized and
able to find gifts that fit each of us
perfectly.
But maybe that's because they know that
while gifts bring happiness in life,
at times the happiness comes as
much to the gift giver as the gift
receiver.
I'm not sure if you've heard the old
saying money can't buy happiness,
but I would challenge that
statement a little bit.
I believe money can buy
happiness if it's used correctly.
It may not make us happy if
we spend it on ourselves,
but when we spend it on others,
it can bring great happiness,
happiness that is even longer lived
than the happiness from receiving
a great gift like my power wills. I mean,
it goes without saying that the weight
limit on that car I've exceeded and it
can't get me to and
from work. As Catholics,
we like to look for examples on
how to live our lives, don't we?
We're blessed with many saints who
show us the way with gift giving.
We can look at St. Nicholas,
but we can also look for examples
that our father gives us in the
gospel according to John.
For God so love the world that
he gave his only begotten son,
that whoever believes
in him shall not perish,
but have eternal life.
God gave of himself the
greatest gift we could ask for.
We must give of ourselves too.
Most of us have heard the phrase
giving of our time, our talent,
our treasures. How do we
share those gifts with others?
How do we share them with those who
are less fortunate than ourselves?
For some years,
I participated in a coat buying project
where I would get a tag and buy a coat
for a kid in need.
The project was important and
beneficial to the people in need,
but was relatively easy
for my wife and me.
I think back to that charitable act and
reflect upon the example God gave us by
giving us, his son did,
giving a coat from Macy's compared to
that act of love that was shown to us by
our Heavenly Father. Of course not.
Maybe it would be a greater act of
love if it had been my only coat,
but it wasn't, and I'm not saying we
shouldn't participate in toy drives,
coat drives, and angel
trees. We absolutely should.
But we must also look for the greater
ways to give of the gift of ourselves to
others during this pandemic,
when many of us are uncertain of things
we thought we were sure of before,
being able to spend time with our
friends, to travel with our families.
We know that many of our family
members, friends, neighbors,
and even strangers in our
communities are suffering.
Some are suffering from a lack of
money. Some are worried and scared,
some are very lonely. None of us
know how to fix all of these issues,
but I know that we can't do it alone.
This advent is we prepare for Christ
to come into our hearts and homes as
we remember God sending his son to
us as the greatest gift of all time.
We must focus on giving the greatest gift.
We have a very personal gift
of self to those who are
struggling this Christmas season.