THE GIFT
Monday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
Lk 21:1-4
We are in the final week of the present liturgical year. Advent begins this coming Sunday. As a song says, “It’s beginning to feel like Christmas.”
What gives us the feeling of Christmas?
It is not the snow because even in countries where there is no snow, people also feel like Christmas. It is not Santa Claus because even grown ups who know that Santa Claus is an imaginary figure feel like Christmas. It is not the Christmas decors because even the homeless know it is Christmas. What then gives us the feeling of Christmas?
Christmas is the birthday of Jesus. He is the Father’s precious Gift to us. The Father gives us the feeling of Christmas as He gave us Jesus, His only Begotten Son. He invented Christmas both by His Gift and giving.
Christmas is the special season of giving. Of course, we give gifts any time of the year. Even when there is no occasion, we can give gifts. But Christmas is that time of the year when we are reminded of the most important element in giving. The Gospel today emphasizes that element.
We have not yet truly given until we feel the pain in our giving. The rich can give expensive gifts because the have much money. The poor can likewise give gifts because gifts do not always have to be something one can buy in a store. But the wealthy can give because they have much to spare even as they spend anyway. The poor can also give if they realize that the self is the best gift to give. When we give our selves away, we feel the pain in our giving.
Gifts are tokens of the self. They are not the extras of what one has. They should be all that a person possesses because a person has only one self. The Father was the first to have given. When He gave us Jesus, He gave us all that He had – His ONLY Begotten Son. What else can the Father give us besides? Nothing because by giving us His only Begotten Son He already gave us everything.
We are gifts to one another. Let our gifts be true tokens of our selves. Let our gift-giving be truly self-giving. The poor widow in the Gospel today, by giving her two small coins to God, is many times richer than us if all we give are extras of what we have. What is left with us after we have given testifies.
Lk 21:1-4
We are in the final week of the present liturgical year. Advent begins this coming Sunday. As a song says, “It’s beginning to feel like Christmas.”
What gives us the feeling of Christmas?
It is not the snow because even in countries where there is no snow, people also feel like Christmas. It is not Santa Claus because even grown ups who know that Santa Claus is an imaginary figure feel like Christmas. It is not the Christmas decors because even the homeless know it is Christmas. What then gives us the feeling of Christmas?
Christmas is the birthday of Jesus. He is the Father’s precious Gift to us. The Father gives us the feeling of Christmas as He gave us Jesus, His only Begotten Son. He invented Christmas both by His Gift and giving.
Christmas is the special season of giving. Of course, we give gifts any time of the year. Even when there is no occasion, we can give gifts. But Christmas is that time of the year when we are reminded of the most important element in giving. The Gospel today emphasizes that element.
We have not yet truly given until we feel the pain in our giving. The rich can give expensive gifts because the have much money. The poor can likewise give gifts because gifts do not always have to be something one can buy in a store. But the wealthy can give because they have much to spare even as they spend anyway. The poor can also give if they realize that the self is the best gift to give. When we give our selves away, we feel the pain in our giving.
Gifts are tokens of the self. They are not the extras of what one has. They should be all that a person possesses because a person has only one self. The Father was the first to have given. When He gave us Jesus, He gave us all that He had – His ONLY Begotten Son. What else can the Father give us besides? Nothing because by giving us His only Begotten Son He already gave us everything.
We are gifts to one another. Let our gifts be true tokens of our selves. Let our gift-giving be truly self-giving. The poor widow in the Gospel today, by giving her two small coins to God, is many times richer than us if all we give are extras of what we have. What is left with us after we have given testifies.
posted by Fr. Bobby @ 4:00 PM
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