The Christmas Gift I really want
Q. What is the best day of the year?
A. Christmas, of course.
Q. What do you like best about Christmas morning?
A. The presents under the tree, of course.
Q. Which do you like better: receiving presents or giving them?
A. Receiving them, of course, but giving them is a lot of fun too.
What did you want more than anything else this Christmas? Let me tell you about the Christmas gift I wanted more than anything else when I was ten years old (that was 1970). It was an ice-cream maker. The TV ad said it would make unlimited quantities of chocolate ice-cream, right in my own house. My mother hinted that, if I was nice and not naughty, I just might find it under the tree. I knew it cost a fortune—four dollars and ninety-five cents. And on Christmas morning, when I tore open my present, it was the ice-cream machine. But that afternoon, when I tried to make it work, it made only a melted tasteless goo instead of chocolate ice-cream. I was sad and angry. I threw it on the ground, and it broke, and my mother said, fine, there was four dollars and ninety-five cents down the drain. So you learn not to expect much from things.
But I can just remember another day—it was not Christmas. It was July 11, 1965. My father pulled up in our big blue station wagon with my mother. They had just come from the hospital. Mom was holding something wrapped in blue blankets close to her heart. It was a baby boy, the fifth boy in our family, my little brother James. That gift has never disillusioned me. That gift broke, even when I threw him accidentally through a glass door, although that meant another trip to the hospital. That gift never made me sad, except when he leaves me after a visit, and returns to his family in New Jersey. Then I cry for an hour or so.
Let’s admit it: we do love to receive gifts. And our Father in heaven loves to give gifts. That is why He gave us the best gift of all, a baby boy, His only Son. Jesus is our Christmas gift, and without Him, none of the gifts we receive, or give, have any value. He comes to us as one of us, with us, to keep us warm against the cold and dark.
Q. What is the best day of the year?
A. Christmas, of course.
Q. What do you like best about Christmas morning?
A. The presents under the tree, of course.
Q. Which do you like better: receiving presents or giving them?
A. Receiving them, of course, but giving them is a lot of fun too.
What did you want more than anything else this Christmas? Let me tell you about the Christmas gift I wanted more than anything else when I was ten years old (that was 1970). It was an ice-cream maker. The TV ad said it would make unlimited quantities of chocolate ice-cream, right in my own house. My mother hinted that, if I was nice and not naughty, I just might find it under the tree. I knew it cost a fortune—four dollars and ninety-five cents. And on Christmas morning, when I tore open my present, it was the ice-cream machine. But that afternoon, when I tried to make it work, it made only a melted tasteless goo instead of chocolate ice-cream. I was sad and angry. I threw it on the ground, and it broke, and my mother said, fine, there was four dollars and ninety-five cents down the drain. So you learn not to expect much from things.
But I can just remember another day—it was not Christmas. It was July 11, 1965. My father pulled up in our big blue station wagon with my mother. They had just come from the hospital. Mom was holding something wrapped in blue blankets close to her heart. It was a baby boy, the fifth boy in our family, my little brother James. That gift has never disillusioned me. That gift broke, even when I threw him accidentally through a glass door, although that meant another trip to the hospital. That gift never made me sad, except when he leaves me after a visit, and returns to his family in New Jersey. Then I cry for an hour or so.
Let’s admit it: we do love to receive gifts. And our Father in heaven loves to give gifts. That is why He gave us the best gift of all, a baby boy, His only Son. Jesus is our Christmas gift, and without Him, none of the gifts we receive, or give, have any value. He comes to us as one of us, with us, to keep us warm against the cold and dark.
Christmas Geese
I want to tell you a story about Christmas geese. There was once a farmer who stayed home from Christmas Mass, although his wife took all the kids. It was a snowy Christmas Eve, and the winds started driving the snow into a blizzard. As the man peered out the window, he could just make out a flock of wild geese. The storm had grounded them, and they were struggling against the storm to huddle together for warmth. The man felt badly for the geese. He put on his coat and boots, walked out to the barn and opened the doors wide. The geese paid no attention. So the farmer walked over to herd them inside, but they ran away from him.
He stumped back inside to watch them huddling for warmth in the gathering gloom. "Why don’t they follow me into the barn?!" the man muttered. "Can't they see they can’t survive the storm without my help?” But he knew that a man would only frighten them. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.
Then he fell to his knees and wept. He had discovered Christmas after all. We are like those geese: lost, afraid, cold. We are a people “who walked in darkness,” in the words of the Prophet Isaiah. We are the people who “dwelt in a land of gloom.” No man can save the human race, but we are afraid of an infinitely powerful God. So God came to us, not in power, but in weakness; He became one of us, even as a little baby. “A child is born to us, a son is given us. They name him wonder-counselor, Father-forever, prince of peace.”
I want to tell you a story about Christmas geese. There was once a farmer who stayed home from Christmas Mass, although his wife took all the kids. It was a snowy Christmas Eve, and the winds started driving the snow into a blizzard. As the man peered out the window, he could just make out a flock of wild geese. The storm had grounded them, and they were struggling against the storm to huddle together for warmth. The man felt badly for the geese. He put on his coat and boots, walked out to the barn and opened the doors wide. The geese paid no attention. So the farmer walked over to herd them inside, but they ran away from him.
He stumped back inside to watch them huddling for warmth in the gathering gloom. "Why don’t they follow me into the barn?!" the man muttered. "Can't they see they can’t survive the storm without my help?” But he knew that a man would only frighten them. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.
Then he fell to his knees and wept. He had discovered Christmas after all. We are like those geese: lost, afraid, cold. We are a people “who walked in darkness,” in the words of the Prophet Isaiah. We are the people who “dwelt in a land of gloom.” No man can save the human race, but we are afraid of an infinitely powerful God. So God came to us, not in power, but in weakness; He became one of us, even as a little baby. “A child is born to us, a son is given us. They name him wonder-counselor, Father-forever, prince of peace.”
Do not be afraid
The angel tells the shepherds to not be afraid. “Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy… For today in the City of David a Savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord.” And the shepherds went to Bethlehem and saw … a poor family. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, huddled together in the cold and darkness. God comes to us as a child, through a family. He wants husbands to love their wives, and wives to respect their husbands, and children to obey their parents. All of us were born into a family, even if it was not a perfect family. Many of us have our own families now. God wants to come to us, tonight, through our families. As affectionately and as disarmingly as a little child comes close to us.
The angel tells the shepherds to not be afraid. “Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy… For today in the City of David a Savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord.” And the shepherds went to Bethlehem and saw … a poor family. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, huddled together in the cold and darkness. God comes to us as a child, through a family. He wants husbands to love their wives, and wives to respect their husbands, and children to obey their parents. All of us were born into a family, even if it was not a perfect family. Many of us have our own families now. God wants to come to us, tonight, through our families. As affectionately and as disarmingly as a little child comes close to us.
New Year’s Resolution
I am so happy you have come here to Christmas Mass. You are looking for the Savior. But, like the shepherds, you have to go to where He is to be found: to Bethlehem (in Hebrew, that means “house of bread”). This is the House of Bread, this Church. This Church houses the Bread of Life, the Holy Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, his enduring presence until His Second Coming.
I want you to make two New Year’s resolutions. First, that you begin coming to Mass every Sunday, if you are not. And if you are, to keep coming, and to let nothing come between you and the Holy Eucharist. We cannot live without the Lord’s Supper. We only exist, but we do not fully live. And Second, that you begin praying as a family, if you are not already doing so. Family prayer begins with family dinner, at least once a week. You pray together before and after you eat: the blessing and the thanksgiving. But even better, learn to pray the rosary together, once a week. Are you single? Pray with friends. Are you divorced? Pray for your former spouse. Make the resolution to do this, to attend Mass every Sunday, and to pray with your family once a week, and I guarantee you will see your life improve. God has given us the gift of His Only-Begotten Son. Now give him the gift of at least a part of yourself, every week, and see how He blesses you.
I am so happy you have come here to Christmas Mass. You are looking for the Savior. But, like the shepherds, you have to go to where He is to be found: to Bethlehem (in Hebrew, that means “house of bread”). This is the House of Bread, this Church. This Church houses the Bread of Life, the Holy Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, his enduring presence until His Second Coming.
I want you to make two New Year’s resolutions. First, that you begin coming to Mass every Sunday, if you are not. And if you are, to keep coming, and to let nothing come between you and the Holy Eucharist. We cannot live without the Lord’s Supper. We only exist, but we do not fully live. And Second, that you begin praying as a family, if you are not already doing so. Family prayer begins with family dinner, at least once a week. You pray together before and after you eat: the blessing and the thanksgiving. But even better, learn to pray the rosary together, once a week. Are you single? Pray with friends. Are you divorced? Pray for your former spouse. Make the resolution to do this, to attend Mass every Sunday, and to pray with your family once a week, and I guarantee you will see your life improve. God has given us the gift of His Only-Begotten Son. Now give him the gift of at least a part of yourself, every week, and see how He blesses you.
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