Dear Parishioners and Friends of Holy Cross Church,
Most families have traditions for how to celebrate birthdays. In my family, you got to select the menu for your birthday dinner.After eating, everyone sang the birthday song and Mom brought a cake with lit candles into the darkened room. You made a wish, blew out the candles, and served yourself as much cake as you wanted. Mom served everyone else more reasonable portions. Then you got your gifts. Sound familiar?
Well, on December 25th it will be Jesus’2018th birthday! Except that unlike every other birthday, it will be the birthday of a boy who gives US the gifts. Indeed He himself is the gift — God’s greatest gift ever! On Christmas, the light itself is born into the world – not little wax candles to lighten up a darkened room that are blown out amid wishes for something we desire, but light itself which darkness cannot overpower … the long awaited Messiah to fulfill our deepest desires…lasting happiness the world cannot give, happiness that lasts forever.
On this greatest of all birthdays, the honoree is the one who gives the gifts, but naturally we do want to reciprocate, give him gifts in return. So why do we give gifts to each other on that day? Shouldn’t we be giving them to Jesus instead? After all, it’s his birthday.
One answer is that by becoming man and being born into this world, God became one of us, our brother. And since all of us are made in the image and likeness of God, any kindness we give (or refuse to give)to anyone else we also give (or refuse to give) to God, including Jesus who is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
So we give gifts to Jesus on his birthday by giving gifts to God, which we do by giving gifts to each other. But there’s more: the greatness of a gift comes from how much it cost you personally — not the monetary cost, not how many dollars you spent, but rather how much of yourself that gift represents, your self-sacrificing love. That’s the true cost and true value of a gift.
And the gift God gave us on Christmas was the greatest gift ever because it cost him personally more than any other gift imaginable: his very self. His Son sacrificed his entire self in order to set us free and make us his own. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the love, and Christmas is the first step in the path that leads to Good Friday, the greatest sacrifice ever.
I pray that you become the other Christ – a Christian who can give yourself to others, especially your close family, friends, and everyone around you. May God bless you in this special time with His special Grace, Joy, and Peace.
God is looking to meet with YOU in this Christmas Season,
maybe the Holy Cross Church will be a good place for that encounter.