Gifts at Christmas

In the catechism class, a week before Christmas, one of our seven year olds said: “I really hope I get some good gifts this Christmas!” His eyes sparkled as he remembered last year and it was clear that he was already hoping that this year would be even more profitable. Many of us are troubled by the commercialization of Christmas. Stores stock up on goods and make huge profits as people go out to buy Christmas presents, playing Santa Claus for members of family, friends and colleagues.

Of course, receiving gifts make us happy and that happiness can indeed contribute to Christmas joy. Did not the three wise men bring gifts to Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh? Children can really experience joy with the gifts they receive and we can make every effort that they connect this joy with the welcoming of Jesus into the world.

However, as we grow in body and spirit, there needs to be a radical turnabout in the idea of “Christmas is the season of gifts”. We need to realize that Christmas is measured not by the gifts we receive but by the gifts we become. Indeed, at Christmas, we receive Jesus. It is then that we must take note whether we have indeed prepared a suitable place for him. We will have again missed out if Advent passed us by and we had not prepared a beautiful, central and meaningful place in our hearts for the new born child. He is indeed the most precious gift we could ever receive.

However, Christmas cannot end on the act of receiving gifts. It must reach its pinnacle in becoming a gift. We are called, through the gift we receive, to become a gift for the world. The gift we receive at Christmas is the Christ-child. Because there was no place for him, his mother laid him in a manger – a sign that he would become food for a hungry world. We come to venerate him in the manger and when we come away, we should come away as gift for a hungry world.

This Christmas, let us not only meditate thankfully on the gifts we have received but also reflect with determination on the way we can become a gift to our families, friends and colleagues.