The Real Christmas Gift - In Your Sock? or In Your Heart?

Some goofy kids were preoccupied with the coming of Santa during the Advent season, whether they had been good or naughty. And, on Christmas morning, those who were not nice found dead roaches or dead rats in their hung socks. Ha, ha, ha!, laughing Santa…Just kidding. I know and kids know that Santa is not a mean guy like Mr. Grinch.  Meanwhile, good kids must have found goodies in their socks.

But, the one who has come on Christmas is not Santa. It is baby Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord in human flesh, the Emmanuel, to dwell among us...And, the real Christmas present is this special baby, who were born in a stable in the outskirts of Bethlehem. This baby's mom, Mary, and earthly dad, Joseph, were not rich. In fact, they were poor..couldn't even afford to have a nice comfy room to let Mary deliver the baby. So, she had to give birth in a stench-filled barn, where farm animals were kept.

Now what? Though the baby is the Son of God, it is a relentless reality, especially to the poor, to raise a child. This was no exception to Mary and Joseph, who were rather poor.  God did not send an envelope of cash to Mary and Joseph, in commissioning them to raise His Son. God did not let Mary and Joseph win a lottery to get rich so that it would ease their “burden” of raising a child.

To Mary and Joseph, receiving the baby from God, was a joy. Not a burden.

To Mary, finding herself to be pregnant even though she had not had married to and had sex with Joseph yet, was a great surprise. But, as she accepted it as God’s will, her initial anxious surprise turned into a great joy, as she sung in Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).

To Joseph, finding that Mary became pregnant even though she was not married to him yet and did not have sex with him yet, was something difficult to bear. So, he was tempted to secretly cancel his engagement with her. But, learning that her pregnancy was a miracle done by God, he accepted the Son of God in her womb as his son, with honor.

Imagine – if a thought of abortion had crossed the minds of Mary and Joseph? It was a totally unexpected pregnancy. And, they were poor.  So, unexpected child means unexpected addition to financial burden. 

Such thinking is what dominates today’s secular culture.  We live life only for ourselves – to pursue our own self-serving interests.

But, as exemplified with the way Mary and Joseph responded and accepted this surprise done by God, having a child amidst their struggles with poverty as a total surprise was not a burden to be despised. Because of their faith in God, this surprise event became an unexpected blessing, joy, and honor to this poor couple.

At first, the greatest Christmas gift came and was received in the immaculate womb of Mary, through the sperm-like work of the Holy Spirit, pneuma (Matthew 1:18) Perhaps, it was like how God put his ruah into clay to give life to the first human, Adam (Genesis 2:7).  This is the prefiguration of the greatest gift.

It was not received in Mary’s sock but in her womb.

Then, as she gave birth to this baby, Jesus, in the stench-filled stable, on that cold night in the outskirts of Bethlehem, this greatest gift came out in a tangible way and received in the loving hearts of Mary and Joseph.

So, have we received this greatest gift sent by God on Christmas? Or, are you still complaining about some of the gifts you received from Santa?

This greatest gift, Jesus the Messiah, is sent to all of us on earth. Mary and Joseph were the first ones to receive. This gift is not like Santa’s gifts, which are given conditionally, as God’s greatest gift for our salvation is given unconditionally – whether we have been nice or naughty. But, this gift can be appreciated only by those whose hearts seek God first and those whose hearts that repent their sins.

To selfish hearts, this baby would be nothing but a burden, even tempting to commit things like abortion. But, to faithful hearts with hope, like the hearts of Mary and Joseph, this is not a burden but a joy – in spite of the reality of hardship in life. 

Get it? This is what Christmas is about.

Perhaps, we can appreciate the meaning of Christmas in light of the Ignatian spirituality of gratitude and generosity.

What we can learn from St. Ignatius of Loyola through the following prayers of his is like this. First, we sublimate our own ego…by surrendering it to the will of God, so that our attitude of gratitude grows. Then, with our magnified grateful heart, we receive the real gift of Christmas with joy, with our magnified soul, as Mary reflected in her Magnificat.

****

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, 
my memory, my understanding
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
 
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
 
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.

*****

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

May our hearts be clean hearts (Psalm 51) in receiving this precious gift with gratitude. May our pure hearts be as clean as the new wine skin to receive the new wine (Matthew 9:17) so that we can share this gift and whatever comes with this gift with others more generously - as the new wine is generously poured out of the new wine skin for others to share. 

Merry Christmas!

The Octave of Christmas until the circumcision of Jesus and the Twelve Days of Christmas until Epiphany have just begun!  May our hearts grow more in joy during this Christmas season – even life continues to give hard times.

May your Christmas joy grow and grow during these Octave of Christmas and the Twelve Days of Christmas!