A GIFT

 

What is in a gift? How do we open a gift? Do we open the gift slowly or tear it open?

Do we honor the gift giver? and the gift?

Do we silently cherish, hold, and look intently at the gift?

 or do we put aside the gift,

paying no attention to the work, love and care that went into presenting the gift?

 

When we receive a gift, we often look at the wrapping

and then we tear it off, as if we only want to see what is inside;

is it what we asked for? what we wanted? what we need? or just a token gift?

Then there are times when we open a gift with great thought and very slowly.

 

As we receive Jesus into our hearts

in the Holy Eucharist,

do we use the time prior to encountering Jesus in the Holy Eucharist

to prepare our hearts for the King?

or do we go through the motions just to fulfill our Sunday obligation?

Going through the motions, is like tearing off the paper

we miss the gift, the giver and the reason for the gift.

The gift is Jesus and eternal life with Him

the Giver is God the Father who loved us so much that He sent His only Son

into the world to redeem us,

the reason for the gift:

OUT OF PURE, SELFLESS UNCONDITONAL AND  PERFECT LOVE.

 

When we take time to pray,

when we take time to see Jesus in and through our lives

it is like one who slowly unwraps the gift,

we see, appreciate and honor each moment

of the encounter between God and our self.

When we receive a gfit in a gift bag, we tend to pull the gift out of the bag and

then we look at it and choose to honor or reject it.

Do we pull Jesus out of our "gift bag" when we need Him,

or are angry at Him and need to blame someone,

or when we feel abandoned and life seems out of control?

Or are we in a relationship with Him 

one that recognizes that He loves us and will never abandon us?

Do we see that God never changes,

whether we wrap Him up or put Him in gift bag.

He is the gift giver and Jesus is the gift

whether we honor the gift, ignore the gift, put the gift away or in hiding

whether we respect the gift or not

we are always living out of our human limitations.

God on the other hand is not limited.

His mercy, His love, His compassion,

His sense of Humor are not limited,

and never end.

 

Jesus is the greatest gift to us

but  do we realize, can we imagine, that we are God's gift to others?

Do we know that He loves us and

has created us to live in union with Him on this earth

and as we do that,

we are gifting others with a glimpse of His presence, 

by how we love and care for others?

 

Each time you give a gift to another, you are giving a part of yourself,

the part that loves, cares and appreciates another.

You are giving someone else the gift of God

as He is revealed through you and seen in you.

 

As we draw nearer to the Holy Birth

let us thank Mary for saying YES and allowing God to dwell within her,

let us thank God for saying YES

when He chose to use you and me to be His instruments in His world,

that HE wants us to do His work, that HE believes in us and knows our potential.

Let us thank Jesus for coming into our world, our life, and our hearts

and for making us one with Him;

in and through our baptism into His passion, death and resurrection.

Let us thank each other for being the gift of God's presence

a Glimpse of God,

to us in and through their prayers, works, words and example.

 

During this Advent season,

as we prepare to recieve the Baby Jesus into our hearts,

let us pray to be open to recognize that Jesus

is the greatest gift given to humankind,

and  that we have been chosen by God to receive Him.

YES. YOU AND I,

have been chosen by God

to recieve the gift of His Son Jesus into our lives forever.

As recipients do we ever say thank you to God for loving us

and presenting us with such a great and awesome gift?

Let us thank God

now, later, tomorrow, next week, on and every day

and may we never grow weary

of being a gift giver or a recipient

because both are avenues to encouter God and His great love for us.

 

 

 

 

Remember: Your breath is your life, use it wisely. Your heart is big, fill it wisely. Your mind is open, expand it wisely. Your God is present, reverence Him wisely. You are God's temple, honor yourself wisely.