Jesus knew, giving makes both the giver and the receiver happy. In pursuit of that happiness, many view gift-giving as one of the most important features of Christmas.
Many feel that Christmas gift-giving brings more stress, not more happiness. How so? A lot of shoppers feel compelled to buy gifts that they cannot afford. And since everyone is shopping for gifts at the same time, crowds and long lines make shopping an exasperating experience for many.
“Practice giving,” said Jesus.
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
Luke 6:38
And He did not limit gift-giving to a certain time of the year when people would be expected to give. Jesus urged his followers to make spontaneous gift-givinga practice, a way of life.
“Let each one do just as he has resolved in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
2 Corinthians 9:7
The essence of Paul’s counsel is that “nothing is ever to be given ‘from compulsion,’ from a feeling that one is forced to give,” explains one Bible commentary. Being “a cheerful giver” rules out the feeling of being obligated to give a specific item to a specific person at a specific time—the way Christmas gift-giving often turns out to be.
Gifts given as a matter of Choice.
Gifts given as they should be.
Love is a gift.
Now give that gift away.
these hugs n’ blessings are for everyone choosing to give the gift of love this Christmas Season!
Each year, on the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Church has us focus on the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church does this not merely because Mary has an obviously unforgettable role in the birth and life of Jesus. The CERC (Catholic Education Resource Center) reminds us
“the real reason that the Church proposes Mary to us as Christmas nears is because she is the model of how we should be living our advent. Mary is, in some sense, Advent personified. God the Father had prepared her from the first moment of her life to be a worthy mother of his Son. Like a faithful daughter of Israel, she had prayed throughout her youth for the coming of the Messiah. When she was a young girl, she discovered that she was part of God’s answer to that prayer, but in a way that would far have exceeded any Hebrew maiden’s prayers: not only would the Messiah be her son, but her son would also be God. Her “yes!” to the Archangel Gabriel launched the proximate preparation for the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Each year, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, we explicitly follow the footsteps Mary traced on that first Advent. In doing so, we’re doing more than traversing the physiological and historical events that preceded the birth of the Lord. We’re entering into Mary’s response of faith that are a guide for us along our own pilgrimage of faith.”
But I personally wonder…Did she know? Did she really know what ALL THAT meant? Did she know the love He would teach? Did she really know the miracles He would perform? Did she know the challenges He would face, the enemies He would make? The mocking, spitting, scourging, and crucifixion He would offer for our Salvation? Mary, did you know?
In my own Yes to bringing forth “life”…Did I know? Did I know what ALL THAT meant? Did I know the love they would teach? Did I really know the gifts they would bring? Did I know the challenges they would face, the enemies they would make? The mocking, spitting, scourging, and crucifixion from a sometimes cruel world, all for trust in a God who can Save? Woman, did you know?
Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am.
And so with the Lord, let us climb within Mary’s womb and listen to the beat of her contemplative heart that was treasuring within this greatest of all mysteries, so that our Christmas may be as fruitful as that first Christmas.
these hugs n’ holy blessings are my Advent gift to you!
And I am especially excited to be counting my 3 blessings today – while celebrating the feast of St. John Roberts, a Benedictine Monk from the 1600’s.
Father John often spoke how his love of God was deepened by an elderly priest who taught him many things which deepened his own faith.
Father John was inspired to help thousands of people who fell victim to the plague and he worked tirelessly to keep the faith alive, during a time when Catholics were persecuted mercilessly.
Captured himself he explained, “Were I to live longer, I would continue to do what I have been doing.”
The night before he was to be hanged he was brought into the company of eighteen other prisoners, who were also suffering for their faith. During their supper together, St. John was full of joy! “Do you think I may be giving a bad example by my joy?” he asked the others with him. “No, certainly not,” one of them replied. “You could not do anything better than to let everyone see the cheerful courage you have as you are about to die for Christ.”
Just like the elderly Priest who mentored St. John, my grandmother taught me many important things, while I was a little girl.
Such as: how to garden, how to home-can our freshly grown produce, how to bake an awesome banana bread and also how to sew! I still vividly remember sitting at her old Singer Sewing Machine – where she would lay out stacks of old scrap material just so I could practice the fundamentals like sewing straight lines.
Gram would lounge on her green velvet couch, watching her favorite Soap Opera The Young & The Restless with a package of black licorice in her hand; while I sat in the adjacent room close enough to hear her verbal instructions, “Your pushing the presser foot too fast!” Or “Don’t forget to backstitch!”
My Gram, Doris.
My grandmother was never a worldly woman. She enjoyed her small comfortable surroundings and she humbly cleaned the homes of a few prominent families in our hometown. She was not necessarily a “huggin’ & kissin” kind of grandmother but, she always managed to show you, in her own unique way, just how much she loved you – by making certain your needs were always met!
I remember the time she cheerfully brought home, from one of her cleaning families, a bag of outgrown clothing for my sister & I to look through. There was a green-plaid winter coat that she had in mind specifically for me – because she knew I was about the size of the young girl who’d outgrown it. There was a little mending to do but Gram fixed it up quite easily!
I loved that green plaid coat with the matching green faux fur around the hood & cuffed sleeves! I use to think it was because this was such a fancy high-quality coat, better than any I’d ever worn…but as I grew older & wiser I recognized it was the extra love my Gram used to mend it with, stitch by straight stitch, that made it so magically special.
More than the coat itself – it was the joy expressed & the lessons I learned – that made it so VERILY beautiful…all under the guise of love.
Tonight, a special broadcast of Dolly Parton’s famous song Coat of Many Colors will air on NBC. My daughter & I have been ending our (almost) daily phone conversations reminding the other how many days remain until its airing! This song – which was much later adapted into a children’s book – has a special place in our hearts.
The first time I heard Dolly’s beautiful song, telling of her own childhood experience of having received a Coat of Many Colors from her Mama, the memories of my beloved green plaid coat came flooding back!
Inspired by nostalgia and the desire to wrap my own daughter in a similar coat of love…I set to sewing!
A special 6th birthday gift!
So just like St. John’s joy, Dolly’s mama’s box of rags and my own Gram’s mending – this too would be stitched together with love!
For love is not a feeling…it is an action.
So it is -on this particular 3hugs&blessings Thursday- that I give thanks for:
my faith – which offers me the finest example of what it means to live out the action of love, as the Saints have done before me.
my Gram and all the domestic skills she passed down to me through her own lived-out example – especially her talented sewing skills!
my darling daughter who daily shows -in big & small ways – how much she loves her very special students.
hugs n’ blessings to all those who wrap themselves in a coat of love & remember to courageously share their joy with others!
“Were I to live longer, I would continue to do what I have been doing!”
hugsnblessings 