The Gift Most Desired

Usually, the days before Christmas are filled with frenetic activity. There are preparations for gatherings with family and friends. Plans for travel are often high on the list of priorities. It may involve booking a flight to cross the country or simply putting gas into the family vehicle to make the rounds of parents, family and loved ones.

Giving gifts is also a beautiful custom that can be a highlight of Christmas. We put much time and care into choosing the right gift for the right person. What joy comes from seeing the pleasure on a person’s face when you have handed them a gift they love!

In the midst of all the beautiful and meaningful activities of Christmas, there is one gift to be given that is the most important. It is the gift most desired. It cannot be found in any store large or small. UPS, Fed-Ex, or Amazon cannot deliver it to our door. There is no gift wrap, gift bag or bow that can adorn it. This gift cannot be put on a credit card, or be paid for by check or cash. This gift most desired is never the first gift given. Rather, it is always given after we have first received a gift. And yet, it is always the gift most desired.
           
We carry this gift with us always. The gift most desired is the gift of our heart. The One who so greatly desires this gift is the Infant who is laid in the manger bed of Bethlehem. By coming into the world as one of us while remaining most high God, He has already given us His Heart, small in size yet infinitely large with His unfailing love for us. He so desires us to come to Him and give our heart as a gift to Him. When we give over our heart to Him, we give our all, our sorrows and joys, our successes and failures, our strengths and weaknesses.
           
What is the right moment or optimal circumstances to give the gift most desired to the Holy Infant? It may vary from person to person. Here is a time-tested suggestion. When you go to Mass on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and are prepared to receive Holy Communion, go forth and receive the tremendous gift of Jesus Christ Himself in the Holy Eucharist. Then, take time after Mass and kneel before the nativity scene. Gaze upon that Infant who came to give Himself to you, and there speak to Him and tell Him, “Divine Infant Jesus, Savior and Lord of all, I give you my heart; I give you my all!” Know that He will smile upon you and bless you in ways you cannot even imagine.
           
St. Robert Southwell (1561-1595), an English Jesuit and martyr, wrote in his poem, “The Nativity”:
Gift better than Himself God doth not know,
Gift better than His God no man can see;
This gift doth here the giver given bestow,
Gift to this gift let each receiver be;
God is my gift, Himself He freely gave me,
God’s gift am I, and none but God shall have me.

           
May the Holy Infant of Bethlehem bless you and your family from His manger bed!

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh