GIVE/RECEIVE

WINTER 2019–2020

IN A WORLD THAT DEMANDS CONSTANT ATTENTION to material matters and pushes the soul to the sidelines, how can we remain true to our values? Who has time to pray, anyway, when major bills are coming due, a career-crucial meeting is coming up at work, or it’s almost Christmas and we’ve just realized it’s too late to order that special gift for one of our loved ones?

The prescription for keeping it all in balance is simple: Remember Jesus. Give. And receive.
 

Here in New York, as winter settles in, people prepare for cold days and long, dark nights. Many of us look forward to gathering with family, heaping the fire high and exchanging presents with the ones we love. It’s a time to be thankful for our blessings and generous to our neighbors, especially those in need.

With Advent, Catholics begin a new liturgical year and prepare to welcome Jesus into the world. Yet to read the billboards and watch the ads on television – even listening to the news reports – you might get the impression that the season is all about material presents, about piling up boxes under the tree, demonstrating our “net worth” by spending.

A thousand voices try to convince us we can buy happiness for ourselves and our loved ones. Economists fret about “holiday spending,” which equates to “consumer confidence.” The bottom line seems to be: the more we spend, the more we consume, the better – not just for ourselves but for the country and the world.

Of course, we know better, and with a little effort – or a little grace – we can filter out the commercial noise and look past the advertisements to a deeper celebration happening in the same space and time as the frenzied dance of materialism. Not all displays are inducing us to shop.

“Christmas is near, the signs of His approach are evident along our streets and in our houses,” Pope Francis wrote in 2016. “These outward signs invite us to welcome the Lord who always comes and knocks at our door, knocks at our heart, in order to draw near to us; He invites us to recognize His footsteps among the brothers and sisters who pass beside us, especially the weakest and most needy.”

This wisdom reminds us that the days of Advent and Christmas – indeed, of our lives – are best focused not on getting and spending, but on giving and receiving. God gives us his love and, with His grace, we joyfully receive it, then reflect it back to Him and pass it on to others. God gives us the unfathomable gift of life, then sends us His son, Jesus Christ, through whom our mortal life may become eternal. Then He gives us Jesus again and again in the form of the Eucharist, to give us the courage and purity to prepare our souls for immortality.
 

The Church offers us many gifts, and many opportunities to give. We receive the sacraments: baptism, which saves our souls; reconciliation, which forgives our sins; communion, which unites us with Jesus in the Eucharist; confirmation, which ushers us into Christian adulthood; matrimony, in which two souls become gifts to each other; holy orders, a gift of sanctity to those who are called; and anointing of the sick, the sacrament of healing and preparation for the ultimate gift of eternal life with Christ.”

In turn, we serve as members of Christ’s body. As ushers, altar servers, lectors and Eucharistic ministers, we help Him bestow His blessings on others. In social justice ministries, we bring His love to the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, the refugee.

Through the Church, we receive the gift of fellowship and all of the benefits that come with it: religious education for adults and their children, marriage preparation, bereavement support, social groups for teens, young adults and seniors. As parish members, we also contribute funds, according to our ability, to keep our local church and our diocese vital.

At home and in our community, we break bread, share our love, support each other through good and bad times. We ease one another’s pain through compassion and generosity. And there’s nothing wrong with celebrating abundance: when the time comes, we gather with friends and family to rejoice at the table of plenty. At Christmastime, we exchange presents, offering thanks to one another and to God.

This is balance. We give and receive. We pause to experience the love, the comfort and joy, and sing glory to Jesus.