Why do we exchange gifts during Christmas?
Dearest all,
It's been quite a while since my last post. Anyway, I attended a Christmas party in my parish last week and we had this gifts exchange. I was suppose to be in charge for that program, and I felt bad because I messed them up :)
By the way, have you ever asked yourself why we have this gift exchange during Christmas? I never really thought about that question until that night. Well, I guess the one that made me realized about why we exchange gift was one of the songs that the worship leader sang that night.
I believe the very reason is that on Christmas night, God has become a gift for us. He chose to be a gift, so small and so weak. He chose to be carried by human hands, to be in a human family, and loved by little and poor human beings.
What is God's gift to us? How can we number them? Isn't everything God's gift to us? God has given us everything! From the sun to the moon, from the hills to the valleys, from the ocean to the skies, from our little toys to our computers, from our clothes to our foods. Isn't our family is a gift from God?
But more than that, on Christmas day, God has not only given us the Universe and everything that exist, on Christmas day, he has given us himself.
But just as in every gift exchange, we too in our part are invited to give. What can we give then?
If you recall every time we have this gift exchange, they will tell us the range of price to buy, for our case it was from $5-$10. But I guess the point is that we know that our gift must be about the same value as what we would receive. We can't give a toilet paper when someone give us a condominium.
When God has given us his everything, and when he has given us his own self, what should we give in return? We know that deep in our heart we are called and invited to give him our everything, we are called to give him our very self.
Jesus said, those who lose his life will find it.
There are many ways to lose our wallet. We can drop it along the way, or someone may steal it. But we can also lose our wallet by "giving" it. I believe this is what Jesus meant when he says, "those who lose his life will find it". We can lose it by giving it to him. And only by giving our lives to him, we will find what "life" is all about, the true life. It's not the life that the world offers, but the life that God has planned for us, the life of God himself.
But too often, we cling to our lives. Just in any gift exchange, we are too busy to think what we will get. In lives too, we are too busy in what we can get. We forget in the "losing of our lives", we forget that they only way to find lives, is by giving it.
But Christmas reminds us again of the meaning of our lives. Life becomes meaningful in giving, just as God gives himself to us.
How can we give our lives to God? One way is by giving our lives to others. Mother Teresa said, love must be put into action. I recently just watched a documentary on Mother Teresa. What a wonderful woman, she gave her lives to the poorest of the poor. She was full of energy, she kept on giving.
Who are the people in our lives that God has entrusted to us? Who are the people that God has called us to love? Are they our family members? Are they our friends? Are they our enemies?
Christmas gives us this glimpse of life. On christmas day, a child is born, a son is given to us. On Christmas day we are reminded of our deepest calling to give...to love. We are reminded that we are created to be Love, just as God is love.
Love is man's origin,
Love is man's constant calling,
Love is his fulfillment in heaven.
--Eucharistic prayer for wedding--
526 ... Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us.207 Christmas is the mystery of this "marvelous exchange":
This is the meaning of Christmas, God has become man, so that men may become gods. This is why we exchange gifts during Christmas.
your brother in His love,
oka
It's been quite a while since my last post. Anyway, I attended a Christmas party in my parish last week and we had this gifts exchange. I was suppose to be in charge for that program, and I felt bad because I messed them up :)
By the way, have you ever asked yourself why we have this gift exchange during Christmas? I never really thought about that question until that night. Well, I guess the one that made me realized about why we exchange gift was one of the songs that the worship leader sang that night.
I believe the very reason is that on Christmas night, God has become a gift for us. He chose to be a gift, so small and so weak. He chose to be carried by human hands, to be in a human family, and loved by little and poor human beings.
What is God's gift to us? How can we number them? Isn't everything God's gift to us? God has given us everything! From the sun to the moon, from the hills to the valleys, from the ocean to the skies, from our little toys to our computers, from our clothes to our foods. Isn't our family is a gift from God?
But more than that, on Christmas day, God has not only given us the Universe and everything that exist, on Christmas day, he has given us himself.
But just as in every gift exchange, we too in our part are invited to give. What can we give then?
If you recall every time we have this gift exchange, they will tell us the range of price to buy, for our case it was from $5-$10. But I guess the point is that we know that our gift must be about the same value as what we would receive. We can't give a toilet paper when someone give us a condominium.
When God has given us his everything, and when he has given us his own self, what should we give in return? We know that deep in our heart we are called and invited to give him our everything, we are called to give him our very self.
Jesus said, those who lose his life will find it.
There are many ways to lose our wallet. We can drop it along the way, or someone may steal it. But we can also lose our wallet by "giving" it. I believe this is what Jesus meant when he says, "those who lose his life will find it". We can lose it by giving it to him. And only by giving our lives to him, we will find what "life" is all about, the true life. It's not the life that the world offers, but the life that God has planned for us, the life of God himself.
But too often, we cling to our lives. Just in any gift exchange, we are too busy to think what we will get. In lives too, we are too busy in what we can get. We forget in the "losing of our lives", we forget that they only way to find lives, is by giving it.
But Christmas reminds us again of the meaning of our lives. Life becomes meaningful in giving, just as God gives himself to us.
How can we give our lives to God? One way is by giving our lives to others. Mother Teresa said, love must be put into action. I recently just watched a documentary on Mother Teresa. What a wonderful woman, she gave her lives to the poorest of the poor. She was full of energy, she kept on giving.
Who are the people in our lives that God has entrusted to us? Who are the people that God has called us to love? Are they our family members? Are they our friends? Are they our enemies?
Christmas gives us this glimpse of life. On christmas day, a child is born, a son is given to us. On Christmas day we are reminded of our deepest calling to give...to love. We are reminded that we are created to be Love, just as God is love.
Love is man's origin,
Love is man's constant calling,
Love is his fulfillment in heaven.
--Eucharistic prayer for wedding--
526 ... Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us.207 Christmas is the mystery of this "marvelous exchange":
- O marvelous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.208
This is the meaning of Christmas, God has become man, so that men may become gods. This is why we exchange gifts during Christmas.
your brother in His love,
oka
posted by Oka | 11:23 am
2 Comments:
Oi brother! You didn't mess up the gift exchange la... it went well =D Thanks for the reflection.
Just that sometimes I realize that people has different definition of love. And this reminds me of what you said about this world has formed it's own definition of love through medias, tv, magazine, movies...
So the questions remains, what is love suppose to be? How can we love as He loves? How can we forgive as He forgives? And most of all, how would people know that they are loved when they has the wrong meaning of love?
Well just some of my thoughts. And after reading your article, i just realize, you did all the things you wrote... coz you didn't search for the gift you're gonna get in the gift exchange hahaha... Anyway.. God bless...
Oka..what a nice reflection..!!
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!
All the best for the new year^^
~Tika
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