Our God Immanuel comes among us. He has given us his Divinity in the Incarnation to glorify our humanity. He comes as our Savior and King, offering his whole self as a gift to us. He wants to exchange Christmas gifts with us. What do we have to offer him?
He wants us to give him our humanity, our hearts and all that is in them. He wants the gift of sharing our joyful family celebrations, of loving our children, enjoying the love of our brothers and sisters in the Lord, as we worship, serve and play together.
He also wants the gift of all our sorrows, the bitterness of past hurts, the anxiety over the future, the disappointment in a difficult relationship. He wants us to give him all that is hidden in our heart in exchange for his presence in every circumstance, relationship and celebration.
He wants to love away our sorrows and heal our hurts, if we will only give him everything in our hearts. In exchange he wants to come into our hearts and bring us the joy of Christmas, the joy of Christ born among us, alive within us and living through us.
(© 2012 Nancy H C Ward)
And the gift keeps on giving at the Eucharist! We give Him our humanity…our imperfections and flaws along with simple bread and wine and He returns to us His Body and Blood and a life of joy in doing is His will: LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Thank you for taking this a step further into the gift of the Eucharist, which brings us such joy that we instinctively love one another. That’s the Christmas Spirit that can last all year.