By chance the other day I came across this column I wrote for the Pittsburgh Catholic on November 28, 1997. It seems just as appropriate for today as it did back then (except for the reference about commercial activity stopping on Thanksgiving Day--my crystal ball failed to see that change coming).
It's not an official liturgical season of the church, but I like to think that the months of November and December are "the season of giving."
The American national celebration of Thanksgiving is as close as we get to a secular holy day. Just about every commercial venture stops to allow employees to join their families in shared feasting and giving thanks.
Churches and synagogues host cheerful and thankful worshipers that day. Ecumenical and interfaith prayer services abound. More than once after Mass on Thanksgiving Day I've heard people say, "I wish every Sunday could have this same joyful spirit."
Of course, the day after Thanksgiving we are bombarded with advertising. But buried underneath the commercial avalanche is the Christian season of Advent.
During these days, Christians prepare their hearts to celebrate the gift of our Savior's birth with our own gift-giving. Stores and malls take this idea of gift-giving to extremes. They conveniently forget the reason for the season of giving.
The biblical roots are deep. In the beginning Yahweh gave breath to human beings and brought them into life.
Ancient worshipers responded to God's generosity by giving up the first fruits of field and flock. The Lord gave the law, the path of righteousness, to the Hebrew people.
When the people strayed from the law, the Lord sent prophets. Because the Jews were once exiles and enslaved in Egypt, they are constantly exhorted throughout the Scriptures to care for the poor in their midst.
Jesus, the faithful Jew, inherits this spirit of giving. My concordance records the word "give" 65 times in the Gospels. Jesus gives healing to the paralyzed, blind, lame, even the dead. He gives food to the hungry multitudes, instruction to his disciples, correction to Peter when this fisherman tries to rework Jesus's teaching. Jesus gives forgiveness to the woman caught in adultery and the thief on the cross next to him.
Jesus tells us he will give us a new commandment of love and a Spirit of life-giving power. He gives us his Body and Blood. He gave his life for us so that all might live eternally. In the only saying of Jesus quoted outside the Gospels, Paul recalls Jesus's teaching, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35)
Jesus gave to those who could not repay him. This is true in all of these examples. He instructs us to give to those who beg from us, regardless of our judgment of their worthiness. He chides us by asking, "If you love those who love you, what reward is there is that?" All that the Master asks for is a word of praise to God, not to himself.
St. Paul once wrote, "What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor 4:7) A moment's reflection tells us that all that we are and have comes from someone else.
We would do well to recheck our personal Christmas gift lists in light of the challenge from Christ himself. Are we giving to those who can't repay the gift?
This is already happening through food drives, Jesse or Giving trees, and significant donations to the charities in the name of loved ones. This year, consider giving as much in response to people's needs as to return the love of family and friends.
In the Nativity story, Mary and Joseph, the innkeeper, shepherds and Magi all gave to the Christ Child without expecting any return. They witness to us the wisdom of Christ our Teacher, "You received without paying, give without repayment." (Matthew 10:8)
The word "give" resides deeply in my heart. It's the reason I gave this blog the title it has. It's what I received (and can never repay) from my parents, teachers and friends. Give in greater measure this year in "the season of giving." And remember, you cannot never exceed the generosity of God.
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