Gifts 2016: the Magi's and Mine

As we celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas Day, we give gifts to one another as signs representing God’s Greatest Gift to us.

A custom that Father Larry, former pastor of Ascension Parish, has on Epiphany Sunday is to share about the gifts he received on the occasion of the Lord's Nativity, and relate them to the significance of the gifts the Magi brought the Christ Child.

The gold was given to acclaim Jesus as King.  The frankincense recognizes He is a priest, with the purpose (or vocation) of bringing us to God.  The myrrh honors the sacrifice Jesus makes in His humanity for the sins of all people.

I like how Father Larry brings spiritual significance to his gifts.  In that spirit, and with his custom as a guide, I here reflect on gifts I gave and received in celebration of Christ's Birth, as I continue pondering the Great Mystery of the Incarnation in this Christmas Season.

Please note: I don't present an exhaustive list of all my gifts here.  Rather, I am selecting one specific gift that pertains to each of the Magi's gifts, even in a small or not so obvious way, but certainly many other gifts I gave and received could fit with the categories represented by each of the Magi's gifts, as there were many wonderful gifts exchanged.

Gifts I Gave
Gold: I gave to my good friends the Ruggabers a musical CD entitled The Nature Suite with songs evoking nature, by Father Bob Hutmacher, assistant at Ascension Parish.

Frankincense: I gave my uncle a bag of a trail mix-type snack, with an assortment of nuts.  In his job with the organization Chicago Voyagers, he takes teens on trips into wilderness areas as a positive character-building experience for them.  I thought a food item like this would be suitable for him on the trip he departed on the day after Christmas Day to the Everglades.

Myrrh: I gave my brother a special pan that can be used to make omelets, with a part of it that flips over to aid in this process, since he enjoys omelets for breakfast.

Gifts I Received
Gold: My paternal grandma gave me a nice sweater that I have enjoyed wearing, and look forward to wearing again and again, especially when at work.

Frankincense: My brother gave me a copy of the book American Catholic History: a Documentary Reader, which tells the story of the Roman Catholic experience in the United States.  It ties in with my lifestyle as a Roman Catholic, and as a book, it connects with my life’s work in library and information science, and the handling of knowledge.

Myrrh: I received many nice food items from Trader Joe’s, especially fruit bar snacks.


It’s amazing to think that these gifts, embedded into the fabric of our lives, especially those we use on a regular basis, hold such significance in pointing us to the Greatest Gift of all.  It’s just like Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into humble and ordinary circumstances to point the way to God.

I couldn’t help but think about this a few days before Nativity Day when I watched The Nativity, a BBC movie that portrays the events of Christ’s birth.  Normally at this time of year, I would watch The Nativity Story, a movie that came out in 2006.  But I saw the BBC movie at the library when shelving DVDs in the British section, and I thought I would do something different and watch this version of the story instead.

After a vivacious, optimistic start that showed Mary and Joseph happily reveling in the start of their betrothal relationship, the vast majority of the movie had a darker tone, as the characters agonized over Mary’s pregnancy.  Even Joseph had a hard time accepting what Mary said about her encounter with the angel Gabriel.  As the movie got close to its end, it seemed like he still hadn’t fully shaken his stance that she had committed adultery, like many others claimed.  There was even one point in the movie when Mary is out walking in Nazareth, and an angry mob nearly stones her.

It was into these messy circumstances, in a world wracked by the turmoil owing to the ruling powers, that Christ was born.  And though He would seemingly be defeated on the Cross by these ruling powers and evil itself, He triumphed gloriously.

So we, too, in the midst of our struggles, rejoice because God loved us so much, He sent His Son to be born into our world, to become one of us, to redeem us from sin and evil, bringing us to new life, which we live even now as we share His presence within us with others.  What a gift He has given us to give to others.

20+C+M+B+16

(The above is something that is written above the door to the house on the occasion of Epiphany.  The 20 and 16 signify the year 2016.  The letters stand for the traditional names for the Magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.  The four crosses represent the four seasons.)