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Christmas Gift - the One who keeps on giving.
Christ is the gift who keeps on giving. What does Christ get out of being the living gift of God among us? To begin reflecting on a mystery that might not usually enter our thoughts, we can start by asking ourselves a question about something more familiar: What do we receive when we give gifts? The non-tangible return from giving gifts that occurs within us, beyond any response from recipients, is the interior satisfaction of having enacted the deepest purpose of our lives. We are created by Love for love, so that when we give of our goodness to others, our hearts and minds are content and at peace.
In asking the question about what Christ receives from giving self, we can think immediately about our expressions of gratitude. Further, if we accept as real Christ’s self-identification with us, then whatever we do for anyone else we do for Christ. This includes whatever material things we give, and more importantly, the gift of our presence to and with others. All are at the same time gifts we offer to Christ, which we could think of as “birthday gifts” to the one for whom this holiday season was founded.
Christ is himself the ultimate Christmas gift given to us and is the primary motivation for us to give gifts that convey our sincere regard for others. The equation is very simple: when we accept the love of God for us so humanly identifiable in Jesus, this love cannot be stored, but rather it expands and grows when we express it through our thoughts, prayers, and deeds. Just as parents receive joy when their children speak and act graciously to others, we give this kind of gift to Christ in treating people well. And just as Christ came into the world for the sake of all people, regardless of ethnicity, religion, age, or even rightness or its absence, we have opportunities every day to return the favors we have received by the unique manner of care we exercise for others without restrictions based on any of their qualities.
However, we are not Christ and loving all whom Christ loves is beyond even our best-willed desires. Yet the seemingly impossible challenge need not be of great concern, for when we look directly to Christ, who looks at us with all-encompassing love, we leave aside our focus on the ideal, and more spontaneously respond to the more immediate practical situations in which we find ourselves. We lose awareness of whether we are returning love to Christ, and wind up doing so from the presence of Christ within us.
The ongoing Christmas gift of Christ is that God becomes one with us as an “insider,” drawing us into love for all.
Last Updated 12/20/2025