An Advent Reflection - A Gift For Jesus

The nights have been getting colder
and colder over here in California
and the days and moments of light have been getting shorter.

And yet, I find a lovely reflectiveness
in this season, this Winter season,

Nature is a great teacher and I love
listening to her sharing lessons about life
and death and rebirth, especially at this
winter season, where the trees take on the
barrenness of apparent death.

Indeed, life is a journey in discovering hidden truths.

I've always found it a blessing that stars shine
their brightest in the darkest nights.
And so it is, with our lives, oftentimes,
the darkest moments, the moments of despair,
the moments of feeling lost and confused,
can often be moments of grace, moments of intense
illumination where we re-discover ourselves, our goals,
our inspirations and the purpose for which we truly live.

It must have been a very dark night when
the brightest star shone for the 3 Magi, who
went in search of the infant King Jesus.
They must have been filled with thoughts of doubt
and despair, and yet hope must have warmed
their hearts as they travelled
all those nights in the barren desert,
eyes, turned heavenwards towards the star that
pointed the way to the infant Jesus.

They brought gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh,
but most importantly, they brought the gift
of themselves, and offered it to the infant Jesus.

Jesus says in John 17:24
"Father, they are your gift to me."

We are God the Father's gifts to Jesus.

Wow....I find that amazing. Especially when I think of the moments
when I've been weak, fragile, proud, hurt, selfish...
not the best type of gift at all.

Yet, we are Jesus's christmas presents.
The gift of ourselves, of our time, of our talents, of our being.
What type of gifts do we want to be?
What type of gifts are we to our families, to our friends?
What can we present to the infant Jesus when we reach the end
of this journey under the stars?

postscript :
[Indeed, in every mass that is celebrated in church,
the priest says in the Eucharistic prayer, "And so Father we bring you these gifts, we ask you to make them holy by the power of your spirit, that they may become the body and blood of your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate this eucharist."

I never thought about it before, but we truly are bringing the gifts of ourselves to the Lord, and asking the Father to transform us into the mystical body of Christ. "so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another" (Romans 12:5)]