Christmas Gifts

 

It snowed some last night, and so as I drove to morning mass, I felt very blessed.  The roads were somewhat slick, but the pretty scenery made it pleasant to drive a little slower.  Mass was wonderful, as always, and I was going to head home and do a few things before my Bible Study meeting, but a friend and his mother stopped me, and we chatted there a while.  Meanwhile, the people in the church began their Saturday morning rosary and Divine Mercy prayers.  I hesitated, and then I stayed and joined them.  I wouldn’t go home, but pray and leave from here to my Bible Study, which was at another church site.  I was going to arrive a little early for the Bible Study, when I noticed a store on my travel route --- a route I normally don’t take.  I needed a couple of Christmas gifts yet, and had had some trouble finding them, and wondered: Would I find there here?  So, I stopped, and sure enough there they were.  I was pleased.  But as I traveled a bit further, I saw a nursery and recalled I had another gift to buy, but I passed it by so as to not be late for the Bible Study.    

The Bible Study guys were great, as usual.  We seem to resonate as a group, complementing our insights and strengthening our weaknesses.  And one brought a new prayer, titled The Prayer of Abandonment, which he perceived as relating to the birth of Jesus.  Jesus was preparing to leave heaven, and be born as a little nothing on earth – an immensely humbling thing for a God to do --- and all the while knowing that He was also agreeing to suffer a horrible death, and so He prayed as if one abandoned.  These are the words He might have said:

 

The Prayer of Abandonment
 --- St. Charles de Foucald

 

“Father, I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you.
I am ready for all; I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this.

 

O Lord, into your hands I commend my soul’
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve, and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

 

It's a prayer we all should consider saying this Christmas.  One of the guys recommended a novel he had just read, and so after we finished, I went over to the nearby Catholic bookstore to order it.  They didn’t have it, but I was able to help another person find an appropriate gift he was searching for.  And then I headed home --- stopping at that nursery I had passed on the way in.  The plant I found there was even more perfect than I had desired, and cheaper also.  And I thought:  Thank you, Lord, for the prayers I was able to stay and offer you, and then for the gifts You showed me in return.  And as I finished my words, a Christmas song I’m not sure I ever heard came on the radio.  It was a wonderful Christmas poem, read by Johnny Cash.  At home, I found it also being sung/read by Reba McEntire, and I listened again.  It is titled: The Christmas Guest.   I print it here as a Christmas present to you.

 

                                                 The Christmas Guest

It happened one day near December's end, when two neighbors called on an old friend
And they found his shop so meager and lean, made gay with a thousand bows of green
And Conrad was sitting with faces shining, when he suddenly stopped as he
Stitched a twine
And he said old friends, at dawn today, as the cock was crowing the night away,
The Lord appeared in a dream to me, and said I'm coming your guest to be
So I've been busy with feet of stern, strewing my shop with branches of fern,
The table is spread and the kettle is shine, and over the rafters the holly is twine,
Now I'll wait for my Lord to appear, and listen closely so I will hear
His step as he nears my humble place, and I'll open the door and look on his face
So his friends went home and left Conrad alone, for this was the happiest day he had known
For long since his family had passed away, and Conrad had spent many a sad Christmas day
But he knew with the Lord as his Christmas Guest, this Christmas would be the dearest and best
So he listened with only joy in his heart, and with every sound he would rise with a start
And look for the Lord to be at his door, like the vision he had had a few hours before
So he ran to the window after hearing a sound, but all he could see on the snow covered ground Was a shabby beggar whose shoes were torn, and all of his clothes were ragged and worn
But Conrad was touched and he went to the door, And he said you know your feet must be frozen and sore
I have some shoes in my shop for you, and a coat that will keep you warmer too,
So with grateful heart the man went away, but Conrad noticed the time of day,
And wondered what made the Lord so late, and how much longer he'd have to wait
When he heard a knock he ran to the door, but it was only a stranger once more,
A bent old lady with a shawl of black, with a bundle of kindling piled on her back,
She asked for only a place to rest, but that was reserved for Conrad's great guest
But her voice seemed to plead don't send me away, let me rest for a while on Christmas day,
So Conrad brewed her a steaming cup, and told her to set at the table and sup
But after she left he was filled with dismay, for he saw that the hours were slipping away

And the Lord hadn't come as he said he would, then Conrad felt sure he had misunderstood
When out of the stillness he heard a cry, please help me and tell me where am I,
So again he opened his friendly door, and stood disappointed as twice before
It was only a child that wandered away, and was lost from her family on Christmas day
Again Conrad's heart was heavy and sad, but he knew he should make the little girl glad,
So he called her in and he wiped her tears, quieted all her childish fears
Then he led her back to her home once more, but as he entered his own darkened door
He knew the Lord was not coming today, well the hours of Christmas had passed away
So he went to his room and knelt down to pray, and he said "Dear Lord, why did you delay?" "What kept you from coming to call on me?" For I wanted so much your face to see
When soft in the silence a voice he heard, lift up your head for I kept my word
Three times my shadow crossed your floor, and three times I came to your lowly door
I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet, and I was the woman you gave something to eat, I was the child on the homeless street,
Three times I knocked, and three times I came in, and each time I found the warmth of a friend
Of all the gifts, love is the best, and I was honored to be your Christmas Guest