What Shall I Give Him?
At some point every Advent we hit an annual snag in our Christmas shopping. What to buy for the person who has everything. And it’s true, isn’t it, that in every family, there’s someone, maybe a few people, who are very hard to buy for. They already have all they need, and as far as we can tell, all they want. We wrack our brains, we desperately thumb our way through all the catalogs, we even try googling for ideas, but nothing seems to fit the bill. They either have it already, or wouldn’t want it anyway.
It’s not my job to suggest things. This isn’t a spiritual problem, so you’re on your own. What I would say though, is that we might want to refocus our attention for a few moments, away from those difficult friends and family members, and instead think about the one whose birthday we are actually celebrating. I don’t know why but at Christmas, we give gifts to everybody except the one whose birthday it is. Maybe, it’s the same problem—what do we give to the person who already has everything? If there’s anyone who has it all, it’s God. The Christchild is the Son of God, the Word who was in the beginning with God, who is God and who made everything there is, and without whom was made nothing that was made. We are at a loss—what on earth can we give him that he doesn’t already have? We can’t just order something on Amazon and have it dropped off at the pearly gates.
And yet, more than anyone else, we should be thinking about what to give to the one who has given us the most. At Thanksgiving, we told our Lord how grateful we were for all the good things he’s given us. Now at Christmas, it’s our opportunity to return to him our own very special gift. But what gift could that possibly be? I’m reminded of the prayer the priest says before he receives Holy Communion from the chalice— Quid retríbuam Dómino pro ómnibus quæ retríbuit mihi? “What shall I give unto the Lord for all that he hath given unto me?” The answer to this question is provided for us immediately in the words that follow: “What shall I give unto the Lord for all that he hath given unto me? I will receive the chalice of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord.”
Easy words to say, but not so easy to put into practice. I will receive the chalice of salvation—even our Lord himself had a hard time saying these words to his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. His coming Passion and Death were so dreadful and overwhelming that he pleaded with his Father to take away this chalice from him if it were possible. And yet, he never lost sight of his role of Redeemer, knowing that it was his Father’s will that he must indeed take this chalice of suffering upon himself. He had already passed that cup to his disciples, telling them too that they must drink from it. This chalice of salvation contains the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant, his own most Precious Blood. Drinking from this chalice is our way of fulfilling that covenant between God and man. Christ has done his part through his death on the Cross. Now we must return his love, fulfilling our own role in that contract between us and our Saviour. We must receive the chalice of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord, accepting the suffering we must endure if we are to be his followers.
This Christmas then, it is our duty as we kneel before the Christchild in the manger, to let him know we’re ready to submit to him, to do our duty and accept whatever crosses he chooses for us. Crosses are not easy to bear, but our love for that Christchild will make our yoke easy and our burden light. It is the gift of love, and one that even the most high and Almighty God will treasure. There’s a Christmas carol that sings of a Bleak Midwinter long long ago, when frosty winds made moan and the earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. As we return in spirit to that cold winter night in Bethlehem and fall on our knees before the Son of God made man, let our thoughts be of what we can give back to this little Infant who made us all and then redeemed us all at such a terrible price. What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb, If I were a wise man I would do my part, Yet what I can I give Him, Give my heart.