In our spiritual call to prepare for Christmas during this season of Advent, we are more than halfway there. How prepared are we for Christmas? This is a hectic time. The pace dramatically picked up the day after Thanksgiving with ads and store openings in the early hours of the morning. How interesting that this day is now called “Black Friday” by the media and advertisers. They work to make us think how important it is to spend and buy for others and even ourselves. The economy is not healthy. Instead of seeing our preparation for Christmas as a financial struggle, this situation can actually take away the obstacles, distractions and anxiety that keep us from seeing what is essential to celebrate Christmas - a heart filled with gratitude for what God has done for us in Jesus. The gift of Jesus is what inspires to give to one another. Any gift we give is merely a sign of the internal love we have for the recipient. When we slow down we come to see the path to find the peace and joy Jesus came to bring into our world and into our lives.

In the book, “Crossing the Desert” by Robert Wicks, the following passage is very thought provoking and encouraging as we prepare for Christmas: “Simplicity also allows us to more readily recognize when our ego is seducing us or how the culture in which we live is trying to sell us on something that it believes will make us happy - if we buy it! Simplicity also allows us to be a little less busy, a bit more relaxed. We can be active without being preoccupied, pulled down or exhausted by what we are doing. Burnout isn’t caused by the amount of work we do as much as by how we view that work. When we are motivated by fear - of failure, of people making fun of us, or of losing something we erroneously believe we need for happiness - we are more likely to burn out. Simplicity is truly the gift that keeps on giving because it allows us to be in a position to see everything as a gift and not to be worried about what is unnecessary or by things that we encounter that are beyond our control.”

In today’s gospel people are responding to John the Baptist’s message by asking, “What should we do?” That is a question that runs through our minds, especially in difficult moments. It also runs through our minds as we consider Christmas gifts, cards, visits and gatherings. What is the appropriate gift? As I said at the beginning of this column, who we are is the gift. Whatever we give will hopefully remind the recipient of our goodness and love. At times we give because we don’t want to disappoint those who give us a gift. We can also give because we don’t want others to be upset or think ill of us. The best way to prepare for Christmas is to open our minds and hearts to the presence of Jesus with his goodness and love. Touched by that love we are filled with gratitude and joy and feel the Spirit of God urging us to express our love with generosity, mercy, and compassion. We respond in practical ways as the parish family of St. Patrick’s with donations of food at Thanksgiving and buying gifts through the “Reach for a Star” program. They are real and vibrant signs of how we are seeking to give as Jesus has given himself to us. We are living the trust Jesus has in us to be gifts for one another.

As we consider the gift of ourselves for Christmas, I conclude with the following thought from Wick’s book: “How do people feel when we are with them? Do they feel our need to control, our desire to be appreciated or followed, our need to be liked or seen as bright, attractive, wise or holy? Do they feel this openness and place of safety where they can rest their doubts, problems, and concerns, or do they feel our own anxiety, stress and defensiveness? What do they feel? If we are filled with ourselves or the desire to be famous, powerful or even effective (as enjoyable as having this wish be granted may be), then we lack the essential ingredient, either humility, ordinariness, or in some traditions, emptiness.”

Father Walden