A Gift of Love
"For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life." (John 3:16 NKJV)
I have always loved Nativity scenes ever since I was a
boy. I remember growing up seeing the great care my Grandma always took
unwrapping ours. She would gently lift each ceramic statue out of the box
and lovingly arrange them in the tiny, wooden barn. The baby Jesus was
always the last one lifted out and she would always smile before placing Him
in the manger.
It was at another manger too that I saw the most beautiful picture of the
real meaning of Christmas. This was years ago when public Nativity scenes
were everywhere at Christmastime. It was before the fear of offending others
made most of them sadly disappear from parks and town squares. I remember
taking a moment to look at one of these public Nativity scenes during a
cold, December day. A snow was gently falling on each of the statues and
even in the manger. About this time a mother walked up with her young son.
The boy couldn’t have been more than three years old. As they too stopped to
stare at the beautiful sight the little boy removed his scarf and walked
over to the Nativity. Then he folded it and placed it over the manger. He
smiled as he walked back and said, "Baby Jesus looked cold." I thought that
his mother would make him go back and retrieve the scarf, but thankfully she
was made of wiser stuff than me at that time. She just smiled, wiped away a
tear, and kissed her son on top of his head. Then leaving his gift of love,
they slowly walked down the snow covered street together while the boy
happily sang all the words he knew to "Silent Night."
It took a lot of years for me to grow as wise as that child, but when I did
I realized that Christmas truly is about Love. It is about a love that is
both joyfully shared and unconditional. It is about a love that sacrifices,
cares, and gives. It is about loving each other just as much as God loves us
at Christmastime and always.
By: Joseph J. Mazzella