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     As we prepare to celebrate the coming of God as man, I have the hope that this may help you be prepared in your heart for such a gift from God:

 Homily Text:

     People like to search for things. When we were growing up, we played hide and go seek. then, as we got older, many went in search of the perfect person to marry and the perfect job. Now, many of us today are looking at ads for the perfect deal. This time of year, many of us go in search of the perfect gift. It is quite a challenge especially when looking for something for someone who appear to have everything.

     So we start to investigate the person to whom we want to give the perfect gift: what does he or she talk about? What are they looking at? What do they seem to be needing all the time? We want this gift to be something that they will cherish, use and make their life better. Hopefully, whenever they use this gift, they will think of us with love. That seems to be a pretty tall order!

     It used to be easy when we were little. we could make something for mom and dad out of popsicle sticks , or a coffee mug out of clay that we would paint especially for them. It might even be a hand made ornament. As we get older and look for a gift for that special person in our life, it may be a gagdet if he were a man, or gold or diamond jewelry if she were a woman. the gif is mean to express somehting very personal: the love in our heart for them.

     On this Christmas Day, we really do receive the perfect gift. God has planned and planned ever since we left the Garden of Eden and he had to ask Adam and Eve: Where are you? He told us all through the Bible he was sending us something special, but he had to find the right time to give it. Good gift giving also requires the element of surprise. We don’t often want the recipient to see it coming, so it can take their breath away.

     God has promised to send the answer to the deepest needs of our heart, but what is it going to be? Today we find out: It is his Son Jesus! It does come as a bit of a suprise to many. Our Savior God is born in a stable, not a castle. God takes on or human natre and is wrapped in swaddling clothes with only the hay, the animals and the love of his Mother Mary and St. Joseph to keep him warm. The Eternal Word of God through whom all things were created comes to us as a vulnerable, weak little baby in need of everything.

     But why is Jesus the perfect gift? Babies are, after all, very demanding. they need to be fed, changed, washed and entertained. Couldn’t God have given us something a little more low maintenance?

     No. God knows EXACTLY what he is doing. He made us after all and he knows that what really makes us tick is LOVE. We are created by God out of the fullness of his perfect and mysterious divine love to give and receive love, and so he comes aong us as one who needs the very best we can give, and that BEST is LOVE. We are at our most human when we love selflessly, generously and totally.

     when we can tend to forget that becuase we live in a world that often speaks more about taking and possessing than giving and receiving. We fell the heaviness of life and we may even have difficult burdens to carry. We can feel empty, incomplete, loneley and even unloved at times. We forget the God who loves us and the GIFT he has given to us, his own Son, his own Heart, his own Life. God has become man to lighten our burdens and get us to smile. God shows us in his Son Jesus his beautiful love for us and his desire not only to fill us with joy, but to be our lasting joy.

     Jesus Christ is truly the perfect Gift from God the Father for the whole human race. He has come from the heart of the Father. He expresses the Father’s deepest love for us. Jesus blew the budget in giving us the Gifts of his Word in the Gospel and his own Body and blood in the Holy Eucharist. He not only tells us what we are worth, he SHOWS us what we are worth when we see him on the cross. He shows us that WE ARE PRICELESS! He knows that what we need most of all is his love and his constant presence in our lives.

     May we show our thanks to God for the Gift of his Son through our daily prayers of gratitude and petition, through love and generosity to our neighbor, and through a renewed committment to serve him in love.

     Jesus Christ is our Perfect Gift. One size fits all. One love embraces all. One Peace fills all.