What Will You Give Him?

   St. Jerome translated the Bible from the Hebrew texts to Latin in the late 300’s.  An ancient account tells of Jerome going to Bethlehem shortly after finishing his work to celebrate Christmas.  Jesus appeared to Jerome and asked him what he would give Him for His birthday.  Jerome quickly replied, “I give you the translation of your word.”  Jesus replied, “That is not what I want.”  Jerome offered fasting, becoming a hermit and giving all his possessions to the poor.  In each case Jesus said that wasn’t what He wanted.  Finally Jerome asked Jesus to tell him what would give Him the most joy on His birthday.  Jesus replied, “Give me your sins”.

   You see, all our worldly goods are nothing to Jesus.  All we have and all we will ever have is a gift from Him and exists only because of Him.  Money, power, fame; these were not what Jesus became man to obtain.  He became man; lived as a man; was tempted as a man; and died as a man to obtain our soul.  His desire had nothing to do with anything this world has to offer.  He came for us and for our salvation.

   He doesn’t want our money though if we are to serve Him our money is to be used to help others as well as ourselves.  He doesn’t want our possessions though those too are intended to be used not only for our benefit but for those in need.  He wants our soul.  He wants all of us.  He wants our sins.

   It’s seems a bit early to talk about Christmas but the true meaning of Christmas very quickly gets lost in the sales and hype for all we are supposed to want and give if we are to properly celebrate the season.  Yet no one ever speaks of what we are to give our Lord for His birthday.  After all, the only reason we celebrate Christmas is to honor the birth of our savior.

   Offer Jesus the birthday gift He truly wants.  Give Him your sins and then accept His forgiveness.  Accept the peace of salvation in your heart.  Give Him the gift of yourself; there is no greater gift than this.

   I share credit for this post with our Parish Priest for retelling the story of St. Jerome and his gift to Jesus at Mass this Sunday.  It sparked the thoughts I have shared here.