December 19, 2008

Christmas Supplement

Teenager is stunned to ‘get’ the true gift of Christmas

By Natalie Hoefer (Special to The Criterion)

I recall the Christmas of 1984. I was 15 and had just “suffered” through what to my adolescent mind was the “worst Christmas ever.”

I liked very few of the presents that I received, and the few gifts that I did like were clothes that ended up not fitting me.

I went to bed that night feeling bitter and crying.

As I grudgingly began to say my prayers, a question whispered inside me. Something asked me, “What is the true gift of Christmas?”

And all of a sudden, all those years of being told that Christmas was about Jesus—and not about gifts—just came together and clicked!

They weren’t just words. They were a truth that filled my whole self with joy that no material gift could ever give: God gave us his very own Son, who would in turn give us his very own life for our salvation!

Wow! What an unparalleled gift! All my immature disappointment, all the secular Christmas trees and lights and decorations, just melted away and there was only this one amazing truth that left me filled with joy and awe.

I went to sleep that night thanking God for the best Christmas ever, the joy of “getting”—of understanding and receiving—the true gift of Christmas.

(Natalie Hoefer is a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis.) †

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