Dec. 21, 2008: 4th Sunday Advent (B)
In few short days, Santa and his crew—Rudolph, the Reindeers, and the Elves—will be making more deliveries to boys and girls of all ages than UPS , FedEX, and US Postal Service combined. Statistically, the current U.S.
Just as a public announcement, I need to read to you the following return policies of some of the stores. Regarding any clothing, shoes and accessories, Wal-Mart requires you to bring them back within 90 days, unworn, with tickets attached, and accompanied by the original receipt. Best Buy requires you to return any cameras, GPS , and monitors by January 8th, and they may charge you 15% restocking fee for opened boxes. Macy’s will allow you to return an item 180 days (6 months!) after Christmas, but will charge 10% for any furniture returned. These are very generous return policies. Compare this to what happens at department stores in Korea
So this brings to mind a curious question. Are there return policies for things that happen in our ordinary life? For example, one of our St. Aloysius 5th grader on the day before the math exam spends the entire evening, instead of studying for the exam, on his Nintendo Wii. The next day on the exam, he barely passes. Can he return this exam back to his teacher for a retake? Another example, a lady who always exercises and eats right is told by a doctor one day that she has cancer. Can she ask God for an exchange of this illness for something lighter, like a common cold? Whether something happens to us because of our own negligence or due to no fault of our own, these things cannot be returned within 180 days even when we have the receipts. In other words, for things that happen in our life, most of them, all sales are final, no returns allowed.
Take our Gospel’s example. Blessed Virgin Mary is told by the Archangel Gabriel that she will be receiving a gift of a child through the Holy Spirit even before the date of the wedding with Joseph. (cf. Lk 1:31-32) If she were to agree to this proposal, can she, after conceiving the child, return the child to God if she no longer wants the child (especially when Joseph finds out what happened)? And think about what Joseph almost did when he did find out. In Matthew Chapter 1, we read that Joseph wanted a refund. We read the following: “Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.” (Matt 1:18-19)
So here is my question. Can something be considered a great gift even when it is something that we did not want and it is something that cannot be returned for a refund? It depends whether we are a good receiver of gifts or a bad receiver of gifts. We know that most of us are great giver of gifts. We can see this demonstrated by the number of cars parked in the mall parking lots and also through the skyrocketing numbers of purchases made on the internet. On the other hand, many of us, especially myself, are not so good receiver of gifts. What do I mean? The first thing I say—often in silence-- when I receive a gift is, “Please, I do not need that,” or “I don’t want that, where would I use that for?” We can also see this demonstrated in the great number of cars parked in the malls on the day after Christmas when lots of people return the gifts they received because they did not want it. For many of us, it is difficult to accept a gift given as is and to appreciate the thoughtfulness and consideration of the person who perhaps agonized over what to give us for weeks. Our retail stores have made it so easy for us, receivers, to avoid or circumvent time needed to appreciate the gift received. Because the stores have made it so easy for us to return an item, we act first on our impulse to exchange it for what we want. The same thing can happen with things that happen in our life. Our immediate response to something that happens to us is, “I don’t want that.”
There is an example of a gift that all of us received few years ago that we initially did not want, but it turned out to be a great gift. Katrina. Most did not want that, yet many have told me that after reflection it was a great gift in their lives. There is even better example of this, and it will happen in few days. The arrival of a tiny infant on December 25th seems so insignificant and something we don’t want. Yet this is the greatest gift humanity has ever received. To appreciate the greatness of this infant as the greatest gift, we need to ponder in prayer the thoughtfulness of the Giver of this Gift. And when we begin understand this infant as a gift, we will begin to understand why things that are happening to us, especially those things we do not want to happen, may be gifts in disguise.
