4th Sunday of Advent
Cycle C
December 19, 2021 5pm
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton
Receiving Instead of Giving
There used to be a popular comic strip called For Better or For Worse.
The comic strip was about a family named Patterson and it ran for twenty-nine years. It ended in 2008, but you can still access it on-line.
One year there was a humorous episode right before Christmas. Mom and Dad and six-year-old April are shopping at the mall.
April is absolutely captivated by all the toys. “Look, Dad! I want it for Christmas!
“I want a ’16-inch Flower Power BMX’ bike. And I want a ‘Creatto Crafting Kit’ and an ‘Ooze Labs: Soap and Bath Bomb Lab’ and a ‘Light-up Tracing Pad’ an’...an’…an’…”
Eventually Dad has had enough. “April, Christmas is a time for giving! There is a lot more joy in giving to others.”
April immediately responds, “I know, Dad. But somebody has to receive or there’d be nobody to give stuff to.”
Elizabeth and Mary
Little April, of course, has a lot of innocent self-interest.
But April also leads us to a good insight. It may sound strange, but it is important for us to see ourselves first as receivers and only then as givers.
In the background to today’s gospel, we know that Mary’ cousin Elizabeth is an older woman, at least for those times. She is probably in her 40s, but the average lifespan is only about 50.
Elizabeth and her husband have had no children, and now, surprisingly, she is bearing a baby. She sees herself as a receiver of a gift from God.
Mary is Elizabeth’s much younger cousin. She doesn’t fully understand what is happening, but she trusts and sees herself as a receiver of a gift from God.
So, both Elizabeth and Mary see themselves as blessed by God – as receivers. And, very significantly, seeing themselves as receivers moves them to be givers and it also shapes how they give to others.
Receivers First, Then Givers
This may be a different way of looking at things, but it is a valuable insight.
We need to live first as receivers, not exactly like April in the comic strip, but as receivers from God. We need the awareness that ultimately, everything in life is a gift from God.
That awareness should move us to be givers. And beyond that, our awareness of receiving will shape our giving.
Receiving Shaping Our Giving
For example, this awareness that first we are receivers will lead us to be attentive to others and to give what they really need.
In the gospel, Mary gives her time and assistance to Elizabeth when her cousin really needs it. We might give our time listening to a spouse or child or friend, and not just giving a sweater or something else, good in itself, but maybe not what the person most needs from us.
The awareness that first we are receivers will also lead us to give without our ego needs getting in the way.
In the gospel, Elizabeth praises Mary as greater than herself, even though Mary is much younger and much less significant in the eyes of others. We might join in giving recognition to a fellow employee, without letting our ego need to also be recognized get in the way.
And the awareness that first we are receivers will also lead us to give with no expectation of return.
Mary gives her time to Elizabeth and Elizabeth gives praise to Mary – each of them doing this because they want to do it, because it is a good thing to do, and each of them expecting nothing in return. We might give a nice present to a friend because we want to do it, because it is good to do, and we expect nothing in return.
Conclusion
So, it may sound surprising, but Christmas is first about receiving and only then is it about giving.
Our awareness that we are first of all receivers from God will also lead us to give and it will shape our giving. It will lead us 1) to give what others really need, 2) to give without our ego getting in the way, and 3) to give with no expectation of return.
