On gift-giving and receiving

Christmas being a season of gift-giving and receiving, I believe it is good to be reminded of its deeply theological basis. Otherwise it will remain purely material, forgetting the more important spiritual dimension that it has. Thus, the act of giving and receiving gifts can pose a danger and even destroy us, instead of edifying us.

Yes, giving and receiving gifts has a deeply moral dimension that in turn springs from the truth that we are human persons and, therefore, have a spiritual and supernatural character due to our relation to God.

Giving and receiving gifts is a human act that should reflect and follow God’s will. That’s what any human act involves. It is not just our own act, completely subject to our will without any reference to God’s will.

We should realize our will always has to conform to God’s will and designs. Or at least we should try our best to conform our will to his. That’s because we come from and belong to him. We are his image and likeness.

Our will cannot absolutely be on its own. Its freedom just cannot be exercised without reference to God’s will, his laws and commandments, his provident designs for each of us and the world.

We therefore should realize that whenever we give or receive gifts, we ought to reflect God’s will and ways of giving and receiving. God is the original and constant giver of gifts. When we give gifts to others, we should somehow reflect God’s goodness and benevolence in giving.

We should give something that will truly do good to the recipient, just as God gave us the gifts of life, intelligence, will, talents, and many other blessings.

We should try to avoid giving something that will harm a person. And in this regard, we have to know well the recipient to see to it the gift, while intended to be a good thing, does not actually harm or spoil him. We should not just be capricious in giving gifts. We have to think of the good our gifts are supposed to produce in the recipient and in the world in general.

And when we receive a gift, we should be thankful to the giver as well as to God since in the end the ultimate gift-giver is God. Neglecting to do this can lead us to a number of dangers. We would fail to realize the immediate and ultimate purpose of the gift.

The gift becomes an instrument of self-indulgence instead of self-giving to others. It will surely spoil us.

Remember what happened to our first parents who were created with the tremendous gift of being the image and likeness of God and being in the state of original justice where aside from the supernatural gift of grace, they enjoyed the preternatural gifts of immortality, integrity, and impassibility (the capacity not to suffer anything).

When the tempter separated them from God, they fell into sin and lost the original blessings. And what a disaster it created for them and all of us!

We should refer the gifts we receive, no matter how mundane and insignificant, to God and his will and ways. Everything that we receive and that we have actually plays a role in the overall providence of God. This we always have to discern.

With every gift we receive, there is actually a duty and responsibility attached to it. We need to be most aware of this truth!