All Is Gift

Fostering an attitude of gratitude to God

11/17/2022

LK 19:45-48 Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.

I want to share with you a profound experience I had many years ago that taught me everything is a gift and the only proper attitude is that of gratitude. I was a seminarian and went over to a friend’s house one fall day. He was raking leaves in his front yard and I offered to help him so he could get done faster and we could play video games.

We made a huge pile of leaves, and before we bagged them, guess what we decided to do? We dove into them and rolled around in them. Eventually, we cleared up the leaves and went inside, but we were both pretty dirty with leaves and small sticks inside our clothes. So he let me borrow some of his clothes and let me take a shower before dinner.

As we sat there at dinner with his family, I remember thinking to myself, as I chewed on the pot roast and drank the iced tea. First, I realized that every stitch of clothing I was wearing was borrowed from my friend. All my clothes were a gift from him. But then I thought at least my body is mine. But that is not true either. My body is a gift from my parents: 50% of my body is from my mom and 50% of my body is from my dad.

But then I figured at least my soul, my personality, my spirit is all my own, but that is not true either. My soul, my spirit, was planted, infused, in my body when I was conceived as a gift from God. No matter how deep I went inside me, everything was a gift from someone else: clothes from my friend, my body from my parents, and my soul from God. The deepest truth about me is that I am a gift. Even the “me” that receives gifts was a gift.

By the time I started eating dessert, I thought about something else. We discover the same truth no matter how far outside ourselves we go. The house I lived in as a kid was someone’s gift to me. The Catholic school I attended was a gift of many benefactors. The city and country in which I enjoyed my freedom was a gift to me by the men and women who shed their blood for our freedoms.

This planet and its beauty – rivers, mountains, and beaches – are a gift to me. This solar system, the stars, and the whole cosmos I did nothing to deserve but has been placed before my eyes as pure gift for my happiness. In other words, no matter how deep I look into my heart, or how far I peer out into the night sky with the Hubble telescope everything is a gift to me. In the final analysis, all is gift.

Now there are two very important things we must remember when we discover everything is ultimately a gift. First of all, the right reaction when you receive a gift is to say “Thank you.” When you receive a Christmas present, what should you say? The right response is “Oh, wow, thank you so much!” No one has to give you a Christmas present, and so it comes from someone else’s love for you, just like my friend gave me his clothes after we raked leaves and jumped into the pile.

And that is also the reason we come to Mass, especially in a Catholic school. Why? Well, because in a Catholic school you learn that another name for the Mass is Eucharist, which comes from the Greek word eucharisto, which means thank you. In other words, one of the main aims of Catholic education is to help you discover what I did that fall afternoon raking leaves and wearing my friend’s clothes. All is gift, and we go to Mass to say eucharisto, thank you, to God. And that may be why we sometimes don’t like to go to Mass or feel it’s boring: we have not yet learned that all is gift and the right response is to say “thank you.”

The second important thing to remember when all is gift is that we do not deserve any of these gifts. We do not deserve to receive Christmas presents: they come from someone else’s generosity, not our goodness. We cannot demand Christmas gifts. They are gratuitous, meaning entirely undeserved. But that also means we cannot get upset if we do not receive a specific gift or if we lose a gift.

That is why Job in the Old Testament did not get upset when he lost his family, his possessions, and even his health. Instead, he said, “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In other words, when we discover that all is gift, we also feel a profound peace. That is, nothing will really bother us because heck it was all an undeserved gift to begin with; we have suffered no injustice.

Boys and girls, I hope someday you will rake leaves with a friend and wear his borrowed clothes, and discover all is a gift. Even you yourself are a gift. When you do, you will discover why we go to Mass: to say thank you. And you will feel a peace that no one can take away from you. Even this homily is my gift to you, not because you deserve it, but because I love you. You’re welcome.

Praised be Jesus Christ!