Fr Ed Homily 10-21-20

Grace, A Gift to Share

God’s great gift to us is grace. He freely shares this gift with everyone, even those who do not accept this precious gift. Remarkable is it not, to think someone would reject a gift from God. But it happens all the time. And if we look within ourselves, perhaps, we can even remember times we have rejected God’s gift. If we are to be His hands and feet and voice, have there been times where we have not accepted the gift of grace and have ignored opportunities to serve Christ?

Grace is much more than just you receiving a gift from God. A tradition in my family is a seven-layer box. A better description I suppose is a box within a box within a box and so on for seven boxes. The outside box is shoebox size so you can imagine the seventh box is about a ring size box in size. Each of the boxes is decorated identically. As I have three brothers and three sisters, you send this seven box ‘gift’ each year to a brother or sister, but you do not tell anyone who has these boxes. Nor do you divulge to the recipient who sent you the boxes.

Now as you open the first box you have the next smaller box but also you discover a gift of grace. It can be religious medal or a slip of paper saying you prayed a Rosary for the recipient, or you had a mass intention offered for them. Maybe you visited a religious shrine during the year and picked up a unique prayer card or lit a candle for them. Any one of these little items fit in the box are a treasure of grace shared with your brother or sister.

Christmas is coming. Maybe sharing gifts of grace within your family would be a great way to start a family tradition. It does not have to be just brothers and sisters, but all members of the family can participate. Of course, sharing grace with any one at any time is a blessing from God.

May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen