The Feast of St. Nicholas (December 6) is for me a great day of blessing. St. Nicholas of Myra was a Bishop in modern day Turkey during the 4th Century and a great example of faithfulness, trust and generosity in God as he served the people entrusted to him. You can read and learn a lot more about St. Nicholas but the real reason I have his name in my heart is that he is my Confirmation saint and for this he holds a special place in the saints I ask to pray for and with me daily.
Saints are important. They are important not just because they are saints or because we should look up to them as examples of faith, those are both valid reasons, but saints are important because they are companions on the journey to heaven with us as we walk with them and Jesus. I chose St. Nicholas as my patron for one very simple reason: the virtue of generosity. I remember in my Confirmation class when choosing our saint name to not just look to a saint you knew or liked but for a virtue in a saints life that you wished to grow…and I chose generosity and thus St. Nicholas.
It may seem fairly natural to think during this Advent Season as we are preparing for Christmas to narrow generosity into the simple act of giving something too someone. We hear a lot of people talking about the stress of finding the right gift and the time spent either at the mall or online looking and searching for the best deal. This, as you might guess, is selling generosity way short in the eyes of God, a life of faith and the gift of holiness we are called to become as God’s children.
“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2 Cor. 9:11).
St. Paul reminds us of what St. Nicholas lived; recognizing how we are “enriched in every way” in our relationships with God and each other. The hectic race and the stress of the commercial aspects of Advent leading to Christmas often narrow the gift and blind us to the way we are enriched and how we are able to enrich others in ‘every way.’
One piece of advice I received many years ago was in reflecting on the day I was asked to pray through three simple steps. 1. How was I blessed by others today? 2. How did I bless others today? 3. What did I do that needs to be forgiven? As I recall these steps and give thanks to God in gratitude this time inspires the generosity of spirit in every way within my life.
What these three simple steps help me do is to remove the material and begin to focus on the relational gifts of generosity that I seek to give and receive daily in my journey of faith. St. Nicholas’ greatest legacy isn’t the gifts he shared with the children rather it is his unwavering faith in the goodness of God and thereby the goodness of God’s holy people. Generosity springs forth from the soul naturally when we focus first on blessings and most especially on how I bless others with who I am as a child of God. We can then begin to live with a grateful heart flowing over with joyful love.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Christmas gift but the greatest gifts I receive are those words of affirmation, those small notes of thanksgiving and most of all, the sharing of my gifts with others without counting the costs.
Keep up the Advent preparation by using formed.org and their Advent series…it has been a great blessing for me.
God bless,
Fr. Mark

St. Nicholas resources…