unopened presents
"Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said: 'I offer You praise, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because what You have hidden from the learned and the clever You have revealed to the merest children.' " —Luke 10:21
Imagine visiting someone and seeing in the closet a big stack of nicely wrapped Christmas presents. After you commended your host for his Christmas preparations, what if he informed you that the unopened presents were not for this Christmas but from twenty years ago and some of them were gifts sent by you! The presents still had not been opened!
God goes through this daily. He pours out lavishly the gifts of the Spirit, but many of these gifts remain unopened. Even those opened are rarely used. Have you opened your gifts and opened yourself to "a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord"? (Is 11:2) The Spirit of the Lord Which rests upon the Messiah and His followers will bring about justice and peace. "He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land's afflicted" (Is 11:4).
If we don't open our spiritual gifts, then we in effect refuse to open God's gifts of justice, peace, restoration, and salvation for the world. Take your spiritual gifts out of the closet, from under the bushel basket; open them and put them on the lamp stand as the true Christmas light (Lk 8:16).
Prayer: Father, I'll open Your gifts this Advent so I'll be ready to open Your Christmas gifts.
Promise: "No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son — and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him." —Lk 10:22
Praise: Diane apologized to the Lord for not having used some of His spiritual gifts and discovered a new empowerment in prayer.
Rescript: †Most Reverend Daniel E. Pilarczyk, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 21, 2005
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