Here we are in Advent and today we celebrate Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Turkey. St. Nicholas was a compassionate man who loved God and people. The story goes: there was a man in town who had three daughters, but lacked suitable dowries for his daughters so that they could not get married. To save them from a lifetime of prostitution, Nicholas walked by the house on three consecutive nights and threw a bag of money into a window so that the three girls could be married. Nicholas thereby became the patron saint for anonymous gift giving.
Tomorrow, we are getting together with other members of Sam's high school class for lunch. We decided that each of us would bring a toy for the Blue Santa gift drive. This is a prime example of anonymous gift giving. We trust that needy kids will have a very merry Christmas because of the generosity of others in the spirit of St. Nicholas.
Lord, give us a heart after the heart of Nicholas. Open our eyes to see where there is need, and open our hearts to reach out as our ability allows to help others in their necessity. Help us to shine a light into the darkness and give hope to a broken and hurting world. Amen.
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