The One Gift

by Deacon Michael Bickerstaff | December 11, 2023 12:04 am

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“All praise, eternal Son, to thee,
whose advent doth thy people free;
whom with the Father we adore
and Holy Ghost for evermore.”

– Closing verse from “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” by Charles Coffin.

The  words of this hymn serve to remind us of the incredible gift we anticipate and prepare for during Advent.

The best things in life are worth working for… sacrificing for… waiting for. This is a reality that too many in the developed world, especially in the West, but increasingly elsewhere, have forgotten or have never experienced. This is the generation and the age of instant gratification. It’s been so now for at least several generations. And there is a coming price to be paid.

The first indications of the coming price is the fact that the things of this world that we think we cannot live without… those things that we buy and claim even when we do not have the resources to do so… well, they simply do not satisfy. We know this.  We have experienced it repeatedly. But we don’t seem to learn. Now is the time to try something different… something radical.

Let’s choose—emphatically intentional—to work for, to sacrifice for, to wait for the one gift that will satisfy… the gift of great price that is absolutely free… the gift of God With Us—Jesus, the Christ.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Image credit: “John the Baptist Pointing to Jesus” (detail) | Ottavio Vannini (1585-c. 1643)[1], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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A popular and engaging speaker, Deacon Bickerstaff is available to speak at your parish or event. Be sure to check out his Speaker Page[2] to learn more.

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Source URL: https://integratedcatholiclife.org/2023/12/deacon-bickerstaffthe-one-gift/

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