Thursday 28th March 2024

Home » Frontpage » Currently Reading:

Jacob’s Gift

December 23, 2017 Frontpage No Comments

By DEREK BECHER

For an eight-year-old child, Christmas can be a time of wonder and excitement. With holiday music in every shop and in the wonderfully decorated homes of the neighborhoods, sparkling wreaths attached to street lampposts, strangers greeting each other with warm smiles, and, of course, dreams of Santa Claus, there is a magic in the air.
And for little Jacob, in the country village of NobleTown, with December flurries laying a soft white blanket throughout the gently rolling hills and woods, and modest decorations adding a colorful presence to the stores on Center Street, it was no different.
Still, having saved ten dollars he had earned from clearing sidewalks and delivering the town newspaper, Jacob had something else to look forward to — the snow-globe Nativity that wound up and played Silent Night. He had seen it in the front window of the Country Gift Shop, and had decided that it would be the perfect gift for his parents. He was looking forward to seeing them unwrap it on Christmas morning, and during the last week of school, he waited anxiously for the start of the holidays, when he had planned to purchase it.
Jacob was now in the third grade, and it had been an entertaining week at school. In art class, the students were making Christmas wreaths, drawing Nativity scenes, and creating their own stockings and trees. They filled their room with the spirit of Christmas, and looked forward to taking home their creations for the holidays.
In the reading class, their teacher — Miss Kindly — had been reading such tales as A Christmas Carol, The Night Before Christmas, and of course, the Story of the First Christmas, which she read from the Bible. All week long the children sat still with wide eyes, listening attentively to the timeless stories.
During recesses and at lunch break, the principal played instrumental holiday music over the intercom, while children and teachers walked throughout the hallways, exchanging happy greetings and occasionally humming along to, or singing with, the melodies that flowed throughout the school. With everything that was going on, there was no mistaking what time of year it was, and for Jacob, and his third-grade classmates, it was a week filled with merriment and anticipation.
But this year, the season was even more special. Because he was in the third grade, his class would now be taking part in the annual Christmas pageant, held every year on the evening of the last Friday before Christmas. All week long, in addition to the crafts and the stories and the music that filled their days, Miss Kindly’s class was also preparing its skit for the Friday night festival. The 16 students would be singing her favorite song — Silent Night.
They had been practicing a simple arrangement which Miss Kindly had fashioned: On the stage in the school gymnasium, the students would stand in a semicircle pattern around two of their classmates, who would kneel on the floor and hold a doll, representing the Christ Child. Jacob had been granted the special role of playing Joseph, while his classmate, Sara, would be Mary.
For one period each day that week, Miss Kindly took her third-grade class onto the stage for a rehearsal of their skit. She had planned for two students to enter at the beginning of the second verse as shepherds, to coincide with the words of the song; one of them would direct the light of a flashlight toward the doll’s face, representing “love’s pure light,” at the beginning of the third verse. The students practiced diligently throughout the week, and by Friday, the day of their final rehearsal, the school principal arrived and applauded the class for a “wonderful performance that was sure to please everyone that night.”
In the last period that day, Christmas music was again echoing throughout the halls of the school and into the classrooms. Miss Kindly and her students spent the whole period playing games while enjoying Christmas oranges and candy canes. When the bell rang at the end of the day, she reminded her students to meet back in the classroom at 6:30, so that they could gather and prepare one last time for their 7:00 presentation. Wearing coats, caps, and mittens, the students skipped out of the school beneath a gentle snowfall, and scattered away to their nearby homes.
Of course, Jacob fully enjoyed the festivities at school, but he was just as eager to purchase the special gift he had found for his parents. He imagined the joy it would bring them on Christmas morning, and he looked forward to wrapping it and setting it under the tree. He had planned to leave first thing Saturday morning for the Country Gift Shop.

The Tattered Teddy Bear

Back in Miss Kindly’s homeroom, the students were returning one last time before the Christmas break, with an excited chatter and bright smiles on their young faces. In a few short hours, they would all be going home for a two-week celebration of Christmas, and the enthusiasm was evident in the third-grade room and throughout the school, as students and teachers were returning and hurrying to their classes to prepare for their performances. It was a feeling of excitement and anticipation that Jacob and his classmates had yearned for during their first two years at school, and at last, it was here for them to savor.
At ten minutes to 7:00, Miss Kindly got her cue from the school principal and had her students line up quietly at the door. With exuberance spread across their faces, they followed her, one by one, down the hallway toward the back entrance to the stage. With the curtains still closed, they could hear a faint murmuring throughout the auditorium, and the occasional shuffle of a chair. Surely, everyone from NobleTown had again assembled to enjoy the annual pageant.
The children stepped quietly into their places. Jacob and Sara knelt in the center, facing each other, near the front of the stage, dressed in their robes. Sara cradled a doll in her arms. The others formed a semicircle around them, and two boys stood to the side in their shepherd garments, ready to enter the scene with the words of the second verse.
Miss Kindly slipped through an opening in the curtains, introduced herself, and announced the song and short accompanying skit that her class would be performing. The auditorium lights dimmed as she returned behind the curtains. She gave a wink to her students, reached for her tape-recorder, and gave a nod to the curtain attendant. As the curtains spread apart, the neat arrangement of her students was slowly revealed, and Miss Kindly pressed the play button on the recorder. An instrumental version of the familiar melody echoed softly throughout the room, and at the right moment, as they had rehearsed, the students began to sing Silent Night.
Jacob and Sara alternately smiled at each other and toward the doll, humming along as they had practiced. The first verse was smoothly and flawlessly performed, and as the second verse began, the two shepherds entered the scene, appearing somewhat amazed at what they were seeing. As the third verse began, one of them directed the soft glow of a flashlight onto the doll’s face.
Still smiling, it was then that Jacob gazed into the audience, and noticed two small children standing beside their mother at the back wall of the auditorium. They smiled meekly, as each clutched the limbs of a single, stuffed and tattered teddy bear. Through the length of the room, Jacob could see the flashlight’s glow reflected in the teary eyes of the small boy and girl who stood there, smiling, appreciating the simple gift of song that they were receiving. Their clothes were ragged, but their hair was combed neatly, as their mother stood humbly beside them.
As the words of the final verse were being sung, a tear trickled down Jacob’s face. NobleTown was not a wealthy community, but its people were happy, and they enjoyed a modest, country living. And yet, at the back of the room, three strangers stood, appearing needy, and unfortunate.
As the song ended, the members of the auditorium stood proudly and applauded the performance of Miss Kindly’s third-grade class. But as the curtains drew to a close, Jacob knelt with a lump in his throat. The students returned to their class, gave their teacher and each other a hug, and then left with their parents to celebrate Christmas. But after waving goodbye to his friends, Jacob sat at his desk, alone in thought. Miss Kindly noticed him as she herself prepared to go home for the holidays. She sat in a chair beside him, and asked what could possibly be troubling the normally cheerful boy.
Jacob slowly explained what he had seen during their performance, and how it had affected him. Miss Kindly comforted him, and mentioned that she had heard that morning that a new family had moved to town. The father had been injured, and was being cared for by his wife and his sister, his only remaining family. They were poor, but the father had worked hard cutting wood and creating various sculptures, until he fell off a ladder and broke his leg, and the two women were skilled in the craft of needlework. They had moved into the empty aged house at the end of Center Street just last night.
Jacob gave Miss Kindly a hug and walked home. But as he lay in bed that night, he couldn’t erase the image of the two children who stood at the back of the auditorium, apparently in need, yet wholly comforted by the gentle sound of Silent Night.
In the morning, Jacob put on his coat, his boots, his mittens, and his cap, and put his ten dollars into his pocket, before leaving for the Country Gift Shop. But as he arrived at the front window, and saw the little snow globe inside, he remembered the two children from the auditorium. In front of him sat the perfect gift that he thought he could give to his parents.
But as he wandered in, and the little bells on the front door jingled, he saw another item sitting alone on a shelf in the corner. It was a furry, cuddly teddy bear, with light brown hair, fuzzy ears, and two big brown eyes that glistened and reflected his image. He remembered the tattered bear that the children both clung to, maybe a third as big as the one that sat in front of him.
Jacob looked at the beautiful big bear for a long time, and then again at the wonderful snow globe. He was torn between buying the musical globe for his parents, and seeing their pleased faces on Christmas morning, or spending his ten dollars on the furry, big teddy bear that would surely brighten the hearts of the children who stood quietly at the back of the auditorium, enjoying their simple gift of song. Sighing, Jacob picked up the teddy bear, gave the shopkeeper his money, and walked to the end of Center Street.
He knocked on the door, and as it creaked and slowly opened, he saw the hopeful faces of the two children. He smiled at them, and brought the new teddy bear from behind his back and said, “Merry Christmas!” Their mother and aunt had seen his kind gesture, and their eyes became wet with happy tears.
Jacob was invited inside, and he sat at a table with the family, enjoying a small cup of hot cocoa, and sharing a plate of home-baked cookies. So thankful for the gift that Jacob had presented to the younger children, the women gave him a new pair of blue mittens and a blue scarf for his mother. Both of these contained a pattern of white snowflakes of a variety of sizes. They were beautiful, and he knew his mother would love them.
Then the father handed him a small wooden Nativity set for his own father. It contained a manger and a variety of shepherds and animals that accompanied the Holy Family, all of which were intricately carved. He knew that his father would love the gift. Jacob also knew that the love that was put into creating these gifts would compensate for not being able to bring home the snow globe for his parents.
He left feeling gratified, having brought some joy to the new family, while returning with special presents for his parents. He began to wrap them as soon as he got home, and then he placed them under the tree. It was Christmas Eve, and even though he tried, he couldn’t stay awake to greet Santa Claus during the night. He slept soundly, contented.

The Last Gift

On Christmas morning, he hurried to the Christmas tree, where his parents soon joined him. Together, they said a prayer to bless the birth of Jesus, and then turned on some music. As they exchanged gifts, Jacob received new socks, a shirt, a game, and two toys from Santa, saving his last gift until his parents opened the special gifts he brought them.
The mittens he brought for his mother fit her perfectly, and she looked beautiful in them, especially as she wrapped her new scarf around her neck. When she hugged him, they felt soft against his face.
Then his father unwrapped the skillfully crafted wooden Nativity scene. He looked at it with wonder, hugged Jacob in thanks, and then placed it gently beneath their tree, where it would be placed for years to come.
Finally, Jacob began to unwrap his last gift from Santa. His parents sat close on the sofa and watched as he pulled away the paper, filled with curiosity. As he peeled the last piece of tape from a small box, and removed the rest of the wrapping, Jacob lifted the box flaps and pulled apart the white tissue papers from inside. He pulled out an item from the box and looked at it with unbelieving eyes as he cradled it in his hands in front of him.
He was holding the little snow-globe Nativity, the same one he had seen at the Country Gift Shop. Somehow, he thought, Santa knew how much he loved the gift himself. Jacob turned it over, wound it up, and then set it back on the table. Tiny snowflakes fell on the Nativity inside the globe, and Silent Night played along in harmony. He gazed at it, as his parents watched him with happy, loving eyes.
A tear of happiness appeared in Jacob’s eye as he looked at and listened to his special gift. It had been quite a week — the excitement at school, his first Christmas pageant, befriending the new family in town, and a Christmas morning that he would never forget. He was only eight years old, but Jacob had already learned of the spirit of Christmas.

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)