A CHRISTMAS GIFT TO JESUS
It is told that a Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, about four centuries after the birth of Christ, saint Jerome had the holy desire to worship the place where our Savior was born.
So, he came into the holy cave but there, while he was praying and meditating on the first Christmas, he had a wondrous vision.
Jesus Christ appeared to him as a child in the midst of a brilliant and dazzling light and asked him with His sweet heavenly voice:
“O Holy Infant, You know, I abandoned everything in my life for Your sake... All my wealth, my desires and my ambitions, I've already sacrificed them for You... Even my heart, my thoughts, my work, my whole existence belongs to You... What else could I give as a gift to You?”
And Jesus replied:
And Jesus replied:
“Jerome, you still have something you forgot to give Me...”
“What is it, holy Love of my heart, heavenly King of my soul? Do I have something more for You? I would be so foolish to keep something for me! Tell me, holy Infant, what else would you like to give You?”
Then, Jesus Christ looked at him into his eyes and after some moments of holy silence replied:
“Jerome, give me your sins.”
The Blessed Jerome began to cry brokenheartedly. He asked through his tears:
The Blessed Jerome began to cry brokenheartedly. He asked through his tears:
“My sins? Why do you need my sins, Lord?”
“Give Me your sins, so that I may pardon all of them,” replied Jesus.
Hearing this, he wept out of joy and love for the loving Jesus and fell into his knees to worship Him.
“Give Me your sins, so that I may pardon all of them,” replied Jesus.
Hearing this, he wept out of joy and love for the loving Jesus and fell into his knees to worship Him.
* * *
Let's all GIVE to Jesus as a gift ...OUR SINS.
Jesus came to this world to wash away our sins by His precious blood. He is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John, 1:29). The incarnation of Jesus is the deepest expression of God’s compassionate love for the sinful mankind.
Sin resembles quicksand, the bed of loose sand and mud in a marshy land which sucks down any object from its surface. A person sinking in a quicksand is dragged down into it and cannot come out of it by his own effort. Similarly, man cannot save himself from the clutches of sin. Jesus is the only person who can deliver us from the quicksand of sin.
By His sacred sacrifice on the Holy Cross at Calvary, the sacrament of salvation, He broke the power of death, sin and Satan. He bore the burden of our sins on the Cross and washed away our sins by shedding His Holy Blood.
Sin resembles quicksand, the bed of loose sand and mud in a marshy land which sucks down any object from its surface. A person sinking in a quicksand is dragged down into it and cannot come out of it by his own effort. Similarly, man cannot save himself from the clutches of sin. Jesus is the only person who can deliver us from the quicksand of sin.
By His sacred sacrifice on the Holy Cross at Calvary, the sacrament of salvation, He broke the power of death, sin and Satan. He bore the burden of our sins on the Cross and washed away our sins by shedding His Holy Blood.
So, repent and give Him your sins too... Find a spiritual father and confess there every mistake you' ve made. God can forgive you everything!
Then, believe to His Grace and come to receive His Holy Gift. Come to the Holy Communion!
In every Divine Liturgy Jesus is waiting us. He says: Repent and ...come to Me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matthew, 11:28)
Because, “…The
blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from every sin” (1 John 1:7). “For
by the sacrificial death of Christ, we are set free, that is, our sins
are forgiven” (Ephesians, 1:7).
