Persons Are Gifts

Today's first reading about the Lord bestowing the gift of his spirit on the seventy elders (Nm 11:25-29) reminds me of a poignant reading that was given to us young postulants shortly after we entered the Springfield Franciscans in the late sixties. I already knew that God gave gifts to his people, but this reflection revealed to me that we ourselves are gifts, precisely because of God's many gifts to us. I still have my original copy of this reflection, so tattered and tear-stained. Why tears? Because God is so very good to us, so kind and so wonderful, and so generous and so loving. His gifts are boundless, their beauty indescribable, their worth inestimable. His gifts are the very best – especially the gift of HIMSELF! How can I keep from singing?!

Persons Are Gifts (Author Unknown)

Persons are gifts ... at least Jesus thought so: "Father I want those you have given me to be where I am ...". I agree with Jesus ... and I also want those whom the Father has given me to be where I am.

Persons are gifts which the Father sends me wrapped. Some are wrapped very beautifully. They are very attractive when I first see them. Some come in very ordinary wrapping paper. Others have been mishandled in the mail. Once in a while, there is a "special delivery." Some people are gifts which come very loosely wrapped, others very tightly.

But the wrapping is not the gift. It is so easy to make this mistake. It's amusing when babies do it. Sometimes the gift is very easy to open up. Sometimes I need others to help. Is it because they are afraid? Does it hurt? Maybe they have been opened up before and thrown away. Could it be that the gift is not for me?

I am a person. Therefore, I am a gift, too. A gift to myself, first of all. The Father gave myself to me. Have I ever really looked inside the wrappings? Am I afraid to? perhaps I've never accepted the gift that I am. Could it be that there is something else inside the wrappings? Maybe I've never seen the wonderful gift that I am. Could the Father's gifts be anything but beautiful? I love the gifts which those who love me give to me: why not this gift from the Father?

And I am a gift to other persons. Am I willing to be given by the Father to others ... a person for others? Do others have to be content with the wrappings ... never permitted to enjoy the gift? Every meeting is an exchange of gifts. But a gift without a giver is not a gift. It is a thing devoid of relationship to a giver or a givee.

Friendship is a relationship between persons who see themselves as they really are ... gifts of the Father to each other ... for others.

A friend is a gift not just to me but to others through me. When I keep my friends ... possess them ... I destroy their "giftness." If I save their lives for me, I lose them. If I lose mine for others, I save them.

Persons are gifts ... gifts received and gifts given ... like the Son. Friendship is the response of person gifts to the giver.

Thank you, Father, for your beautiful gifts ... persons ... friends ... and for the most beautiful gift and friend of all ... your Son, Jesus Christ!