A Christmas Gift

Before I begin:
…A series of Christmas Eve church attacks and explosions left at least 38 people dead in two Nigerian cities, and at least six wounded in the Philippines.
The situation was especially tense in Jos in central Nigeria, long a hotspot of ethnic and religious friction. It was hit late Christmas Eve by seven explosions that killed 32 and injured 74, many as they were doing their Christmas shopping, police said.
In Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, suspected members of an Islamist sect that launched an uprising last year attacked three churches, leaving six people dead and one of the churches burnt down, an army spokesman said…
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/afp/20101226/twl-christmas-world-4bdc673.html\

I am humbled by these news stories.
This Christmas I would like to keep those who are violently persecuted in my prayers, whether it be Christians, or people of any other religion, or people of no religion. May the Lord be with you all.
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I received a great gift from God this Christmas.
It wasn’t an ipad. It wasn’t an Xbox Kinect. And no, it wasn’t a Kindle.
What it was may make some joyful, may make some object, may be of no value to others, or may even incomprehensible.
But to me it was a gift.
It was a great gift, one that brings joy, yet it did not come without a journey-a journey of dialogue, of prayer and of fellowship.
The dialogue started something like this: “I follow the bible,” and continued…
“Oh yes. Do you know who decided which books to include in the bible?”
“The council of Nicea.”
“The council of Nicea taught us the Trinity doctrine. Actually the council of Rome, Carthage and Hippo starting in 382 AD decided which books to be in the New Testament. The Church gave us the bible as we know it today.”
From there stemmed dialogue about Jesus and the history of Christianity and whether Jesus’ historical church existed. We passed through many objections, or in most cases ‘misconceptions’ about this Church.
“In 26 years of my life, nobody has ever explained to me this church,” John said.
“I didn’t know much either, until a few years ago,” I responded.
Born into Protestantism, John had become an atheist at a point in his life, and then he had come to love Jesus in a way that changed his life. He evangelized college students in Santa Cruz, had served as a youth minister at a fellowship, and had performed concerts all over the country at Protestant fellowships.
As the months of dialogue went on, there were times when I thought John would not talk with me again (about religion). At other times, I thought it was a dead end (Ironically, Christians disagree on much).
But I kept praying that the Holy Spirit may open this man’s heart to the Church, if it be God's will.
And then we came across Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20. “I pray not only for them; but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be ONE as you Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”
John hadn’t seen this prayer before, or at least had never thought about it too much. But now seeing this prayer, he asked himself, “Do I follow Jesus’ prayer?”
This was a cross for John.
“It broke my heart to see so much division.” John had said about American Christianity. "If I love Jesus, I will follow His prayer."
John's cross was love.
And so the dialogue went on... and on... and on... until December 18. That is when I received the gift from God.
I held my right arm on his shoulder as we stood among a line of others. The priest said,” Send forth upon them thy sevenfold Spirit the Holy Paraclete." And then he anointed the forehead of each with chrism saying: "I sign thee with the sign of the cross and confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Finally, he gave a whisper: "peace be with you".
And so it came to be, my friend John for the first time taking the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist and coming into communion with the universal Church.
He calls it, "his marriage."
Everything came down to love.
A friend asked John, "Can't you love Jesus without being a part of the Church?"
John replied, "Jesus says, 'If you love me, you will obey what I command (John 14:15). And he prays that we be united, for me to eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:53)and to reconcile through the church (Matt 18:17)..."

In love I see unity. And through this unity, the world may believe in Jesus Christ (John 17:20). This brings joy to my soul.

Love is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:14).

The Christmas gift was love.

May the Lord of love be with all of you and your families this Christmas season.