Gifts Wrapped in Many Layers

I remember growing up that I loved to receive gifts. I loved to rip open the wrapping paper and find out what was inside. Many times I struggled to contain my excitement and wonder at what sort of amazing toy was hidden underneath the different styles of wrapping paper. Birthdays were always the best because the presents appeared that day and I got to open them almost immediately.

Christmas, on the other hand, was pure torture. My mom and dad would set the wrapped presents (except the ones that Santa brought of course) underneath the tree as they wrapped them in the days leading up to Christmas. We kids would often stealthily make our way to the presents when no one was looking in order to carefully inspect them. We would shake, squeeze, feel, and weigh the package to see if we could match it up to an item that we had placed on our list. My mom used to get upset on Christmas morning when she would hand us a package and we would immediately say, “I know what this one is!” She often accused us of ruining Christmas with our guessing games. I never realized it back then that my mother’s real joy in giving us the gift was to watch the look on our face as we unwrapped the present. Her gift was watching the smile on our faces and seeing her children full of happiness.

My mom then got creative in the way she packaged our presents. One year my mom gave one of the kids a small Fisher Price toy crane. I can’t remember whose gift it was originally but mom saved the box and then used it to package other gifts in the years to come. Every year after that one of us would open the gift and be confused for a minute thinking we received a toy crane. Everyone else who was in on the secret would laugh as the real gift was hidden inside the box. Eventually we all knew the secret and took turns using the box to hide our gifts over the years. I am not sure whatever happened to that box but the memory has stuck with me. Nowadays, I rarely spend time wrapping gifts and sometimes just hand them over to people. However, I still love to receive a wrapped present as part of the gift is finding out what is hidden underneath the paper.

This weekend I received an assortment of gifts all of which were wrapped in many layers. I want to share with you the experience of unwrapping these gifts and the joy that I felt once I recognized the gifts that I had received. My hope is that you will be able to un-wrap a few experiences in your life and find the gift that awaits your discovery.

Friday afternoon I arrived at the airport in Omaha, NE, full of anticipation as I was heading home to College Station for my pastor’s 25th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood. As the plane began its descent into the Dallas/Ft. Worth the captain announced that due to bad weather at the airport we would divert to Tulsa, OK. We landed in Tulsa safely and waited patiently for our turn to fuel up the plane. After an hour of waiting on the tarmac we pulled into the gate. The plane was refueled and then we learned that weather had once again closed the airport. When we finally got clearance to depart for DFW a mechanical problem was discovered. We sat on the plane for another two hours before they decided to change planes. By this time I had missed my connection to Austin and was trying to figure out what I would do. I called some friends in Dallas and left a message for them to call me as I thought I might be stranded in Dallas for the night. We arrived in Dallas at 11PM. By the grace of God my friend was near the airport and came to pick me up (the first gift!). As my friend and I arrived at his apartment his fiancée had already prepared a place for me to sleep in the living room. Despite the delays and the unplanned stop in Dallas my mood was pretty upbeat. I was happy to visit with my friend and his fiancée and share with them the many graces I have received this summer. After four short hours of sleep I was headed back to the airport to catch the first flight to College Station.

I arrived in College Station at 10:15 AM. I was enthusiastically greeted at the airport by a dear friend who then drove me immediately to St. Thomas Aquinas Church. I arrived at the church twenty minutes before Mass began. I was worried about being on time as I had been asked to be a lector. As I sat down to pray before the Mass began I was already exhausted. I asked God to help me proclaim His word in a worthy manner and to sustain me throughout the day. As I sat down in the pew after the reading I thought of how much I enjoyed being a lector and how much I have missed it since I have been in seminary (another unexpected gift!). The Mass was absolutely beautiful and a fitting celebration of one man’s twenty-five year commitment to bringing Christ to others as well as the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ.

I spent the next two hours at the reception visiting with many friends and parishioners. It seemed that every time I finished talking to someone another appeared in their place. While I enjoyed the conversations I will admit to you that I was tired, hungry, and thirsty. My feet hurt and my back was killing me from being on the plane the night before. Despite these feelings I was thrilled to visit with these friends (another gift!). My only regret is that I did not get to spend more time with them.

After the reception I made my way over to my best friend’s house to meet his newborn son. I was in Omaha when he was born and he was now a month old. My friend was at work but I was able to visit his wife and son. I brought a gift (a stuffed animal) for my friend’s daughter but she was taking a nap and neither I nor her mother wanted to wake her. I was disappointed that I would not get to see her on this trip. I cannot explain to you how much it warmed my heart to sit and hold my friend’s newborn son. It was truly a gift! After about thirty minutes, I realized that I had not eaten since 6AM and needed to go get some lunch.

After lunch I spent some time in the adoration chapel at my parish. I was exhausted as I collapsed in the pew. I fell into deep meditation (i.e. sleep) before the Blessed Sacrament. I hope I was not snoring and bothering those who had gathered to pray. When I opened my eyes twenty minutes later I received another gift but I am going to save that one for later as this post is already too long. After my holy hour I went back to the Church to attend the vigil Mass as I would be traveling all day Sunday and unable to get to Mass. I was happy to hear that our new parochial vicar was celebrating his first weekend Mass at the parish (another gift!). After Mass I attended a dinner party with my pastor and several friends and parishioners.

I finally left the party at 10PM and then met my best friend at his work. There have been many changes in both of our lives that have prevented us from spending much time with one another. I only got to visit with him for about thirty minutes but I appreciated every one of them. I told him I would see him in a month and then headed for home. When I arrived home I was greeted by who I consider to be my little brother. We talked for about fifteen minutes. The time was short but much was said. I finally collapsed in bed at midnight. It had been a full day but one that was full of love and gift.

The alarm clock went off entirely too soon on Sunday morning. I got up, showered, packed, printed my boarding passes and had a nice breakfast with the family. Due to the change in my travel plans I did not have a way to get to the airport in Austin for my 12:50 PM flight. Rose, the mom, offered to drive me to the airport. This was an unexpected gift as it gave us almost two hours to visit and discuss many things. Had things gone according to the original plan we would not have had this time to visit.

After arriving at the airport in Austin I went through security and tried to get on an earlier flight to Dallas. Not only was there no room on the earlier flight but I learned that my original flight had been canceled due to a mechanical problem. I called the airline and was rebooked on a flight to Chicago later that day. Now I knew who God wanted me to see when I was stuck in Dallas but I couldn’t think of anyone in Chicago that God would want me to visit. I spent the next six hours in the Austin airport. I exchanged many texts and phone calls with people as I informed them of the new plans. I treated myself to some Salt Lick BBQ and Amy’s ice cream for lunch (things only a true Austinite can appreciate). My best friend then sent me a text of a picture of his daughter who slept with the stuffed animal I had given her. It made my day and made the stay in the airport a little easier. When I finally arrived in Chicago I learned that my connecting flight to Omaha would be delayed due to another mechanical problem. We switched aircraft and moved to a different gate. At this point the skies opened up and the airport was shut down for a few hours due to weather. I couldn’t help but laugh. If there was a gift in this experience God used the entire roll of wrapping paper and several toy crane boxes to hide it. I tried to remain as positive as possible as we finally boarded our flight and headed home.

I arrived in Omaha at 11:40PM. I was beat. I was exhausted. I was a tad bit impatient. I collapsed in my bed knowing that I had an early wake up call. As I sat before Mass this morning I thought to myself of all the gifts that I received this weekend. I could have easily spent all this time complaining about the many difficulties but I share them with you only in the hopes that you will see what God showed me. In the midst of all these unplanned changes, struggles, inconveniences, etc. God blessed with many amazing gifts. He allowed me to love and be loved. He allowed me to be with some of the people I love the most. I was happy as I felt that I had lived the weekend well. There were many crosses but you cannot have the resurrection without the cross. Two phrases come to my mind. One of them is from Sacred Scripture “Without cost you have received, without cost you are to give” (Mt 10:8) and from a less sacred source, “I could have missed the pain, but then I’d have to miss the dance.” After communion, the greatest gift of all, I thought how God must have been watching me, his child, open the many gifts that He had so carefully wrapped for me this weekend. He patiently waited for my response as at first I did not recognize the gifts. Finally, this morning as I truly discovered the gifts, my heart was full of joy and God, like my mother, no doubt enjoyed seeing the look on my face.

The point I want to share is that each day we are presented with our crosses. I now see in a new way how joy can come from embracing those crosses and striving to carry them well. I don’t mean to make myself sound like some overly pious guy who always gets it right. I just finally got through the last layer of paper and want to share the gifts with you.

Pax Tecum,
Tom