December 21, 2025 Essay: The Gift of Hope
Perhaps you can recall the endearing short story about the exchange of Christmas gifts between James and Della Dillingham Young. Newly married and young, they had little money between them, but it was important for them to honor their love through an exchange of gifts on Christmas Day. They wanted to keep their gifts secret until they presented them to each other. Della had the grand sum of $1.87 to buy a gift for James, and James not much more than that to buy a gift for Della.
When they exchanged their gifts on Christmas morning, it was neither the expensive set of finely decorated combs for Della’s knee-length brown hair nor the shining platinum fob chain for James’s gold pocket watch that captured their hearts and filled them with happiness. Rather, it was what they did to pay for these gifts that showed the depth of their love for each other. That is what they cherished more than anything else. That is what gave them a true understanding of Christmas
I presume by now that with these few sentences you recognize the short story, The Gift of the Magi, written in 1905 by American author O. Henry, and will remember what James and Della did to be able to buy their gifts. If not, treat yourself and read it during the Christmas holiday. It is a story of the depth of love that James and Della experienced through personal sacrifice. In exchanging their gifts that Christmas morning, hope for a bright and happy future together was born as they reveled in the love that they had for each other, a love that they knew would endure no matter what their financial circumstances. Nothing had more value for them than that.
Why focus on sacrifice as we prepare for a day that is intended to be celebrated with joy and festive gatherings? Can’t such a consideration wait until a time when we are in the throes of anxiety and despair or have surrendered ourselves to a feeling of hopelessness? After all, most of us have more than $1.87 to our names and can afford to buy admirable Christmas gifts and feast on foods prepared from treasured family recipes. By God’s grace, all of this will be done without great personal sacrifice. While this may be true for the vast majority of us, it is certainly not true for everyone.
As a parish, we are very generous at this time of the year and help those in need with food, clothing, and toys. Such good deeds are noteworthy and virtuous. They are done without any expectation of a word of gratitude or personal recognition. To do what is right is always its own reward. However, when we give generously to those less fortunate, do we recognize and honor the personal sacrifices of those who choose to accept and receive what we offer to them? Out of love for their families or concern for their own welfare, many will have sacrificed their pride, their sense of self-worth, or their dignity. If we can acknowledge their sacrifices, we will then be challenged to sacrifice our pre-conceived notions of the poor. Hope will spring forth from the abyss of ignorance, fear, and judgment when, like James and Della, we understand the true meaning of Christmas. And so, what is that meaning?
More than two thousand years ago, a young women sacrificed her will out of love for God. Her betrothed sacrificed his reputation out of love for the one he was to marry. Parents-to-be sacrificed their dignity and accepted shelter in a stable so their child would be born in safety. And ultimately, their son sacrificed his life out of love for all God’s creation that we might know the depth of God’s love for us. In the midst of surrender to the will of God and confounded by confusion, fear, anxiety, and hardship, hope was born in Bethlehem, and the meaning of love was found in sacrifice.
For James and Della, the spark of hope for a brighter future together was kindled into a roaring fire as they exchanged gifts on Christmas morning. May we be blessed with the gift of hope in every expression of love we experience on Christmas Day.
— Dennis J. Yesalonia, S.J., Pastor