22 Who is the liar, if not one who claims that Jesus is not the Christ? This is the Antichrist, who denies both the Father and the Son.

23 Whoever denies the Son cannot have the Father either; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father too.

24 Let what you heard in the beginning remain in you; as long as what you heard in the beginning remains in you, you will remain in the Son and in the Father.

25 And the promise he made you himself is eternal life.

26 So much have I written to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.

27 But as for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; since the anointing he gave you teaches you everything, and since it is true, not false, remain in him just as he has taught you.

28 Therefore remain in him now, children, so that when he appears we may be fearless, and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. Reading 1, First John 2:22-28

In my conversion back home to Him, I remember my childhood. Innocence. What I heard in the “Beginning” of my life. Jesus Christ is God. On the path to adulthood this “Truth” was compromised by the evil that sought my soul through lack of faith, lack of practicing my faith and through all sources away from the Truth. I remember a time when He, our Lord, came first. Christmas Eve as a three or four-year old, I was so excited that I would be receiving gifts but had so much love for our Lord that took over my soul, I needed to find something to give back to our Lord. I wondered so much what He would receive from me for His birthday. My presence didn’t mean much. The present I could give to Him ment so much more. I looked around the house and found two pieces of candy. I didn’t take into account He being an infant couldn’t eat it. I just knew I had to give Him something. How could we be celebrating His birthday and yet give Him nothing. I didn’t have any wrapping paper nor anything to place the candy in to present to Him. I took a paper towel roll and put the candy inside. I bent both ends down and wrote His name on it and placed it on the table. I thought about the Holy Family so much that night and who they would be with Santa Clause and I KNEW He would take what I had given to Him. Time came and presents were packed under the tree. I didn’t care about the presents. All I wanted to see was the present to our Lord was gone. It was still there, on the table where I placed it. I thought it wasn’t accepted. My heart was broken.

“Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them.”
― Fulton J. Sheen
Our Lord did not refuse that candy I gave Him, although it was still on the table. He took what it represented, all I had to give at the time and by my heart breaking, never left my side and gave me something much greater than anyone else could. He gave me faith in Him. He gave me joy in the midst of the destruction of self. He gave me everything I could need to make it through life in exile. Love. It wasn’t about the physical candy that I offered to Him, it was the love I had in my heart to offer all I had to Him. ALthough I lost sight of that, He didn’t. And that is what makes Him God. No matter how bad we mess up or pull away from Him, He allows us to understand He is with us FOREVER. The reason the present was still there is because what we place on His table, is always accepted in faith, without any physical need of the candy. The candy does not bring Him anything. We do by our simple faith and love in Him.

“You must remember to love people and use things, rather than to love things and use people.”
― Fulton J. Sheen

“Live in the world, as if God and your soul only were in it; so shall your heart be never made captive by any earthly thing.” – St. John of the Cross

St. Gregory Nazianzen, pray for us.

“God accepts our desires as though they were a great value. He longs ardently for us to desire and love him. He accepts our petitions for benefits as though we were doing him a favor. His joy in giving is greater than ours in receiving. So let us not be apathetic in our asking, nor set too narrow bounds to our requests; nor ask for frivolous things unworthy of God’s greatness.”
– St. Gregory Nazianzen