One of my favorite Christmas stories is O Henry’s short story, “The Gift of The Magi.”
You are all familiar with it. It is a story about a desperately poor young couple living in New York around the turn of the last century. Neither had money sufficient to buy a gift for the other so they each secretly went out and sold something of worth.
He sold his prized pocket watch to get her decorative combs for her long hair. When he presented them to her she removed her scarf to reveal that she had had her hair clipped and sold to purchase a chain for his pocket watch.
The thrust of the story is obvious. It is not what you give that is important, but the sharing spirit of love with which it is given.
Submitted by Fr. Joseph Dovari