There is a bar on East 19th St. in Manhattan called Pete’s Tavern which is always nice to visit this time of year for its Christmas decorations, which create a festive atmosphere conducive to the sharing of libations. In one of the booths, not far from the door, the author O. Henry composed one of his most famous short stories, called “The Gift of the Magi.” If you’re not familiar with it, the story takes place on Christmas Eve, and its main characters are Della and Jim, a young married couple. They are poor, but rich in love for each other. Because she has no money with which to purchase Jim a Christmas present, Della sells her long, beautiful hair to a local wig maker. She then uses the money from the sale to buy a platinum chain for Jim’s gold pocket watch, a treasured family heirloom, to replace its worn-out leather strap. That night, Jim comes home and sees his wife with short hair. She tells him what happened, that she sold it to purchase a gift for him. Jim reveals that he also purchased a gift for her, a set of ornamental combs for her hair, which now she cannot use until her hair grows long again. Della then gives Jim the chain, and Jim smiles, explaining that he sold the watch to purchase the combs for his wife. Concluding the story, the narrator alludes to the magi, the wise men from the East who were the first to give Christmas gifts. He says that, though Jim and Della may seem unwise in the gifts they gave to each other, “of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the most wise. Everywhere they are the wise ones. They are the magi.”
This Monday, January 6, is the Feast of the Epiphany, which is traditionally celebrated twelve days after Christmas. Here in the United States, however, we observe the celebration liturgically on the Sunday after January 1. On the Epiphany, of course, we recall the visit of the magi to the infant Christ child in Bethlehem, bearing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These precious gifts revealed their wisdom, for their observations of the movement of the stars and planets enabled them to conclude rightly that the newborn child in Bethlehem was a king, was divine, and would one day die. But wiser still is the Lord, who gave us His Son – a gift that infinitely surpasses in value the gifts of the magi. For, that which is most precious to the Lord He willingly sacrifices for love of us. Thus, the logic of the Christmas gifts exchanged between Della and Jim in “The Gift of the Magi” helps us to understand the logic of the Christmas gift we receive from God.
posted 1/4/25
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 