Mary van Balen

PHOTO: Mary van Balen



Strengthen all weary hands,
steady all trembling knees
and say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid...'
from Is 35





Today is the feast of Saint Nicholas, the "ancestor' of sorts to our Santa Claus.The readings from today's Mass reflect the divine generosity and compassion that are common attributes of Saint Nicholas found in stories about him. Though much we hear about Nicholas is legend, legend often has its beginning in historical people and events.

The earliest written record of Nicholas, bishop of Myra (now in Turkey), is a Greek document from around 400 AD. Nicholas appears on some lists of those who attended the Council of Nicaea, and the tale of his rescue of a poor man's daughters who would likely have been sold into a life of prostitution without Nicholas's generous intervention appears in no other saintly hagiographies. Stories about his saintliness were circulating during his lifetime.

What remains constant in all the stories is the bishop's intervention on behalf of the poor, the unjustly accused, the ones with little hope or recourse.  Read More 

Carrying on a tradition from my Dutch heritage, my children each left a shoe and a carrot by the front door for Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicholas. In the morning the carrots had disappeared, eaten by Saint Nicholas's horse, and candies along with a small gift filled the shoes. A simple celebration, but one that continues. My daughters are all in grad school, but they enjoy receiving an envelope from Saint Nick to open on the morning of Dec. 6. Gold coins recall the three bags of gold Saint Nicholas tossed through the window of a cottage that was home to a poor man and his three daughters who had no dowry. Hard candy, and a gift keeps my daughters connected to family and good memories wherever they are.

Tonight I think of my cousins in the Netherlands. Dec. 5, not Christmas, is their gift giving day. The date is not the only difference in our celebrations. In the United States shopping frenzy begins on Black Friday and continues until Christmas day and beyond, when people return gifts to get something they would rather have at a cheaper price. So much time and energy is spent running from store to store, finding the best bargains, wrapping gift after gift, many people are relieved when the Christmas season is over and they can pack up the decorations and get back to an ordinary routine. Christmas has become almost synonymous with excess and consumerism.

Across the ocean, Jeanette, Piet and their family had a more relaxed day. Each person received one special gift, but perhaps the most fun was reading the poems they had written for one another and opening the little gifts, often homemade, that went along with them.

The poems were often humorous, good naturedly poking fun at the recipient or the gift that was offered. One year their oldest son was preparing to take an test for entrance into professional studies. His younger brother made him a "contraption" to use: It had a calculator, a place for notes, and a little mirror to help him read what others had written. Once, a new washing machine was the wish, but all that was affordable was one made of cardboard given along with a poem extolling the virtues of the old machine that creaked and groaned but still managed to present clean clothes.

Christmas day is more like Thanksgiving here: Time to attend church and then for families to gather, share a meal, and enjoy one another's company. As Christmas approaches, I think we would do well to remember that we don't have to wear ourselves out with endless shopping and that the number of gifts have nothing to do with the love that is shared.

******************************************** SAINT NICHOLAS DESIGNED BY RON HENDRIKS  Read More