Search in our trash

by Fr. Jeff

It was late. A few pieces of wrapping paper were still scattered on the carpet. Opened presents were stacked half-hazardly around the living room. Most of the kids had all gone home.

My sister called and told mom that my nephew was upset. He couldn’t find an accessory to one of his new toys.

“Poor guy,” I thought to myself. “He shouldn’t have to be sad on Christmas day.”

I heard her search through the stacks of presents for five minutes. “I guess it got accidentally thrown away with the other trash.”

“That’s too bad,” I thought to myself again.

I heard the back door open and close.

Fifteen minutes later another sister asked where mom was. “I’m not sure. She was just in the living room searching for a piece of a toy.” She walked to the window: “I found mom.”

It was dark and cold outside. Mom was wearing a coat with a scarf tied around her head. Four enormous black trash bags filled with wrapping paper and packaging surrounded her. Their contents littered the back porch. She was going through them one by one.

He had lost something. She loves him, so she searched in the trash.

Today, we remember the Incarnation: You love us and come to

search in our trash.