I mentioned yesterday that the second week of Advent is
traditionally associated with love, with charity. Today’s saint is certainly
known for his charity. As Bishop of Myra, in Turkey, he is known for his love
for the poor, his love for the truth, and his love for Christ.
Perhaps one of the best-known stories about Nicholas
concerns his generosity towards a poor man whose daughters were about to be
forced into lives of prostitution, threw bags of gold through the poor man’s
windows so he could pay for his daughter’s dowries enabling them to be married.
That story, likely, is the source for the legend of Saint
Nick carrying bags of toys for all the good little girls and boys.
Bishop Nicholas was also a great lover and defender of
truth. Nicholas stood up for the truth at the council of Nicaea. When the
heretic priest Arius claimed that Jesus was not of the same substance with the Father,
Nicholas corrected Arius….physically. There are pictures of Nicholas slapping
Arius in the mouth for the foul errors spewing from it.
Thirdly, Nicholas is known for his love for Christ; he was
arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and martyred in the 4th century
persecutions.
Historically, it was on this day that gifts were exchanged.
It was only when Martin Luther began preaching against devotion to the saints,
that gift giving became associated with Christmas; so perhaps we can blame the
over-commercialization of Christmas on the founder of Protestantism.
In order to reclaim devotion to Nicholas, we, like him,
should follow his example of love-the three loves of Sinterklaas. Give help to the poor today, bring someone
in error to the truth today, and make an offering of your life for Christ
today, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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