He Had Hardships
Surprisingly, St. Nicholas was born in Turkey in March of 270 A.D. to wealthy Greek Christians who died of a plague. He felt a calling from a young age and was already a priest of the Catholic church. St. Nick remained dedicated to his calling by secretly distributing the money to the needy. He was made famous by the account of saving three girls from the likely fate of prostitution.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4
The Young Girls Backgrounds
There was a widower who had three unmarried daughters and a ton of debts that he couldn’t pay. It was common for a creditor to sell you or your family members to settle your debts. Young girls would fetch a pretty penny in the slave market. The only salvation for these girls was marriage, which would have been impossible without funds to pay the dowries. (Women were so devalued that they had to have money to get married). When St. Nicolas heard of this, he secretly dropped bags of coins through the widower’s window in the middle of the night. He did this on a different night to pay dowries for each daughter. Their dowries were paid, and they were married, thus saved from prostitution. St. Nicolas was following Matthew 6:1-4.
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. “ Philippians 2:5-11
God Gives Us Good for Our Pain
Saint Nicholas demonstrated the purity of secret giving to please God. I never taught my children that Santa was real, as I felt like it was betraying their trust in me. However, we still embrace the joy. I marked presents “From Santa,” honoring the tradition of my mother, who still marks some gifts for us this way. The reason that St. Nicolas had money at all was through the personal devastation of losing both of his parents to the plague. He made something good and life-changing from a terrible situation. Jesus did the same. His torture and sacrifice on the cross paid the price for our sins so that we could be forgiven. God will always make something good come out of a painful situation. Let’s ask Him to do this today.
Receiving the Gift
If you haven’t received that tremendous, eternal gift, it’s time. St. Nick followed Jesus’ example. Jesus paid the price for us to be freed, loved, and have blessings on earth and eternal life beyond this one.
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