This weekend we continued teaching the kids about the awesome account of Jesus’ birth and the events that took place around it. We specifically taught them how the wise men honored Jesus with their gifts. We also showed them the various traditions that people around the world use to honor Jesus. In Poland, the people honor the star of Bethlehem, and they do not begin the meal (the “Wigilia”) until the first star is spotted. In Bethlehem, Christian homes honor Jesus by painting a cross over their door and by placing a star on a pole in the village square. These are just a few ways people around the world honor Jesus at Christmas.

This weekend we taught the children how the wise men honored Jesus with their gifts. Many of us are very familiar with the wise men’s gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We talk about these three gifts of honor and, indeed, we should. Besides, these gifts allow us to focus on the Christ Child. The gifts are for him. Yet there is a fourth gift the wise men gave to honor God that we may not recognize as a gift. That fourth gift is the gift of listening to God: “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road” (Matthew 2:12). Their adherence to the dream’s warning was a gift as well. God used this dream to warn the wise men. By being attentive to this dream, they listened to God.

This week as you interact with your children remember that like the wise men, you also offer the children the powerful gift of listening, listening to their laughter, their responses, and their concerns. This week take the opportunity to be attuned to the presence of your children by listening to and celebrating with them how people honor Jesus around the world.

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor”. Luke 2:52