Guess who Santa Claus is?

Every child knows and loves Santa Claus. But do you know who Santa is? And what he did? Let’s go through his story which gives both the child and the adult a powerful and  heart-touching  message. Santa Claus is, in fact, St. Nicholas who was an orphan. His parents died when he was young leaving him  a huge amount of money. He lived during the fourth century in a region called Myra, now known as Turkey. In his town was a family which had lost everything and was so poor that the members  had nothing to eat. The family had three daughters and each one was about to be sold off  to slavery to pay off the family debt. There was no other choice. They couldn’t afford to live at home any longer. The night before the eldest daughter was  to be sold, she washed her stockings and hung them up by the fire to dry. It was going to be a sad day,  but  when she woke up the next day, she saw a lamp in her stocking and  found a small bag. Inside the bag was  enough gold to save her from being sold.

Still the other two daughters would be sold. The next morning, another  bag with gold was found and now the second daughter was saved too. The next night, the father decided to stay awake to see who was  helping his daughters.  He fell asleep but woke up when he heard a loud noise as a small bag was thrown through the open window and landed in the stocking beside the fire place. He jumped up and ran outside. It was a young man from the village whose uncle was a priest.  “Thank you for helping us,” he said.

The man replied, “please do not thank me,” and went his way.  Now there was enough money for the family to live on. That young man was St. Nicholas.  He continued to help the people  and asked for no thanks. He did it secretly, for he did not want attention or glorification. The word of his generosity spread around the world. He is an example of how we should live and how we should treat each other. It is St. Nicholas who now every child remembers as Santa Claus and this is his story. Oranges are often placed inside stockings representing the gold that saved the daughters. This is why there is a Christmas tradition of hanging up stockings. From the fourth century,  we have travelled a long way to the 21st century. It is indeed a high tech period  with celebration high and essence low. Let’s wake up.  Just like St. Nicholas, let’s be generous without attention and glory.

We are all set to say goodbye to 2017 and welcome 2018. Let’s take a New Year resolution to be generous. We all are blessed abundantly by God.   We can sing, dance, smile but there are many who can’t. Look around with eyes that see, ears that hear and heart that feels.  You will then see the needy. Mother Teresa has said there is poverty in this world not because God didn’t bless the poor, or that he forgot to give them something,  but  because we forgot to share what He gave us in abundance. So, let us give and bask in the happiness and satisfaction of giving what we have.

(Ms. Remya Jose is  teacher, Sacred Heart Convent Girls Higher Secondary School, Thrissur)