Why We Give Gifts at Christmas

What could cinnamon rolls and the Birth of Jesus have in common? I was about to find out.

Over the years, I had tried my hand at making cinnamon rolls, but was never satisfied with the result. Then, in 2016, I was told that a woman who had won many ribbons at the Minnesota State Fair for her baking had come out with a cookbook that cost $30.00. I looked at her recipe for cinnamon rolls, but didn’t know if it was quite what I wanted, so I decided to contact Elaine Janas. I knew she too had had won many ribbons the Fair, including for cinnamon rolls.

I wrote her and asked if she would share her cinnamon roll recipe with me and included a check for $30.00. I suggested that she, like her friendly competitor, write a cook book.

To my surprise, Elaine wrote back. She returned my check and said, “My recipe is no big secret.” She included her hand written recipe, instructions, and two packages of yeast. She said she couldn’t undertake a cookbook, as she was 91½ years old. I wrote Elaine thanking her for her kindness. We became pen pals, exchanging Christmas cards.

Since then, I’ve made cinnamon rolls based on her recipe many times, and many have expressed their satisfaction.

Sometime later, at church, on Corpus Christi Sunday, during Benediction, my mind began to wander. I thought, “How kind it was of Elaine to share her recipe. How Christ like. Not only did she not take any money, but even included some yeast. She did everything short of making me a cinnamon roll.”

Just then, my thoughts were called back to the service with this chanted responsorial:

℣ “You have given us bread from Heaven.”

℟ “Containing all sweetness and delight.”

How likely was that?! The verse from John (6:51-52) vaguely came to mind: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”  

“Oh my gosh,” I thought, “Jesus told and showed us how to live. He was both the giver and the gift.” The Eucharist is His sacrifice of Himself to His Heavenly Father and His gift to us. He was born in the town of Bethlehem, which means “city of bread.” He was born in a manger, and the root word for “manger” means “to eat.” If I am grateful for Elaine’s cinnamon roll recipe, I thought, how infinitely grateful should I be for Jesus telling me how to live, dying for my/our sins, and giving Himself to me in the Eucharist! And are we not, like yeast, meant to leaven the world by living the Gospel?

Elaine died this year at the age of 99. We had never met. Her funeral was at Immaculate Conception Church. At her wake, I discovered that she had received the Minnesota State Fair’s first “Sovereign Ruler of the Kitchen” award when she was 75. Then she received it 13 more times! She had won over 3300 ribbons! I couldn’t help but think that if the kindness and generosity shown to me, a stranger, were indicative of that shown to others, she received a “Well done” by the Sovereign Ruler of all.

If you would like a copy of Elaine’s cinnamon roll recipe, please send a stamped, self-addressed 4 ¼” X 9 ½” envelope to the station. Elaine said I could freely share it.

Elaine’s generosity brings to mind Fr. Welzbacher’s response to the question of “Why do we give gifts at Christmas?” He said, “Because God gave His only begotten Son to us as one of us. We, in turn, give gifts to one another to express our gratitude and joy.” What can we give Jesus? “We can give Jesus love and adoration, and one of the ways we do this is by imitating Jesus’ love. Just as Jesus gratuitously loves us, we can see Jesus in others and love them through gifts, acts of charity, forgiveness, and cheerfulness.”

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Merry Christmas! Venite Adoremus!