By Thea Jarvis

The best part of Christmas is the giving.

While getting has distinct, though sometimes dubious advantages--a house full of puzzle pieces, a floor full of play-dough, the outer space sounds of video games or a closet full of teal blue ties--it is the giving that fosters the Christmas spirit and makes our celebration of the Lord’s birth the real holiday favorite on almost everyone’s list.

This year, throughout the archdiocese, the “giving” is being done by parish communities as well as individuals. Churches are realizing that they can reach out and collectively witness their concern for those in need with surprising effectiveness.

Parish outreach works.

It is a legitimate way for people who “want to do something but just don’t know how” to become involved and share with others. Because Christmas is a time when the virtues of generosity and compassion come bubbling to the surface, parishes can often answer the inner need people have to give visible expression to their aspirations for goodwill and brotherhood.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Alpharetta shares the Christmas spirit with inmates at the Alpharetta Work Camp. A box is placed near the parish kitchen to receive gifts from parishioners which are left unwrapped but include wrapping paper and ribbon. When everything is collected, the gifts are forwarded to the inmates, who wrap the presents and give them to their wives and children. Since prisoners are unable to shop for their families this allows them to maintain a Christmas tradition and preserve self-respect as well.

St. Ann’s Church in Marietta encourages children to think beyond themselves at Christmas by inviting them to make their own cards celebrating the birth of Jesus. The birthday cards are collected before Christmas day during the offertory procession at Sunday Mass and are placed on display in the parish catechetical wing.

St. Anthony’s Church and the Cathedral of Christ the King, both in Atlanta, are hosting Christmas parties for senior citizens this year. This is a special way of touching those who may be in need of a “family” feeling at holiday time and also an acknowledgment of the respect and care older people should be accorded in our churches and our society at large.

The Cathedral is also offering a helping hand to the craft cooperative administered by Rural Social Services in Cumming. Fine handmade gifts made by members of the cooperative were on sale at the church and all proceeds will go towards assisting low-income families in north Georgia.

Holy Cross Church in Chamblee encourages children in this religious education program to bring gifts, wrapped and marked according to age and sex, for distribution by the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The toys, games and dolls are taken to needy families who would otherwise have no gifts under their tree this Christmas.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Atlanta also gives gifts to needy children at Christmas. Their “Christmas Giving Tree” is full of ornaments indicating the age and sex of a child, and whether a toy or warm clothing would be appropriate. Parishioners take an ornament from the tree and return to church with an appropriate gift, decorated with the ornament on top. The parish St. Vincent de Paul Society and boy scouts help in sorting out the gifts and bringing them to children who can use them.

St. Patrick’s Church in Norcross matches their parish families directly with families in need referred by the Gwinnett County Family and Children Services, the parish St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Gwinnett County jail. Parish families fill out a card indicating their name, address and phone number and the parish “Christmas 400” committee matches St. Pat’s families with a family needing help. Parishioners deliver a substantial meal and Christmas gifts in person to their chosen families, emphasizing the mutual giving that is at the heart of the Christmas spirit.

Holy Trinity Church in Peachtree City offers a day of babysitting services at a nominal fee allowing parents to shop with ease. The parish youth group, JAM, is on call from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for harried moms and dads, and lunch is even served to the little ones.

St. Luke the Evangelist in Dahlonega, St. Paul the Apostle in Cleveland and St. Francis of Assisi in Blairsville remind parishioners of the Christmas call to go beyond the lights of the city, quoting the words of Father Matthew Fox in their parish bulletin: “Advertising seeks to turn our wants into needs. I buy--therefore, I am. We consume--therefore maybe we exist. We escape by going shopping. The shopping mall is the cathedral of our generation, our temple to the buying of things.”

It is apparent that parish communities in the archdiocese are taking a firm stand, refusing to allow idolatrous object-worship--overbuying, overdoing, over-extending--to make inroads into their celebrations.

They are witnesses to the truth that the best part of Christmas is the giving.