A Gift and An Irish Christmas Eve with the O’Reilly Sisters

Christmas Eve brings a silent night of peaceful anticipation of our Savior’s birth.

On this day, my family bakes a birthday cake and decorates it for baby Jesus. We dress in our Christmas dresses and suits and celebrate mass with family. We share a meal together and then at night, we exchange books in Icelandic tradition.

Gifts will soon be exchanged and this year a few of our preparations came to be in a new and meaningful way. One of those preparations is our family Christmas letter, one that I have said we would write and send for years (actually over two decades now), actually made it into the mail with our Christmas cards this year.

It all began Christmas 2003 when my first year teaching partner and I exchanged Christmas cards. Her card was handwritten and included a family letter. It was a joy to read and it has been a card that I waited patiently (and not so patiently) for every year since that Christmas. I would read about their adventures and tell my husband I wanted to be like them when we grew up :) No matter what was going on in their lives - heart attacks, strokes, hip replacements, knees replacements, cancer … they lived each and every day to the fullest. I would gaze at their photos of biking through the Italian countryside or cuddling with their grandchildren and promise that whatever happened in my own life, I would always live each day like the gift it is.

Because every day is truly a gift from our Lord and what we do with it matters, whether it’s Christmas Day or a random Tuesday on the 346th day of January. Every day is a gift.

And the greatest gift we can give to Baby Jesus on Christmas is the gift of ourselves. Every talent, every ounce of strength of our mind, body, and spirit is a reflection of our gratitude. To live each day to the fullest.

This is what the O’Reilly sisters experience in Kayleigh’s Knight. On Christmas Eve, at a traditional Irish céilí, they present their gifts to Baby Jesus in a manager—a Cloverdale tradition that unites generations of families.

An excerpt from Kayleigh’s Knight

Chapter Nine

As we walk through the castle doors, warm candle lighting and rustic tables welcome us. Twinkling fairy lights sparkle from the wood beams and boughs of fresh evergreen and ivy are strewn about the walls. The scent of pine recalls memories of past Christmases…

At midnight, the music stops, and the crowd gathers around the manger scene. Fr. Nolan leads the St. Andrew prayer, and the townspeople recite it with him twelve times.

“Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desire, through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.”

Our voices fill the hall as the music did just moments ago. I’ve never felt more a part of something in all my life.

“And now, as tradition for hundreds of years, it’s time to wish baby Jesus a very happy birthday.”

A cheer goes up as a round of Happy Birthday echoes throughout the grand room. When the singing fades, people place tiny wrapped objects and cards at the foot of the manger.

“What are they doing?” Ashling asks.

“They are giving symbolic gifts to baby Jesus.” Teagan says, pulling out a birthday card from her bag. “Let’s write our gifts together.”

She starts by scribbling in the card. “I give you Second Chances and all of our passion and work. I hope we help people through You.”

She hands Ashling the card next. “I give You my art and creativity. I hope my creations echo the beauty of Yours.”

“I love that,” Teagan says with an encouraging smile. “That’s the perfect gift, Ash.”

I take the card and pen but don’t write anything. As they watch me expectantly, I swallow the lump in my throat.

“You two are giving your dreams to Jesus, but the thing is—I don’t know what my dream is anymore. How can I give something that I don’t know that I even have?”

“So, give what you do have,” Teagan says, as practical as ever. “A gift from the heart is always the best kind.”

My heart may have been broken, but slowly the pieces are coming back together. “I give you my heart. Take these broken pieces and mend them to love again. Plant in my heart the seed of love so a new dream can grow.”

“That’s beautiful, Kay.” Teagan wraps her arm around my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

“Well, of course hers is all poetic. She is the writer, after all.” Ashling rolls her eyes, and we laugh.

We place the birthday card with our gifts at the foot of the manager before returning to our table.

What gift will you give to Baby Jesus this year? Whatever it is, please know that there is no greater or more appreciative recipient than Jesus. Wishing you and your family all of the peace, wonder, and joy of this Christmas Season!