Guilt or goodness brought Jesus home

Jesus came back in 2018. Not to earth, just to Jersey.

Our Lady of Grace Church staff in Hoboken was wary when a mysterious package appeared on their doorstep with no return address. So much so that they called the police. Authorities went over the box with a heat detection device and it was eventually determined nothing harmful was inside. The package was opened, and there it was. Baby Jesus. From 90 years ago.

Apparently 90 years ago the baby Jesus statue was stolen from the church. Someone felt it was time it was returned. The anonymous note inside by a Florida resident explained it.

"It came into my mother's father's possession somehow, and I don't know why he didn't return it. Instead, he gave it to my mother after she was married and she too kept it until her passing when it came to me. Knowing the story, I felt it should be returned to the rightful owner and you will find it enclosed."

The church's Rev. Santora never even heard any old stories about a stolen statue so they didn't even know one was ever missing. After all, 90 years is a long time.

Which makes you wonder.

On one hand, it's nice to try to right a wrong. But according to the note, it was never the sender's wrong to begin with. In fact it wasn't even his mother's wrong. And we don't even know how his grandfather acquired it. So who's guilt are you alleviating? Was the sender the only one in the family who felt like it was maybe bad karma to hang on to such a thing? I also couldn't help but wonder did the family use it at the holidays, parking it on their own lawn as part of their Christmas display? But I digress.

It's a nice gesture to return it. Perhaps the emotions involved in the sender's losing their mother spurred this desire to do something good. Shipping something that size and weight from Florida to New Jersey couldn't have been cheap. And doing a quick look online it seems you could purchase a brand new baby Jesus statue for about $100 to $150 bucks. Wouldn't it have been easier to just cut the church a check? Then again I'm not thinking like a Christian.

Speaking of those eBay Jesus statues, just like the one in this story returned after 90 years none looks like the real Jesus. Considering the part of the world Jesus was born there's no way baby Jesus looked like a baby version of Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years.

But in the end I guess people like to picture baby Jesus in their own way, much like the folks from Talladega Nights in this famous scene.