Dare to be different. Dare to challenge people with your creative charity this holiday season.

As everyone scrambles for last-minute gifts in busy shopping malls, why not set aside a few hours to clean off ice- and snow-covered window shields in the parking lots? Why not help older people carry their multiple shopping bags to the car, hold the door open for them, greet folks with a smile?

“You may not see it or feel it or hear it very often, but God truly does love you.”

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You could also go around with a bunch of hot chocolates and hand them out to the homeless in the big city near you. Or perhaps even give them candy canes with a little hand-written note that says, “You may not see it, or feel it or hear it very often, but God truly does love you, and I will be praying for you. Merry Christmas!”

I have often been on the receiving end of hidden acts of charity. I’ve found a pile of peanut M&M candies outside my door after a long day in the city. I’ve had my car washed and made sparkling clean without any indication of who did it. Recently, coming into the kitchen for dinner, I found a quality risotto dish, fully prepared and ready to eat — yet the priest who cooked it was not even there to enjoy it. My mom’s daily and heartfelt prayers for me have been storming heaven ever since my birth. So much goodness!

Related: The VIPs at the Nativity

Christ left us a beautiful example of hidden charity at the wedding at Cana. The hosts had run out of wine, the guests were getting a little restless, and Christ took action — but in a way that made the bride and bridegroom look like they had resolved the problem. Water was changed into wine, the large jars were brought to the president of the feast without his knowing where they had come from — and the party continued.

Jesus came into this world in such a hidden and quiet way at Bethlehem, and the majority of His life was spent humbly tucked away at Nazareth. His whole life was one continual act of unconditional and total self-giving. He never looked for anything but His Father’s Glory.

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Let’s use this brief time before Christmas to imitate His silent, selfless service.

Fr. Michael Sliney, LC, is a Catholic priest who is the New York chaplain of the Lumen Institute, an association of business and cultural leaders.